Veteran duo Emily Ellet and Andrew Eiden expertly deliver this steamy romance with elements of THE BOURNE IDENTITY. A woman wakes up without memories yet instinctively knows how to fight. She runs into a brooding yet attractive spy who tries to convince her that she isn't actually a fellow spy but the identical twin of one. This audiobook has a simplistic plot peppered with humor, thrills, and heart-throbbing romance. Ellet and Eiden entice listeners with their smooth narrations, creating an even flow of well-paced events that melt into each other. The fun is mostly in the bond between the main characters, who deliver the right quirks for hilarious moments and the steamy emotions of the tender ones. G.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

★ 06/12/2023

Bestselling YA author Carter (the Gallagher Girls series) serves up an irresistible cocktail of danger and passion in her un-put-downable adult debut. A woman wakes up on an icy Paris sidewalk with no memory of who she is and bad guys closing in. According to her enemies, she’s a rogue CIA operative named Alex who stole a critical flash drive from a Russian mobster and now she’s on the run for her life. Run she does—right into the arms of sexy spy Jake Sawyer, who rescues her from her myriad pursuers and informs her that she’s really Alex’s innocent identical twin sister, Zoe. With a Russian gangster and a shady CIA agent hot on their heels, Sawyer and Zoe must jump on and off trains, boats, and bridges to stay alive—and locate the real Alex. Carter ratchets up the danger—and the sexual tension—at every turn, throwing plenty of red herrings across the trail and keeping readers guessing who to trust. Zoe’s sense of humor in the face of danger adds levity, and readers will fall hard for gallant Sawyer. Carter also expertly teases a sequel about Alex, whetting appetites for the next installment. This snappy and suspenseful romance fires on all cylinders. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary. (Aug.)

Ally Carter wrote a unique, delightful, hilarious, unputdownable romance! I didn’t know I needed an adventure romcom about grumpy/sunshine spies with amazing chemistry and a dash of amnesia, but it was exactly what was missing in my life. I’m wonderstruck by The Blonde Identity! (Also, this book needs to be a movie!)”
— Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

"Bestselling YA author Carter (the Gallagher Girls series) serves up an irresistible cocktail of danger and passion in her un-put-downable adult debut...Carter ratchets up the danger—and the sexual tension—at every turn, throwing plenty of red herrings across the trail and keeping readers guessing who to trust. Zoe’s sense of humor in the face of danger adds levity, and readers will fall hard for gallant Sawyer. Carter also expertly teases a sequel about Alex, whetting appetites for the next installment. This snappy and suspenseful romance fires on all cylinders." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Spies! Amnesia! And banter that’ll make you chant ‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ No one writes an action rom-com quite like Ally Carter.” — Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs

“This hilarious romantic comedy is unputdownable. The characters have instant chemistry, and their well-written dialogue is peppered with witty banter. Readers will be riveted through all of the twists and turns as the protagonists race across Europe with the bad guys hot on their heels. Those who grew up reading Carter’s Gallagher Girls teen series will tear through her adult romance debut and clamor for more.” — Library Journal

"The Blonde Identity was everything I wanted in rom-com and more! Full of brilliant banter, clever humor, and so many swoon worthy scenes, this was a perfect book. I hope Ally Carter writes more stories in this world, because every second of this unexpected adventure made me smile. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun reading a book.” — Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Curse for True Love 

“A delightful, delicious joy ride of a romp!"  — Susan Elizabeth Phillips, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When Stars Collide

“Romance, espionage, and mystery—this novel satisfies fans of all three!”
— Murder & Mayhem

“Completely captivating—funny, fresh and deliciously swoon-worthy, The Blonde Identity had me smiling over every action packed page. I loved it.” — Annabel Monaghan, author of Nora Goes Off Script and Same Time Next Summer

"The Blonde Identity is hands-down the cutest, most fast-paced wild ride of a rom-com I’ve ever read. Utterly impossible to put down!" — Lynn Painter, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Wager

"The Blonde Identity is explosively funny and jam-packed with chemistry! I couldn’t have loved this hilarious romcom more. The story is full of humor, action, romance, and emotions that tug on your heartstrings. Ally is a romcom genius!"  — Sarah Adams, author of The Cheat Sheet

“Fun and pulse-pounding, The Blonde Identity will keep readers turning pages.” — Parade

“I absolutely adored The Blonde Identity! I loved the humor, Zoe and Sawyer were perfection, and the chemistry… I couldn’t put it down.”   — Lorraine Heath, New York Times bestselling author

“The Blonde Identity is a charming and heartwarming adventure where opposites collide, resulting in a swoony rom-com that delivers all the heart-eyes and belly laughs. Tremendous good fun on every page—I loved every minute.”  — Isabel Ibañez, author of What the River Knows

"I am a Gallagher Girls fan, and The Blonde Identity satisfied ALL of my GG cravings! Carter has that magic formula of the perfect amount of brilliance, fun, and sizzling banter down pat!"  — Jesse Q Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties and Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

“Want a grumpy-sunshine romance with plenty of delightful banter and a spy plot? Cha-ching. Ally Carter’s got you covered.” — Bookriot

A unique, delightful, hilarious, unputdownable romance.”

Veteran duo Emily Ellet and Andrew Eiden expertly deliver this steamy romance with elements of THE BOURNE IDENTITY. A woman wakes up without memories yet instinctively knows how to fight. She runs into a brooding yet attractive spy who tries to convince her that she isn't actually a fellow spy but the identical twin of one. This audiobook has a simplistic plot peppered with humor, thrills, and heart-throbbing romance. Ellet and Eiden entice listeners with their smooth narrations, creating an even flow of well-paced events that melt into each other. The fun is mostly in the bond between the main characters, who deliver the right quirks for hilarious moments and the steamy emotions of the tender ones. G.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

2023-05-24
A woman with amnesia gets tangled up in the world of international espionage.

On a cold, snowy night in Paris, a woman (eventually she’ll discover her name is Zoe) finds herself on the street with no idea of who she is or how she got there. She’s rescued from a team of menacing strangers by a spy named Jake Sawyer. He explains that his partner, Alex, who’s Zoe’s identical twin, has gone missing. Alex infiltrated the organization of a dangerous Russian oligarch named Kozlov. Before going on the run, she copied and then destroyed the originals of Kozlov’s personal encrypted files—including everything from his bank accounts to his personal contacts. Kozlov and his henchmen will do anything to find Alex, but every international spy agency in the world is also on the hunt for the flash drive, hoping to use the data to cripple Kozlov’s criminal empire. Sawyer and Zoe spend most of the book on the run from Kozlov and eventually go undercover as newlyweds on a river cruise. Finally able to pause and strategize, they hatch a plan to infiltrate Alex’s Swiss bank account in Zurich. Zoe can access the bank disguised as her sister, looking for clues that will help them find her twin and the flash drive. The novel is a clichéd mishmash of plots, tropes, and archetypes from espionage thrillers. There is little depth or nuance to either Zoe or Sawyer as characters, and their romance is shallow and underdeveloped. Long action sequences and chase scenes drive most of the book, but the plot is so blandly predictable that the result is more frantic than fulfilling.

Flimsy and insubstantial.