The Bachelor Spy by Pepper Basham

The Bachelor Spy
by Pepper Basham

ISBN-13: 9798891513693
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Barbour Fiction
Released: July 1, 2026

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Stephen Blake's life goal is to protect people, especially those closest to him, but war in 1915 England doesn’t follow any rules. When Blake is informed that a noted German spy may have taken up residence at Havensbrooke Hall—his cousin Lord Astley’s estate, which is being used as a convalescent war hospital—he’s sent there to uncover the plot.

Lady Grace Astley has become a force to be reckoned with while Frederick is out on the war front. With Havensbrooke as a hospital, she’s shocked by the devastation the war is bringing home; but ever hopeful, she is determined to help these weary soldiers find some relief. However, not everything is as it seems inside Havensbrooke. Precious items soon start disappearing. . .and not just the kind that are worth a lot of money.

Through a case of mistaken identity, a comedy of errors, a kidnapping, and a race for time within the crumbling subterranean passageways beneath Havensbrooke, can Blake and Gracie work together to root out the criminals, thieves, and spies before time runs out?


My Review:
The Bachelor Spy is a Christian romance set in 1915 in England. This is the 5th book in a series. You can probably understand it without reading the previous books. However, it did spoil the whodunit and climatic scenes of all of the previous books, so you might wish to read the series in order. This novel had very little mystery to it. Three things were stolen from the house, and the thief of two items almost immediately confessed to Grace. Then Blake happened to overhear the other culprit explain to someone why he needed the stolen drawing. Blake's trying to figure out who, out of two women, is the German spy. He kept thinking through the exact same list of evidence for why one was the more probable, but he didn't do much more than listen in on conversations until new evidence made the German spies obvious. So it's not really a story about uncovering clues, and the main suspense was in the prologue and the fight scenes at the end.

The series originally appealed to me because the author poked gentle fun at unrealistic clichés in novels compared to reality. However, this story didn't do that. The heroine who doesn't realize she's pregnant theme? Grace is 5 months pregnant and has more reason than most to be very large at this point (though she isn't). She didn't know she was pregnant until Blake delicately suggested she get examined by a doctor. And, of course, Grace assumed this meant she must be deathly ill. The whole story was full of over-the-top clichés.

Blake was in love with Evie, a fellow British spy, which was the romance. Complete with kissing for a long time right when they both agreed how vital it was that they immediately stop the bad guys who were escaping. I also wondered why the bad guys waited until that moment to hand over their vital intelligence to their handler when the woman had a hidden radio set, and so on. Anyway. It's fun enough if you already like the characters.

Grace had to trust God with Frederick's life (as he was near the war front) and her own. There were no sex scenes nor any bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this novel to fans of the series who don't mind clichés.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.