An Extraordinary Union

I feel bad for rating this so low since I usually really like Alyssa Cole's work, but I couldn't stand this book.

The two main characters are incredibly stupid spies (we are told in narration how good at their jobs they are but they spend the whole book overreacting to things, making amateurish mistakes, and doing things they know will threaten the mission) during the American Civil War. The book acknowledges the power differential between the two characters due to race and gender, but then repeatedly shows the hero trying to push the heroine's boundaries, which I guess is okay because she secretly wants him so badly that they have a bunch of embarrassingly written sex (including a notable scene after Elle was shot in the head!!!!) and get married after knowing one another for a week. The final act relies on a false rape accusation against the hero by a spurned lover to propel it forward.

Honestly, the story of the war and the spy network was interesting and I liked some of the side characters a lot, but even outside of the romance the hero felt unnecessary (he didn't actually help with the spying very much). While the whole conceit of Elle pretending to be mute felt contrived, I might have liked the book better as a solo adventure for her as a spy.