Ring of Secrets by Roseanna M. White

It's 1779 and the Revolutionary war is in full swing as well as all of the spy rings for both the British and the Patriots. Winter Reeves is living in New York City with her grandparents. The Hampton's are not happy to have Winter with them. They never approved of her mother's marriage to her father and have resented it ever since. They are determined to get Winter married advantageously and getting her off their hands.

Winter has many secrets she is keeping. As part of the Culper ring of spies her life hangs in the balance. Not only is she in danger from her grandfather who threatens to dump her in Holy Ground(the part of town where prostitutes live), but she is also in danger of her cover as a spy becoming known.

Winter's grandmother wishes her to marry Bennet Lane, a wealthy Englishman who is set to inherit his uncle's estate in England. In order to gain his attention Winter's grandmother insists that Winter play the part of a flighty simpering young woman without an intelligent thought in her head. This works to Winter's advantage in that who would think of her as an actual spy?

Bennet has secrets of his own about why he is in New York when he longs to be in Connecticut teaching at Yale. Bennet sees through Winter's charade but is still confused. Is she really as clueless as she appears or underneath is there lurking an intelligent young woman? The more Bennet is around her the more he is convinced that there is more to Winter than meets the eye.

As Bennet and Winter slowly fall in love Winter is faced with revealing her deepest secret to Bennet and risk everything that he feels for her.

Having just finished another book on the Revolutionary war with a woman character passing secret letters I found it interesting that Ring of Secrets was next on my reading list. I really enjoyed it as the story line was much different. Ring of Secrets brought out a lot of emotions as I was reading. I found myself angry at Winter's grandparents for the way they treated her. I found myself laughing at some of Winter's antics as she played her part of the bored and clueless socialite. I found myself championing her bravery as she dedicated herself to passing along information to the Patriots. And I found myself sighing happily as Bennet and Winter's love grew for each other. A great historical read!