Raynor, the Duke of Walcott, awakens to find himself tied up and without a stitch of clothing.  He is dismayed to find himself unable to get free when he hears a voice.  A voice hidden by a head covering, but who asks him questions. Questions about a woman he had previously disciplined.  A maid with whom he had relations and discarded without a second, spoiled thought.  Questions about his thoughts of his betrothed, the daughter of Lord Soeder.  Ray doesn’t understand the reasoning behind his capture and demands to be set free, and although his captor laughs, Ray is not set free.  For days he is disciplined much like the maid he himself had chided.  Not only that, but he is held in a state of arousal like nothing he has ever experienced.  Days later, after he is released, Ray vows to find his tormentor as well as marry as planned.  He will marry Catrina, Lord Soeder’s daughter, but he won’t hang around long enough to form a life with her.

Lady Catrina has been the abused daughter of Lord Soeder her entire life.  Forced to do his bidding and take his abuse, she spends her days in her room and tries to become invisible.  Betrothed to Raynor Walcott, Catrina hopes that by wedding her husband she will become the cherished wife and mother that she has always dreamed about being.  But first things first; she has to find out why Raynor abused the maid he caught spying on him.

It wasn’t until the actual wedding ceremony that I realized the plot twist to The Spying Maid, and when I figured it out, I smiled and laughed because I was not expecting the storyline to be the way it was written.  I had many ideas about who Ray’s captor was, but when the villain was revealed I smacked myself on the forehead.  I didn’t like Ray very much at the beginning of the book, but by the end I thought he had grown up and matured and would be the husband that Catrina deserved.

The Spying Maid by Lillith Payne is a great read.  I think the storyline well written and the plot unique.  It entertained me and even made me cry.  Not bad for an afternoon read.