Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

Title: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
Author: Ally Carter
Average Price: $16.99 U.S. (19.75 CAN) Hardcover
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: 2007
Number of Pages:236


After the excitement of the fall, all Cammie Morgan wants is peaceful semester at school. But that's easier said than done when you're a CIA legacy and go to the premier school in the world...for spies.

Despite Cammie's best intentions, trouble crops up quickly. Cammie, Bex, and Liz learn that the Gallagher Academy is hosting guests from another spy school -- a school that is known to the world as the Ethan Frome Academy--a secret spy school for boys.

After her fiasco with Josh last fall, Cammie isn't sure she's ready for daily encounters with boy spies - especially after she meets Zach -- an incorrigible cutie who everyone thinks is just perfect. Cammie is right to be worried about their new guests. Soon after the boys' arrival, she's blamed for a series of security breaches that leave the school's top-secret status at risk. And the perfectly crushable Zach is her prime suspect. The Gallagher Girls will need to use all their skills to investigate the Frome Boys. Even though they're confident about their guy-spying ( as if they haven't done it before!), the playing field is level this time, and the stakes for Cammie's heart-and her beloved school- are higher than ever.


I read the first book in the Gallagher Girls series last year (I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You) and enjoyed it very much, but I never got around to reading the second book in the series. And boy, am I ever glad that I did!

Ally Carter starts off the second book in this spy series right where it leaves off in the first book, which is a must for me in a good series because I don't want to miss anything! I found it very easy to get into this book even though it was a bit slow at first.

You can almost immediately see once you starts this book that the author spent a lot of time on the character development. Each of the main characters had this little quirk or feature about them that I could instantly make a connection to and feel closer to the characters. Ally Carter really layed on the suspense and mystery in this book and each time a twist occurred I was totally surprised!

I loved all of the spy references Carter made in this novel - it just made this book that much more fun! What I most admire about the way that Ally Carter wrote this book is that she also wrote about how being a spy wasn't just all fun and games. Sometimes, real spies got caught. Sometimes, real spies got hurt. Sometimes, real spies didn't come back from a mission.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is a thrilling and very enjoyable book that I would recommend to just about anyone - but please read this series in order! You owe that much to your self! :) A.

One other thing: If you haven't read this series yet then a group of book bloggers have just started having weekly discussions about the series. More info here.