Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

Title: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy	Loved it	Graded
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Mysteries, thrillers
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Elements: Boarding School, espionage
Series: Book 2 in the Gallagher Girls series

After staking out, obtaining, and then being forced to give up her first boyfriend, Josh, all Cammie Morgan wants is a peaceful semester.But that's easier said than done when you're a CIA legacy and go to the premier school in the world...for spies.

Cammie may have a genius IQ , but there are still a lot of things shedoesn't know.

Like, will her ex-boyfriend even remember she exists?

And how much trouble is she really in after what happened last semester?

And most of all, why is her mother acting so strangely?

Despite Cammie's best intentions to be a normal student, danger seems to follow her. She and her best friends learn that their school is going to play host to some mysterious guests--code name: "Blackthorne."

Then she's blamed for a security breach that leaves the school's top-secret status at risk. Soon Cammie and her friends are crawling through walls and surveilling the school to learn the truth about Blackthorne and clear Cammie's name. Even though they have confidence in their spy skills, this time the targets are tougher (and hotter), and the stakes for Cammie's heart--and her beloved school--are higher than ever.

GG2 starts almost immediately where we left GG1, with readers and Cammie wondering if Josh will remember her after ingesting the ~speshul tea prepared by Cammie's mom as she told him the whole history of the Gallagher Academy.

**SPOILERS ONWARD**

Great news: He remembers her!
Bad news: He remembers her breaking up with him, and nothing else after. 
Worse news: He has a new girlfriend.

Ouch. Poor Cammie. The boy sure moves on fast.

Faced with the heartbreak, Cammie prepares to hide herself in the vents and tunnels of the Academy, only to find out that she's set too much of a good example to other students, and all of the secret passages are now closed.

GG2 introduces a new set of characters that answers a question that has been plaguing me since GG1: Why is there only a spy school for girls? The boys bring in some interesting challenges and test the girls' art of interaction and flirtation, which sounds silly, but seems pretty reasonable to me. After all, in the not PG version, spies will have to seduce their marks for information. However, I thought the basis for the GA was now a bit shaky.

Surely having, or introducing, a co-ed school for spies would remove the uncertainty of the girls not knowing how to interact with the opposite sex, especially if they were on a mission, where the objective is to blend in. (Or stand out, whatever the mission is.) I was mulling this over in my mind, and I guess everything would work out fine if the cover identity was designed to explain this. Or if the girls themselves were smart enough to manipulate the situation and the mark.

*shrugs* I have a lot of thinky thoughts about this, and "It's just a book. About teenage spies. Anything goes." doesn't fly with me.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed going on with the idea, and I'm glad I did. The introduction of Zach and his team brought about a whole lot of sexy banter that was a few notches better than the interaction between Cammie and Josh, which remained sweet. (And I'm have to say, possibly in the 'first love' and 'just friends' categories when compared to this.)

The action scenes and the characters were just as entertaining as GG1. Overall, GG2 is a fun and frothy read, continuing in the tone GG1 set. I hope Carter does address the mortality of the girls' chosen occupation, because a dose of real danger would make the tension feel more taut. While I enjoyed the climax, I never actually believed any of them were in danger.