Review by Booklist Review
Willig turns in the third in her clever series combining historical and contemporary romance and featuring scholar Eloise Kelly ( The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, 2005; The Masque of the Black Tulip, 2006). Eloise's research into a group of English spies during the Napoleonic Wars has led to an infatuation with Colin Selwick, a descendant of one of her subjects, and immersions in the adventurous stories she uncovers. The reader shares Eloise's fascination with the past as Willig fleshes out each romantic tale, here telling the story of Geoff, Viscount of Pinghingdale, and his exploits with the celebrated spy known as the Pink Carnation. Geoff is attempting to run off with the woman of his dreams only to end up mistakenly abducting her sister, Letty. Her reputation compromised, they hastily marry. The bridegroom then takes off for Ireland at the behest of the English government, and the bride promptly follows under an assumed name, never imagining the dangers they'll encounter. Willig's latest is riveting, providing a great diversion and lots of fun. --Patty Engelmann Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Harvard Ph.D. candidate Eloise Kelly continues her research of early 19th-century spies in the smart third book of the Pink Carnation series, following the well-received The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and The Masque of the Black Tulip. This installment focuses on 19-year-old Letty Alsworthy, who, after a comedy of errors, quickly weds Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe, her older sister's intended. Geoffrey, an officer in the League of the Purple Gentian, flees to Ireland the night of his elopement. Unbeknownst to Letty, his plan isn't to abandon her; it's to quash the impending Irish Rebellion. When Letty tracks down her prodigal husband in Dublin, not only does she learn of his secret life as a spy, she's sucked into it with hilarious results. Willig like Eloise, a Ph.D. candidate in history draws on her knowledge of the period, filling the fast-paced narrative with mistaken identities, double agents and high stakes espionage. Every few chapters, the reader is brought back to contemporary London, where Eloise gets out of the archives long enough to nurse her continuing crush on Colin Selwick. The Eloise and Colin plot distracts from the main attraction, but the historic action is taut and twisting. Fans of the series will clamor for more. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The third title in Willig's historical series about British spies at the turn of the 19th century (begun in the wonderful The Secret History of the Pink Carnation) finds our flower, nee Jane Wooliston, more active than in the last volume (The Masque of the Black Tulip) though still not the focus of the inevitable romance. That honor falls to agent Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe and Letitia (Letty) Alsworthy, whose shotgun marriage is the result of trying to prevent Letty's sister, Mary, from running off with Geoff. Geoff himself runs off on their wedding night to continue the anti-Napoleon campaign in Dublin, where a real uprising stands in as backdrop for the goings-on. Letty ends up on Irish shores as well, and the undercover fur begins to fly. Unfortunately, the modern frame for the historical series-the research of Harvard Ph.D. candidate Eloise Kelly into the archives belonging to Colin Selwick and the couple's not-quite-romance-has collapsed, rendering this work little more than a sorry chick-lit beach read. But the series is proceeding, so we assume eventually our Carnation, as well as Eloise and Colin, will find love if not Napoleon. This reviewer hopes Willig will adjust her palette and discover the right color finally to satisfy her readers. For public libraries with Carnation fans.-Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
France's most notorious secret agent, the Black Tulip, foments the 1803 Irish Rebellion in this third installment of Willig's delightful series (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, 2005, etc.). Plump Letty Alsworthy awakens to find her gorgeous sister Mary plotting a midnight elopement with Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale. Determined to save the family's honor by thwarting the runaway marriage, she heads downstairs in hopes of reasoning with Mary. In a case of mistaken identity, Letty is thrown into the getaway carriage; her spotless reputation compromised, she is forced into matrimony. At their wedding the next day, Geoff (who, unbeknownst to his bride, is an English spy and second-in-command of the League of the Purple Gentian) receives orders to leave immediately for Ireland to quash the uprising. Humiliated by his sudden disappearance, Letty decides to forestall any further gossip by following her husband to the Emerald Isle. There, the two join forces with Miss Gwen and Jane, fellow agents of English master spy the Pink Carnation, and hit upon a surprising revelation: Perhaps the Black Tulip isn't a single agent after all, but two, or even three or more. As they foil the Black Tulip's plan to incite insurrection, Geoff and Letty fall in love, Jane retains her cool demeanor (just what is going on between her and Lord Vaughn, anyway?) and Miss Gwen once again employs the parasol as her weapon of choice. As in the first two installments, grad student and intrepid researcher Eloise Kelly, living in the 21st century, unravels this tale, all the while lusting after hunky Colin Selwick, descendant of the Purple Gentian. Heaving bodices, embellished history and witty dialogue: What more could you ask for? Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
