The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

November 26, 2007
In the fourth installment of the Pink Carnation series, Mary Alsworthy suddenly finds herself on the outside of polite society after her younger sister, Letty, marries Mary’s intended. Partly from boredom, partly from fascination, Mary accepts the advances of spy master Lord Vaughn when he asks her to help uproot a French spy called the Black Tulip who has a weakness for dark-haired women. As it turns out, the Black Tulip is no longer interested just in beautiful companions; he demands a sacrifice of Mary that she is reluctant to make. Navigating both the world of high society, where, if Mary doesn’t find a husband soon she’ll be doomed to live off her sister’s charity, and the underworld, Mary may only realize too late that the Black Tulip is more connected to her than she ever imagined. This historical romance is filled with witty repartee and arch conversations between Mary and Vaughn, leaving no doubt as to the story’s conclusion. Though the occasional jumps to the modern-day travails of Eloise Kelly, a grad student researching the Vaughn family for her dissertation, are as jarring as ad breaks in the middle of a film, the novel handily fulfills its promise of intrigue and romance.

December 15, 2007
Eloise Kelly, Willig's perpetual Ph.D. student, remains in London trying to piece together her study of the spy network that operated during the time of Napoléon (begun in "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation"). Having uncovered the identity of our heroic Carnation in the archives of spy Richard Selwick, Eloise continues her floral fascination with the unmasking of the dastardly Black Tulip in this latest blossomy imbroglio (after "The Deception of the Emerald Ring"). While Eloise ponders all things espionage and the romantic potential of Colin Selwick, readers are thrust back two centuries to follow the machinations of the reputedly dissolute Lord Vaughn as he enlists the aid of Mary Alsworthy in an attempt to bring the Tulip to justice. Mary agrees to work her wiles for the price of a dowry and a London season. Together, she and Vaughn force the Tulip's hand, as they fight their mutual attraction and parry verbal badinage that never ceases to charm and amuse. But is their quarry really dead at novel's end? You never can tell with Willig. And when will the Carnation herself (yup, she's a gal) find her own true love? This appealing sequel holds up well on both ends, with Eloise and Colin encountering some intrigue of their own. Recommended for public libraries, especially those growing the whole botanical series. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/1/07.]Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2008
The fourth installment in Willigs Pink Carnation series finds beautiful, ambitious Mary Allsworthy still smarting from her sister Lettys inadvertent theft of her suitor in The Deception of the Emerald Ring (2007). At the suggestion of the Pink Carnation, the imperious Lord Vaughn recruits Mary to help him uncover the identity of the Black Tulip, a French spy who threatens Englands interests. As determined as Mary is to find a husband, Lord Vaughn, a widower, is equally determined not to succumb to her charms, creating a palpable friction between the two.The closer they get to their goal offinding the Black Tulip, the more their adversarial feelings dissolve intoattraction, even love, just as a secret from Vaughns past threatens to keep them apart forever. In the present, graduate student Eloise Kelly delves deeper into the archival papers to discover the Black Tulips identity. Willigs series gets betterwith each addition, and her latest is filled with swashbuckling fun, romance, and intrigue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)