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.

Kate Reading proves again that a superior narration is a boon for any book. In the fourth of Lauren Willig's witty blend of modern mystery/romance and Napoleonic-era skullduggery/romance, nineteenth-century Mary Alsworthy tries to unmask a French spy while 21st-century Eloise Kelly uncovers her story. Reading offers telling interpretations of nineteenth-century British rakes and fops, wicked French spies, and dashing aristocrats, as well as daring young women from both periods. Reading also narrates with an intelligent anticipation that marries word and deed, so that a heartsick character sounds heartsick, an angry one sounds angry, and all conversations leap to life. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine