strange and random happenstance

Smoke and Lies by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: May 15th, 2018
Format: Kindle, 355 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

If there's one thing that Lord Saybrook and Arianna have learned, it's that if they won't do Lord Grentham's bidding then he will find leverage to force them to do his bidding. And his favorite leverage is family. This time it's Sandro's cousin, Eduardo de la Vega. Eduardo has been stationed on Elba, Napoleon's palatial prison, and has gone missing. Therefore it serves "everyone's" interest for Sandro and Arianna to travel to Elba. A gentleman scientist and his wife will be welcomed by Napoleon with open arms while really they will be listening for any concrete evidence that Napoleon has his eyes on his old throne and of course trying to find Eduardo. Lord Grentham though isn't taking any risks with Napoleon and therefore has saddled Sandro and Arianna with two rather sketchy associates. The Baroness Plessy-Moritz seems ill-equipped for espionage, but her friendship with Napoleon's sister is a boon, whereas Count von Wolfram isn't who he says he is. Wolffy is an old associate of Arianna's. He had been the proprietor of the Wolff and Lamb Theatrical Company, where Arianna learned her disguise skills back when she was fighting to survive in the West Indies. But how do his skills apply to this situation? As they all board the Basilisk none of them really know what they are in for. Their assignments are illusive and no one is what they seem and they have become becalmed in pirate-infested waters. Which is when things go from bad to worse as yet another person from Arianna's past emerges. What's even more humiliating than finding her in this situation is having him be the one to rescue her. But she can deal with that another day, because they must get to Elba at all costs, and so far it has cost the captain of the Basilisk his life in a back alley in Gibraltar. Reaching their destination is a miracle in and of itself, but how are they going to navigate the world Napoleon has built around himself when he is the greatest tactician ever? Perhaps by appealing to his sweet tooth?

This adventure is balls to the wall bonkers in the best possible way. It's Clue meets And Then There Were None meets Horatio Hornblower where you're constantly uncertain of your footing but enjoying every minute of it. But then, I've always been a sucker for big boats. There's something so classic yet powerfully elemental about old fashioned sailing vessels. They were their own little worlds and taking that concept and making it into a bit of a locked room mystery just made me giddy. Yes, I spent an inordinate amount of time when young dreaming of my perfect pirate ship, so taking that which I've always loved and the Regency addict I've become and making this wonderful confection just made me want to do nothing but read this book until I'd reached the very last page. What's more this is the first book in the series in its new iteration. For those who read the paperbacks like me, the recipes are gone. I'm of slightly two minds as to this development. As I have previously mentioned I found the recipes distracting as they interrupted the flow of the narrative. Stick them in the back was my initial response. But then by the third book almost all the recipes involved coffee or espresso so I changed my mind to get ride of them entirely. Now some of these recipes I actually want to try, but here's a clue about me, NONE OF THEM will have coffee. I don't just dislike coffee, I detest it. And I hate more than anything the adulteration of chocolate with coffee. Just don't do it OK? But seeing as the recipes are gone so are my gripes. My gripes about recipes. Now I have a new gripe. My new gripe is that since this series moved from a publishing house to being published independently you can see the lack of polish. There are some repetitions with turns of phrases that a good editor would have caught, but more irksome were the straight up errors. Wolffy changes how he addresses Arianna all the time. She's either Anna or Annie. If there had been an explanation as to this I wouldn't have minded him constantly calling her one or the other diminutive. There isn't. Therefore I am annoyed. But the bigger annoyance I had was that in the previous volume Arianna is lamenting her lack of knowledge of the Greek Mythology, which she hasn't had time to fix yet, but somehow she magically knows all these myths? Yeah, I'm not buying it. But I would say buy this book because the errors don't take away from the narrative, they just make you a little peeved every once in awhile. Is it Anna or Annie!?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And Then There Were None, Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Chocolate, Clue, Coffee, Editor, Elba, Gibraltar, Greek Mythology, Horatio Hornblower, Lord Grentham, Napoleon, Recipes, Regency Romp, Sandro, Smoke and Lies

A Swirl of Shadows by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Kindle, 358 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Arianna has lost her baby. She didn't even know if she'd be able to conceive therefore it felt like a miracle. A very short lived miracle. A fortnight after their adventures in Paris she miscarried. The words of her friends and medical professionals fell on deaf ears when they told her it wasn't her fault. She gave Sandro hope of an heir and she failed him. She has lost her edge, her spark, her fire. She sits in darkened rooms claiming to be working on her book of recipes but really she is dwelling on her past, on her future, and on her letting Sandro down. Lord Grentham hopes to lure her out of her depression. Tsar Alexander has requested Arianna's help. A medallion has gone missing. But this is more than just a medallion, the Rurik Medallion is a talisman symbolizing a Tsar's right to rule Russia. If the Tsar doesn't have it with him for an upcoming event his reign will be cursed and he will be ousted. Yes, Arianna feels bad for the Tsar, but that doesn't mean she's going to drag herself far from home into the depths of a Russian winter. That is when Grentham plays his trump card. He thought she'd refuse so he sent her brother instead. She is furious. How could he send her innocent brother into the Byzantine bowels of Russian court intrigue!?! Especially once she learns that the Orlov family is still making a power play despite her killing whom she viewed was the worst of the lot. Still, Arianna needs peace and quiet, it's only when a Russian Baroness, Anna-Maria Gruzinsky, is brutally murdered with Arianna's name and address on a slip of paper in her reticule that Arianna decides she must go to Russia. Sandro and Sophie are obviously coming as well, and Grentham has saddled them with Arianna's old comrade Wolffy, as well as a new acquaintance, Major Prescott, who is half Russian and they might not be able to trust him. But Arianna feels a fire in her belly despite the cold surrounding her. She will keep the Tsar appeased, she will befriend his new religious guru Mrs. Schuyler, she will find the medallion, and she will keep the power structure stable in Russia in order to preserve Britain's most important alliance. But will the fire in her belly bring back her spark or do her actions bely the fact that her life is irreparably changed?

There's a trope in historical fiction that I don't much care for. That's when an active heroine blames herself for a miscarriage due to her lifestyle. In most fictional cases, sure, there is sometimes a direct cause and effect, and women do need to mourn, even fictional ones, but the blame game gets to be too much. My problem is that it's overused and, particularity in this case, Arianna's past medical history would indicate that she might not be able to carry a baby to term so it was more expected. Only time will tell if she can have a baby. Therefore I was kind of dreading an entire book about Arianna trying to find her spark, which of course she does, but thankfully because of the time lapse we join our heroine at the end of her deep mourning just in time for her to go to Russia more to prove to herself that she can than any other reason. Now THIS is why I loved this book. Russia! And all things you expect from a classic Russian tale, dubious rulers, dodgy mystics, deranged religious leaders, with more than a dusting of snow. Ah Russia. You are in my bones, literally, if it wasn't for Doctor Zhivago I wouldn't exist. Over the eighteen months or so I've been watching old Masterpiece Theatre series while I exercise. One of my favorite, hands down, was Anna Karenina. It brought the world of Russia to life the same way A Swirl of Shadows did. This felt like a great Russian classic and I never wanted it to end. Andrea Penrose captured St. Petersburg and it's court perfectly. I didn't realize until I got to the note at the end of the book that she had spent considerable time there. Well, it showed. After you read a lot of historical fiction you get a feeling as to who knows what they're talking about and who is passable with minimal research. Andrea Penrose knows what she's talking about. There's a verisimilitude that I haven't found in many writers, especially when if comes to capturing historical figures. And as for the medallion MacGuffin? Sure, it's note real, but it feels like it should be. The whole idea of it is very Russian, much like poisoning your enemies and killing ideologues. Mrs. Schuyler should be glad she got out when she could!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Swirl of Shadows, Andrea Penrose, Anna Karenina, Arianna Hadley, Doctor Zhivago, MacGuffin, Masterpiece Theatre, Miscarriage, Regency Romp, Rurik Medallion, Russia, Sandro, St. Petersburg, Tsar Alexander

A Tangle of Serpents by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: April 6th, 2020
Format: Kindle, 358 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

With Napoleon's loss at Waterloo and his army in disarray the allied forces are descending on Paris to jockey for position and power. That means Lord Grentham's job behind the scenes is even more important, keeping everyone's ego in check so not one country can let the thought of more power or new territories go to their head. Which makes Grentham being accused of being a traitor rather convenient for someone. Especially when Grentham goes on the run, apparently lending credence to the rumors. But Arianna, despite their fractious past, is unwilling to view Grentham as a traitor. Her husband though, well, he's open to the possibility. If Grentham saw a way for England to succeed by going rogue, he might well do so. While the couple are at loggerheads, there's Sophia Kirtland's feelings to consider. Sophia, whose heart she exposed to Grentham. She CAN NOT believe this of him. She's in even more shock when Grentham threatens their lives. Not shocked that he did so, just shocked from the blast of the bomb. As she so eloquently points out, if Grentham had wanted them dead, they would be dead, if he had just wanted them to back off, this is exactly what he'd do. It's a cry for help. Help that he doesn't want. And Arianna, Sandro, Sophia, and Constantina are going to be there to help him whether he wants it or not. Therefore they are going to Paris. Whomever is framing Grentham has to be at the heart of the intrigue and the heart of all intrigues right now is Paris, and thankfully Sandro can attach himself to the scientific delegation going there. The problem is, they don't know where to start. The trail of evidence that Grentham left was planted by Gretham so it will get them nowhere fast. Therefore they walk the streets, go shopping, attend soirees, go to restaurants, visit attractions, all in the hope that they will overhear some telling bit of gossip that will lead them in the right direction. But there are also distractions, a young engineer, Mr. Richard Fitzroy, has introduced himself to Arianna as her half-brother. She doesn't doubt that they could be related, he's the spitting image of her father, but why introduce himself now? And things are getting to a head with Prince Orlov. He plans this to be his and Arianna's last encounter, and he might be right. With the tangles of intrigue swirling around them, can their friend's name be cleared or is his fate sealed?

Lady Arianna's adventures are very much comfort reads, it all starts with Arianna and Sandro hoping for some downtime, and then someone's friend or relative is threatened, lightning has now struck five times if Sandro's interested, the gaggle hare off somewhere, there are lots of weapons and women wielding weapons, much chocolate is drunk and ate, the elaborate conspiracy is uncovered, and everyone goes off into the sunset, until the next adventure, which might even be starting before this one has fully finished. Reading the adventures back to back they can be a little repetitive. Even turns of phrase start to insist on becoming a drinking game, this time around it was anyone who had a peal rung over their head. But please, I urge caution, if you are a fast reader and take up this drinking game you will get drunk very fast. What makes each individual volume stick out therefore comes down to the history. As anyone who has studied any bit of history will tell you once the war is over the peace negotiations begin. For some reason I had never really thought about this with regard to Napoleon. At least not after his second defeat. My mind had him caught at Waterloo and the monarchy that had been restored while he was on Elba just taking back over. This is not how it went down. Napoleon fled to the coast and was attempting to board a ship for the New World and instead ended up surrendering a full month after the battle of Waterloo! This tale takes place after Paris was liberated, again, and all the political forces were descending on the city to see and be seen while having a cultural exchange of ideas as well as jockey for power. France, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia were all there with their own agendas. And Andrea Penrose posits, what if some of these powers were up to no good in order to get exactly what they wanted in what would end up being the Treaty of Paris, or more accurately, the Second Treaty of Paris. To me, this makes total sense. Of course if you have a seat at the table you want your plate to be piled the highest. But there's legitimate negotiation and then there's what happens here. And honestly, this seems more likely. If only the world had more righteously minded folk like Arianna, Sandro, Sophia, Grentham, and their numerous comrades in order to set things to right...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Battle of Waterloo, Chocolate, Lord Grentham, Mystery, Napoleon, Paris, Prince Orlov, Regency Romp, Russia, Sandro, Second Treaty of Paris, Sophia Kirtland, Traitor, Treaty of Paris

A Question of Numbers by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: April 8th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 378 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Saybrook and Arianna are doing his uncle, Lord Mellon, a favor. The alliances needed to defeat Napoleon are tenuous at best and everyone in London is on tenterhooks. Therefore when Lord Mellon is approached by a Prussian saying that he has proof of someone working against the alliance and that he will only speak to Arianna it's the least Arianna can do to hear this man out. After all Arianna still feels bad they weren't able to stop Napoleon from leaving Elba and she'll do what needs to be done to save more lives. But the Prussian, a delightful man who loved Shakespeare, Count Grunwald, is murdered before their rendezvous. Perhaps by a deadly assassin. Arianna doesn't know who the Count suspected but he thankfully left clues knowing that his own life was in danger. One of the clues is quite shocking. Saybrook and Arianna have often been forced to work with Lord Grentham. Lord Grentham's second in command, Pierson, was assumed killed during their previous mission on Elba. But the signet ring that Count Grunwald was clutching would indicate otherwise. This means that if Pierson were to break at the hands of his inquisitors the alliance could be lost as he holds a key piece of information that could turn the tide of war. Saybrook and Arianna though are more worried about rescuing their friend. Because if the French need leverage against Pierson they are sure to find it in Brussels, where Pierson's illegitimate daughter Emma is residing. The French are sure to seek her out so Saybrook, Arianna, and their whole crew, as Aunt Constantina and Sophia also insist on accompanying them, are heading to Brussels, to rescue a girl, and if they're lucky, her father as well. But in the whirl of the beau monde as they try to eek out one more day of pleasure as war comes swiftly on cats paws can Saybrook and Arianna find the truth or will they be distracted by spectacles and riddles that prove enigmatic. And what about the woman from Sandro's past, Paloma Marone-Cinzano? Is she a friend or a foe? And who is the father of her child?

I recently got around to watching the 2018 Vanity Fair miniseries, which aside from the weird musical choices at the end of each episode is probably my favorite version now, and I was once again struck with the weird dichotomy of the Battle of Waterloo happening mere steps away from the ton partying in Brussels like there's no tomorrow. But in fairness there might not have been a tomorrow, as Wellington himself said it was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life." It's so hard to wrap one's head around this luxurious and ostentatious lifestyle happening concurrently with Napoleon cutting a swath through the continent during the Hundred Days. "Heaven forfend that the prospect of death and destruction interfere with the beau monde’s pleasures." Like many people my first introduction to the Regency era was through the works of Jane Austen, so my Napoleonic history was sketchy, at best. Which is one of the reasons I took British History in college, I wanted to know more. But my first introduction to Waterloo was actually via Thackeray's classic Vanity Fair. And I really thought it was fiction and not truth. I mean, seriously, this is an example of truth being stranger than fiction. Which is what I love about A Question of Numbers. Andrea Penrose perfectly captures this weird world that feels fictitious. The sojourns to the park to take a stroll and get the latest gossip on the impending invasion. You know, just a normal day. But Andrea really brings home the dark underbelly that is hidden beneath the balls and the ballgowns. All the nefarious dealings and struggles of spy versus spy. All the little players who played their part and, with a bit of luck, brought home a British victory at the cost of so many lives. In fact I couldn't help but feel that this volume of Arianna and Sandro's adventures was a bit of a Russian epic. That fighting despite the futility of war, though thankfully without any of our leads ending up under a train.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Question of Numbers, Adaptation, Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Battle of Waterloo, Brussels, Elba, Lord Grentham, Napoleon, Prussians, Regency Romp, Sandro, Spies, Thackeray, The Duke of Wellington, Vanity Fair

Smoke and Lies by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: May 15th, 2018
Format: Kindle, 355 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

If there's one thing that Lord Saybrook and Arianna have learned, it's that if they won't do Lord Grentham's bidding then he will find leverage to force them to do his bidding. And his favorite leverage is family. This time it's Sandro's cousin, Eduardo de la Vega. Eduardo has been stationed on Elba, Napoleon's palatial prison, and has gone missing. Therefore it serves "everyone's" interest for Sandro and Arianna to travel to Elba. A gentleman scientist and his wife will be welcomed by Napoleon with open arms while really they will be listening for any concrete evidence that Napoleon has his eyes on his old throne and of course trying to find Eduardo. Lord Grentham though isn't taking any risks with Napoleon and therefore has saddled Sandro and Arianna with two rather sketchy associates. The Baroness Plessy-Moritz seems ill-equipped for espionage, but her friendship with Napoleon's sister is a boon, whereas Count von Wolfram isn't who he says he is. Wolffy is an old associate of Arianna's. He had been the proprietor of the Wolff and Lamb Theatrical Company, where Arianna learned her disguise skills back when she was fighting to survive in the West Indies. But how do his skills apply to this situation? As they all board the Basilisk none of them really know what they are in for. Their assignments are illusive and no one is what they seem and they have become becalmed in pirate-infested waters. Which is when things go from bad to worse as yet another person from Arianna's past emerges. What's even more humiliating than finding her in this situation is having him be the one to rescue her. But she can deal with that another day, because they must get to Elba at all costs, and so far it has cost the captain of the Basilisk his life in a back alley in Gibraltar. Reaching their destination is a miracle in and of itself, but how are they going to navigate the world Napoleon has built around himself when he is the greatest tactician ever? Perhaps by appealing to his sweet tooth?

This adventure is balls to the wall bonkers in the best possible way. It's Clue meets And Then There Were None meets Horatio Hornblower where you're constantly uncertain of your footing but enjoying every minute of it. But then, I've always been a sucker for big boats. There's something so classic yet powerfully elemental about old fashioned sailing vessels. They were their own little worlds and taking that concept and making it into a bit of a locked room mystery just made me giddy. Yes, I spent an inordinate amount of time when young dreaming of my perfect pirate ship, so taking that which I've always loved and the Regency addict I've become and making this wonderful confection just made me want to do nothing but read this book until I'd reached the very last page. What's more this is the first book in the series in its new iteration. For those who read the paperbacks like me, the recipes are gone. I'm of slightly two minds as to this development. As I have previously mentioned I found the recipes distracting as they interrupted the flow of the narrative. Stick them in the back was my initial response. But then by the third book almost all the recipes involved coffee or espresso so I changed my mind to get ride of them entirely. Now some of these recipes I actually want to try, but here's a clue about me, NONE OF THEM will have coffee. I don't just dislike coffee, I detest it. And I hate more than anything the adulteration of chocolate with coffee. Just don't do it OK? But seeing as the recipes are gone so are my gripes. My gripes about recipes. Now I have a new gripe. My new gripe is that since this series moved from a publishing house to being published independently you can see the lack of polish. There are some repetitions with turns of phrases that a good editor would have caught, but more irksome were the straight up errors. Wolffy changes how he addresses Arianna all the time. She's either Anna or Annie. If there had been an explanation as to this I wouldn't have minded him constantly calling her one or the other diminutive. There isn't. Therefore I am annoyed. But the bigger annoyance I had was that in the previous volume Arianna is lamenting her lack of knowledge of the Greek Mythology, which she hasn't had time to fix yet, but somehow she magically knows all these myths? Yeah, I'm not buying it. But I would say buy this book because the errors don't take away from the narrative, they just make you a little peeved every once in awhile. Is it Anna or Annie!?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And Then There Were None, Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Chocolate, Clue, Coffee, Editor, Elba, Gibraltar, Greek Mythology, Horatio Hornblower, Lord Grentham, Napoleon, Recipes, Regency Romp, Sandro, Smoke and Lies

The Stolen Letters by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: September 4th, 2017
Format: Kindle, 138 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Lady Stirling, Constantina as she is known to her beloved family, or The Dragon as she is known to the ton, is in a quandary. Yet she doesn't want to tell her nephew, as he's involved in government and it could be quite compromising for him, and she doesn't want to tell her great-nephew because while she knows Sandro could help her it's very personal. Therefore she turns to Sandro's wife, Arianna. Constantina knows that Arianna is the real brains behind all the cases that Sandro and she have solved. She also knows that Arianna can keep a secret. Arianna's past is dark and treacherous and something she doesn't talk of, therefore she is the perfect person to help Constantina. Constantina has been foolish. At her age in life she has developed a tendre. Her paramour is French, which given the current peace talks isn't as shocking as it could be. But apparently the contents of their letters are quite shocking, and they have gone missing along with some very sensitive political documents. Constantina is asking Arianna to find the documents and return them to their rightful owner. The problem is, there are literally no clues and too many suspects. Was it the British? Or how about the Russians or the Prussians or anyone else involved in jockeying for more power at the peace conference. When Arianna is approached by Lord Grentham she at least knows it's not the British because they want the documents, supposedly to just keep them safe until after an important meeting, but can Grentham be trusted? No. But he's willing to offer her the identity of the thieves if she will herself retrieve the documents. She agrees because it's better to bargain with the devil you know. The Prussians have the documents and Arianna can steal them back at an upcoming party for the diplomats. First Constantina needs to get Sandro out of town, because he's too clever by half. Second they need an invite, which is gotten through Constantina's nephew at the behest of Lord Grentham. Third they need more help, so they enlist Sophie Kirtland to the coterie. What could possibly go wrong? Oh yeah, the Russians.

The Lady Arianna Regency Mysteries were a serendipitous find at my local Barnes and Noble. It's a precious memory to me of the day I first stumbled on the series because my Dad and I went to the store together and then he said the magic words; "I'll pay." Not wanting to be greedy or bankrupt my father I was very careful in my selections, in fact looking at my database, now don't judge because I have a database of books and you don't, I can see I bought the first two books in this series and well as Cinder by Marissa Meyer and The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg. This series was an obvious must buy with two of my favorite authors, Lauren Willig and Tasha Alexander, both having pull quotes on the cover. But after Recipe for Treason I no longer saw additional volumes. Sometimes I am oddly lazy and don't go online to see what is up with series ending, probably because we rarely get answers, I'm looking at you Madelyn Alt! But when preparing to romp through the Regency and knowing Andrea was going to be a part of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation Read Along I thought, well, I'll include the Lady Arianna series. So I looked it up and was shocked, there were more books!?! After a five year gap Andrea started self-publishing the further adventures of Arianna and Sandro! I obviously bought them all and am now devouring them at a rapacious rate. The Stolen Letters is a little novella bridging the traditionally published books and the new eBooks. And while I really like the whole "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" vibe the whole lying to Sandro stuck in my craw. Years ago I remember my friend Jess and I discussing the whole trope of lying to your significant other. We were both obsessed with Audrey Tautou at the time and were watching all her films and had rented The Spanish Apartment. Now a BIG plot point in this movie is the flatmates helping one of their number to cheat on their significant other. We both agreed that this just made us cringe. It's just wrong. Sure, here there's justification because Arianna is helping her husband's relative and she has asked her to keep it secret from him. But that's just not on. Constantina should not have asked this of Arianna OR Arianna should have told Constantina why she had to tell Sandro. Either way, it's a trope that is common and all too cringe.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Audrey Tautou, Lauren Willig, Madelyn Alt, Novella, Pink Carnation Read Along, Prussians, Regency Romp, Sandro, Tasha Alexander, The Spanish Apartment, The Stolen Letter

Recipe for Treason by Andrea Penrose
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: December 4th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Renard, that most elusive of spies, is up to something incendiary. Which is why Arianna, her husband Sandro, and their medically inclined friend and comrade Baz are headed north to Scotland on winter blasted roads at the behest of Lord Grentham. Behest might be too kind of a word. Grentham has threatened Baz's nephew who is currently in prison in Scotland for his "radical" tendencies and if they venture north then they can free said nephew as well as investigate on Grentham's behalf. The only problem is that they are attacked on their way north, their lead turns up dead, Baz's nephew turns up dead, and a bad character, Lord Stoughton, who is the colonel in command of the region, shoots Baz. After the failure that is their trip to Scotland the only thing they know for sure is that Renard appears to have developed a method of delivering death from the sky with a new flying machine and an explosive incendiary device. Something that must not end up in Napoleon's hands. Which leads them to think that perhaps they can find answers back in London at the Royal Institution. While it is nice to go home the problem is Baz is too ill to travel and they need someone who can understand the scientific nature of their investigation and open doors that would otherwise be closed. Enter Sophia Kirtland. Arianna had learned of Miss Kirtland and her husband's weekly visits to her during their previous investigation when Lord Grentham was trying to pull Arianna to heel. She knew her marriage to Sandro wasn't a love match, even if he says he loves her now, so she assumed that Miss Kirtland is his mistress. She couldn't be more wrong. Miss Kirtland is a delightful female scientist who lives outside the conventions of society. She's a genius and a recluse, and as soon as Arianna meets her she decides that she will not only use this woman to help in their investigation but she will help Sophia become more daring, more like Arianna herself. Thankfully Sandro doesn't realize this plan because one Arianna running around England is terrifying enough. But as the two women cut a swath through the ton and make all the right scientific connections Renard isn't keeping his head in the sand. The noose is tightening but whose neck will be in it is anyone's guess.

Recipe for Treason has a lot of absurdity going on in it's pages. There's more of Arianna doing improbable disguises and cross-dressing and getting involved in chases with hot air balloons, which at times could veer towards the slapstick if it wasn't so well grounded in reality even if Arianna's feet aren't anywhere near the ground. Because science and it's discoveries were, as Andrea Penrose points out in her Author's Note, discussed by all and the men who made the discoveries were rock stars. So if you're thinking "but that couldn't possibly be happening in 1814," you're wrong. As I previously learned years ago when reading Lauren Willig's The Garden Intrigue, there were proto-submarines in the Regency so why not proto-airplanes? I mean, if you think about it Leonardo da Vinci was drawing planes in his lifetime, which ended THREE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE this book takes place. But the science itself wasn't what I loved about this book but the scientists, and one in particular, Miss Sophia Kirtland. While Arianna is an interesting heroine, she's at times very off-putting. She's too confident, especially in her ability to disguise herself, and while it might be overcompensation to hide her insecurities, it doesn't endear me to her. I can't relate to who she is and the life she's led and every once in awhile that pulls me out of the story. She's like that friend you have that you're not quite sure you like because while she has all these interesting adventures it's too much about them and the facade they want no one to see behind. Whereas Sophia Kirtland is someone I can totally relate to. She had something bad happen to her and while she removed herself from society she didn't give up. She poured herself into her studies and experiments. She improved her mind, which is formidable, and when needed by Arianna and Sandro, she rose to the occasion more than I think she even thought herself capable of. I can't wait for her to be more involved in Arianna and Sandro's adventures because she is my cup of cocoa.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Airplanes, Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Da Vinci, Lauren Willig, Napoleon, Recipe for Treason, Regency England, Regency Romp, Science, Scientists, Scotland, Sophia Kirtland, Spies, Submarines, The Garden Intrigue

The Cocoa Conspiracy by Andrea Penrose
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: December 6th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 324 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Arianna still hasn't come quite to grips with the fact that she is the new Countess of Saybrook. Her marriage to Sandro seemed kind of expedient to get out of trouble. Sure, they rub along nicely, but what if he wakes up one day and realizes that an uneducated woman with a dodgy past from the West Indies isn't who he wanted to marry despite their shared love of chocolate? Therefore she will be the best wife she can be, and that means getting him a really spectacular birthday present. She ventures into the rarified air of Messrs. Harvey and Watkins Rare Book Emporium where she finds a book with the most exquisite engravings of Theocroma cacao. And the binding, the binding is like chocolate. Therefore she is more than shocked when a foreigner tries to wrest the book from her causing a scuffle in the store. She is victorious, but she wonders if the encounter was something more than a fanatical book collector not getting the prize he desired. When Sandro's uncle convinces the newlyweds to attend a county house party Arianna is shocked to find the man who attempted to steal her book in attendance. What's more, she thinks she's discovered why he wanted the book. As she prepares to wrap it she finds three sheets of papers slipped into the back binding. Two are encoded but one, a sensitive government document, points to Sandro's uncle as having possible links to the dangerous leak within the government, the spy known as Renard. There also happens to be an attempt on Sandro's life and a stranger is murdered at the house party. In other words, if they thought that the chaos that embodied their courtship was an aberration they are soon to find out they are sadly mistaken. To save his uncle's reputation Sandro agrees to a scheme devised by Grentham, Sandro and Arianna are to go to the Congress of Vienna. There Sandro will play the academic while Arianna will seduce the secrets out of the chief suspects. But what happens if Sandro realizes that he doesn't like risking his wife's life and reputation because he has come to hold her rather dear? Will it help or hinder their investigation?

For the longest time I felt utterly at sea with this volume of Arianna and Sandro's adventures. I had read the first volume, Sweet Revenge, only two weeks prior, and yet I couldn't figure out who the hell Renard was. Yes, I knew about the mole within the government aside from Grentham's aide who had an unfortunate encounter with Arianna's kitchen knives, so abstractly I wondered, could this be Renard? But my all consuming thought that kept repeating on a loop in my head was who the heck was Renard? I felt like I was going insane. Was I missing something like the recipe for Chocolate Coconut Cake that is at the beginning of the twelfth chapter? Because a cake isn't done when it's still just batter on the third step, where Renard just seemed to appear fully formed from nothing. Is Renard the equivalent of this cake? Skip a whole bunch of steps and voila, spy! I even went back and skimmed the previous volume for any reference to Renard and couldn't find one. So, if you know where the first mention of the name is I'd be very grateful to be told where it is, because I'm assuming it was omitted somehow.... So once I moved beyond Renard, just accepting their existence as a fait accompli, I was shocked that I found the house party kind of meh. I just love house parties. They are my catnip. When I read the blurb I was blah about the politics and Vienna and wild about the house party. But Andrea Penrose surprised me by taking the political machinations of the Congress and making it so much more. This was like a country house party on crack. The party was just bigger, grander, and with castles! There was intrigue, romance, dalliances, partner swapping, everything that was missing from the house party here, but oh so much better. What's more, there was an urgency to the whole situation. There was a force pushing the narrative that made me not want to put the book down. And as for that ending? I will warn you now, you have to have the next book, Recipe for Treason, ready to go. Because while their continental adventure might be over, there's still a fox in the hen house.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, British Country House, Chocolate, Congress of Vienna, Earl of Saybrook, Murder, Mystery, Recipe for Treason, Regency Romp, Renard, Sandro, Spy, Sweet Revenge, The Cocoa Conspiracy

Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose
Published by: Obsidian
Publication Date: April 6th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Lady Arianna Hadley has returned to England from a life of poverty and strife in the West Indies where she has been fending for herself ever since her father was murdered years earlier. Yet she returns to England, not to reclaim her place in the ton, but to seek revenge on those who are responsible for her father's death. Sadly one of the men has already succumbed to an accident, but that still leaves her one target, Lord Concord. Posing as a male French Chef in a dubious yet well healed household she is able to spy on those she plans to take down. Lady Spencer is very chatty with her cook and Arianna learns much from the Prince Regent's current mistress. But Arianna's plans go horribly awry when, upon eating one of her chocolaty confections, some of the first edible chocolate, the Prince Regent ends up ill. He has been poisoned. Suspected of attempted regicide, she is soon under scrutiny by the Earl of Saybrook, Alessandro De Quincy, who has been assigned the case of the poisoning due to his knowledge of chocolate. Sandro quickly notices that "he" is a she, but an attempt on their lives resulting in the death of their assailant soon throws them together. Trying to work with each other, while not quite understanding or trusting the other, and therefore not believing in full disclosure, at least on Arianna's part, they slowly start to ferret out the truth. The lovely smells of cacao seem to be hiding a labyrinthine financial swindle, the likes of which have not been seen in generations, the likes of which Arianna's father was known to be involved in. Constructing an elaborate undercover operation, Arianna enters society as a wealthy merry widow and soon starts to put the puzzle together by courting Lord Concord whose new Hellfire Club is all the rage with his set. But rakes and rogues are everywhere, and soon there are even more dead bodies. Will Arianna be able to sink to the depths she needs to in order to get her revenge? Or will she succumb to the lures offered to her in the pantomime she is living out?

This Regency romp by Andrea Penrose is sweet and frothy with a little bit o'spice, just like delicious hot cocoa done right. The outward appearance of this book might lead you to think it's on the cozy spectrum, but it is decidedly not. What with the Hellfire Club and the coarse language, these cajones aren't for everyone but they add that little bit of spice that sets Sweet Revenge apart from the stacked Regency crowd. Yes, we have somewhat typical protagonists, with Sandro and Arianna, him being a grizzled war veteran addicted to opiates and her being the orphan girl trying to reclaim a semblance of her old life while also helping him heal. Yet together they make each other better people, aw, Regency Romance indeed. The tropes aren't stale though because of the added lure of chocolaty confections and the two leads fierce intelligence. You don't get many mathematical geniuses who are female in Jane Austen now do you? Though, I think this book also demonstrates why you don't get mathematical geniuses in books too often, the jargon and the financial swindle where so confusing and detailed that it leaves you a little confused and feeling more than a little stupid, or perhaps that's just me and my inability to understand the South Sea Bubble of 1720. I want to understand, I just apparently can't. I do know that it's very bad and people lost money, so I got the gist. While the book is a fun quick read, it did have one major flaw; the gimmick of the recipes. An all too common gimmick in mysteries at the time Sweet Revenge was released. At the beginning of each chapter there is a little journal entry from Sandro's grandmother and a recipe. Now, the journal entry is fun and reflects the tone of the story, the recipe, not so much. This isn't because I don't want chocolate recipes, good God, I want as many as I can get, and many of these looked really tasty. The fact is, that they take you out of the story because of modern terminology. Having to read about setting an oven to 350 degrees makes the Regency feel a long time ago. While I think it would be cool if the recipes could be written more Mrs. Beeton like, I think the olde tyme would drive people around the bend trying to update to modern cooking terms. So how about just a nice selection of recipes at the back? They wouldn't pull you out of the story or distract you, and you'd still get all that chocolaty goodness. Mmm... chocolate.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Chocolate, Cozy, Earl of Saybrook, French Cuisine, Hellfire Club, Lady Hadley, Recipes, Regency Mystery, Regency Romp, Sandro, South Sea Bubble, Sweet Revenge, The Prince Regent

Sweet Revenge (A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery Book 1) by Andrea Penrose
Published by: Obsidian
Publication Date: April 6th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy
Lady Arianna Hadley has returned to England from a life of poverty and strife in the West Indies where she has been fending for herself ever since her father was murdered years earlier. Yet she returns to England, not to reclaim her place in the ton, but to seek revenge on those who are responsible for her father's death. Posing as a male French Chef in a dubious yet aristocratic household, she is able to spy on those she plans to take down. Her plans go wildly awry when, upon eating one of her chocolaty confections, the Prince Regent ends up poisoned. Suspected of attempted regicide, she is soon under scrutiny by the Earl of Saybrook, Alessandro De Quincy, who has been assigned the case of the poisoning due to his knowledge of chocolate. Sandro quickly notices that "he" is a she, but an attempt on their lives and a murder soon throws them together.

Trying to work with each other, while not quite understanding or trusting the other, and therefore not believing in full disclosure, they slowly start to ferret out the truth. The lovely smells of cacao seem to be hiding a labyrinthine financial swindle, the likes of which have not been seen in years, the likes of which Arianna's father was involved in. Constructing an elaborate undercover operation, Arianna enters society as a wealthy widow and soon starts to put the puzzle together. But rakes and rogues are everywhere, and soon there are even more dead bodies. Will Arianna be able to sink to the depths she needs to in order to get her revenge? Or will she succumb to the lures offered to her in the pantomime she is living out?

This Regency romp by Andrea Penrose is sweet and frothy with a little bit o'spice, just like delicious hot cocoa done right. We have somewhat typical protagonists, with Sandro and Arianna, him being a grizzled war veteran addicted to opiates and her being the orphan girl trying to reclaim a semblance of life. Yet together they make each other better people, aw, Regency Romance indeed. The tropes aren't stale though because of the added lure of chocolaty confections and the two leads fierce intelligences. You don't get many mathematical geniuses who are female in Jane Austen now do you? Though, I think this book also demonstrates why you don't get mathematical geniuses in books too often, the jargon and the financial swindle where so confusing and detailed that it leaves you a little confused and feeling more than a little stupid, but that's just an aside. The spice here is the overused Hell Fire Club... ah, what I wouldn't give for Dashwood's Medmenham Abbey and their depravities, or offshoots thereof, to just take a break from literature. Why does it always go to Medmenham? It has become on of the most stale tropes. Luckily it was in the first book in this new series, so hopefully it won't return. Got that Andrea? No more Hell Fire. This goes for anyone else planing on writing about the Monks of Medmenham. Don't.

While the book is a quick fun read, it did have one major flaw, which is a cute gimmick, but at the beginning was a real hindrance and led to me struggling to get into the book. At the beginning of each chapter there is a little journal entry from Sandro's grandmother and a recipe. Now, the journal entry is fun and reflects the tone of the story, the recipe, not so much. This isn't because I don't want chocolate recipes, good God, I want as many as I can get, and many of these looked really tasty. The fact is, that they take you out of the story because of modern terminology. Having to read about setting an oven to 350 degrees makes the Regency feel a little less real. While I think it would be cool if the recipes could be written more Mrs. Beeton like, I think the olde tyme would drive people around the bend trying to update to modern cooking terms. SO how about just a nice selection of recipes at the back? They wouldn't pull you out of the story or distract you, and you'd still get all that chocolaty goodness. Mmm... chocolate.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Chocolate, Hellfire Club, Jane Austen, Medmenham, Mrs. Beeton, Prince Regent, Regency Mystery, Sweet Revenge