strange and random happenstance

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

The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig
Published by: NAL Trade
Publication Date: August 6th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Colonel William Reid is retiring to England to live out his life in leisure with his two daughters, Kat and Lizzy, leaving behind three very different, one very difficult, sons in India. Little does he know that the school in Bath that Lizzy has been attending, Miss Climpson's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, seems to be the epicenter of spies in the battle between the French and the English. For two years Miss Gwendolyn Meadows has been at the center of that fight, or slightly next to the center, wielding a dangerous parasol as the second in command to Britain's chief operative, The Pink Carnation, aka, Jane Wooliston. She has ostensibly been the dragonish chaperone of Jane while they lived in France under the roof of Jane's cousin, who has his own secrets to keep. Jane has received a missive from her family that finds Jane and Gwen on the steps of Miss Climpson's just as Colonel Reid arrives. As fate would have it these three must unite because Jane's sister, Agnes, has gone missing along with Colonel Reid's daughter Lizzy. William doesn't grasp the seriousness of this, thinking it's just girls being girls. Jane knows that this is probably not the case. Somehow Agnes and therefore Lizzy's disappearance has to do with Jane's subversive activities, she just knows it. When William and Gwen are attacked while inquiring after Lizzy at Kat's home in Bristol, he comes to see that his littlest girl is truly in danger. He might not have been the best parent so far, but he was going to fix that. The attack also shows that the reason for the girls disappearance might not be Jane's fault and might actually be tangled up with William's most dubious of children, Jack, and not Jane at all... Or at least not directly. Rumors are that besides switching sides from the French to the English Jack has made off with the famous jewels of Berar... Jewels which are rumored to have been sent to Lizzy. This means that Jane, Gwen and William aren't the only ones looking for the girls. That most dangerous of French spies, The Gardener, is also on their trail.

Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series is like the ultimate comfort read, like watching The Princess Bride mixed with Bridget Jones's Diary. There's "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles"... Well, maybe not giants, monsters, or fencing per se, but there is Miss Gwen with a rapier parasol, and Lizzy Reid with a bow and arrow, and Lizzy alone is just as dangerous as those three things together. In this tenth installment we have a character we have loved since day one and who demanded her own book, seriously, ask Lauren. Miss Gwen has always been a pillar of strength and fortitude. Ready to take down the French with an arch look or a well placed parasol to shin or other vulnerable body part. We have seen this hilarious yet adept spy trailing behind The Pink Carnation, almost as an accessory to Jane. It is as if Gwen herself was Jane's multifunctional parasol weapon. In The Passion of the Purple Plumeria we see that the reserve that Jane has always exhibited doesn't exclude Gwen. Gwen is just as in the dark as other agents, just hoping that in lying to herself that she has found a place where she belongs, working beside Jane. Holding on to the dream that her life has purpose and that this work will continue. Lauren brings such depth to Gwen, showing that while she is strong and kicks ass at her job, there's a vulnerability. Gwen could lose Amy and therefore lose her calling. Beneath the gruff exterior Gwen really does have a gooey center. She is a mature heroine that has lived and loved and is therefore all the more relatable as I get closer and closer to Gwen's age. Yet in revealing Gwen's weaknesses, in showing us her painful history, Lauren doesn't take away anything, Gwen can be both vulnerable and strong. Like a parasol, something light and frilly, but with a hidden sword in the shaft. Gwen is just simply remarkable, "beneath that stern exterior was a lifetime's worth of adventure for the man brave enough to win her."

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Berar, Bridget Jones's Diary, Colonel Reid, Jack Reid, Jane Wooliston, Lauren Willig, Lizzy Reid, Miss Gwen, Pink Carnation Read Along, Regency Romp, The Passion of the Purple Plumeria, The Princess Bride

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: January 22nd, 2009
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Charlotte has been waiting at Girdings for her knight in shining armor to come, just like those glorious murals on the walls depicting her ancestors bravely battling their foes on long forgotten battlefields or in the books she consumes copiously. She even has her own dragon with her grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Dovedale. In fact, she's not the only one who would compare her grandmother to a fire-breathing monster, but no one would dare say that to her grandmother's face. Then on Christmas Eve, out of the snow, Robert returns. Fleeing the family home for India all those years ago, the Duke of Dovedale returns like a knight returning from a long crusade in the Holy Land. Charlotte instantly starts picturing her world in that special rose tinted way with a happy ending of hunting unicorns with jam tarts and kissing Robert in the sun, never mind it's bleak midwinter and her grandmother has surrounded her with rogues and dimwits in a final attempt to marry her off. The worst of the lot being Sir Francis Medmenham, descendant of the nefarious founder of the Hellfire Club. But why did Robert return? Is he here to court fair maiden? Or does he have darker designs... He has taken to Medmenham rather fast. The course of true love never ran smooth, especially when misunderstandings abound. If Robert had just talked to Charlotte maybe things would have gone better... Because Robert is out for revenge but he can't let the fair maiden know of his deceit. Breaking her heart for her own good, Robert sinks deeper into Medmenham's world while Charlotte is bustled off to court to wait on the Queen. But following a startling discovery and evidence that the King is going mad once again, Charlotte takes on her own adventure for King and Country. Could it be that Robert's nemesis and the men behind Charlotte's uncovered plot are connected? If only through libraries and boat rides and dark tunnels used for darker purposes Charlotte and Robert could work together and not fret about what ifs, might-have-beens, and almost kisses. Maybe they could save England.

If I were a fictional character who lived in Regency England, there is no doubt in my mind that I'd be Charlotte. During Lauren's Monthly Zoom Read Along I could see in the comments so many of the other bookish Pink fans were declaring how much they were like Charlotte. And I totally believe them. Who else but modern Charlottes would be geeking out over an author holding a monthly Zoom book club for a series that ended years and years ago? Though there is something I would disagree with. Everyone loved reading a book that had a character they so identified with. Me, not so much. See, I read books to escape. I like to read about other people and places, and yes, I get a kick out of it when I see someone who I can relate to, but the problem isn't relating to Charlotte, it is being her. I don't want to read a book about myself. And The Temptation of the Night Jasmine is the closest I've ever come to reading about myself. Now sadly a Robert hasn't shown up and there's a distinct lack of jam tarts at the moment but that is thankfully balanced by the lack of spies and Hellfire Clubs. Whenever I re-read the whole Pink Carnation series this is the book that is always my stumbling block. I just can't get into it because I'm not going away from myself but towards myself, if that makes sense. But at the same time this is a book that for one perfect moment I fell into so deeply I was literally in it. The first time I read The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, fall of 2008 if you're interested in knowing, I went full Thursday Next and fell into it. The scene in the book is right after dinner when Charlotte takes Robert up onto the roof of Girdings. The chill air, the friendly statuary, the kiss. I. WAS. THERE. It was beyond freaky. I usually never see action, even in my dreams, from my point of view, but as an outside observer, but there I was, fully in this book. I expected Robert to ask what I was doing there. Thankfully it didn't get that weird. But all these experiences mean I'm the most ambivalent about The Temptation of the Night Jasmine than any other Pink book... But that doesn't mean for an instant I don't love it. But like the love you have for an Aunt that can sometimes really annoy you. Oh, or the love you have for a dragon of a grandmother?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charlotte Lansdowne, Girdings, Hellfire Club, Lauren Willing, Pink Carnation Read Along, POV, Regency Romp, The Dowager Duchess of Dovedale, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, Thursday Next, Zoom

The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: November 16th, 2006
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Letty and Mary Alsworthy are as different as two sisters can be. At a frizzy haired five foot, Letty will never be like her statuesque sister. And she would NEVER run off in the middle of the night for a midnight elopement with Geoffry Pinchingdale-Snipe. She might try to stop the elopement with all good intentions, but never elope herself. Until fate intervenes and she's the one being spirited away in the night to a rendezvous with a certain member of the peerage. Geoff, being Geoff, marries the sister whose reputation he inadvertently ruined. He might see her as a conniving and manipulative upstart who took her chance when the opportunity afforded itself, but at least his obligations to the Pink Carnation mean that he can hare off to Ireland and put some space between his broken heart and his unwanted bride. Practical Letty for once doesn't know what to do. She's been the one who has always taken care of her family and has never had a spot of bother. Now she's married to a man who has vanished and he hasn't let her explain what really happened. A little drunk, she gets the first packet out of London to follow Geoff to Ireland thanks to Miles and Henrietta spilling the beans as to where Goeff went. But an unwanted wife in England is a completely different situation to an unwanted wife in Ireland interfering with his mission to thwart a French and Irish alliance. Begrudgingly taking Letty into his confidences with one Pink Carnation, Jane Wolliston, and one parasol wielding pyromaniac in the making, Miss Gwen, they all try to muddle through for the good of England. But add a dangerous cousin on the prowl for Geoff's title, Lord Vaughn, who's every word has double and triple entendres, and evidence that the Black Tulip is at it again, things might be trickier than anyone thought. Can this all be untangled and England saved? Because maybe fate intervened for a reason and Letty is the sister Geoff should have been wooing all along. But back in the present Eloise has an even more pressing problem. Can she get a certain Colin Selwick to call her and set up a date?

The Deception of the Emerald Ring is itself very deceptive. Whenever I think of the Pink Carnation series as a whole it never makes the cut as a favorite, and then I re-read it and realize how much I love it. I start to question my entire ranking of the series and as of this moment while I write this review it might even make my top ten books of 2021 because I adored re-reading it so much. This book tricks me every time into thinking that it's not as good as it is. I should have learned by now having read this book as many times as I have. Also, I seriously have no idea how many times I've read it. Because of other reading commitments during the year long Pink Carnation Read Along and the fact that I was once again underestimating it and not really looking forward to picking it up The Deception of the Emerald Ring didn't make it off my bookshelf until the day before the Zoom meeting. And while I had intended to shotgun the whole book in day, I found myself so drawn into the book I wanted it to last for days. So the Zoom meeting came and went and I was still reading. And now I think I'm going to read all the books AFTER the meeting. Because I've read all these stories before it's not like a book club meeting where you're feverishly trying to finish before time so you can discuss it. No, the meeting gave me further insights into the story so that when I was reading it I picked up on these new nuggets of information. I got to thinking about the implications of donning trousers, the practicalities versus the amorous. I got to enjoy Lord Vaughn showing up and just taking over every scene he was in. And I finally got to see the Black Tulip plot line form into a more logical garden plan. To not have just one sadistic spy, but sadists working for a criminal mastermind makes more sense that the Marquise ever did. She mistook Turnip for the Pink Carnation! I'm sorry, but anyone who could think that doesn't deserve to be a criminal mastermind. A pawn though... Totally suited for a pawn.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Book Club, France, Geoffry Pinchingdale-Snipe, Ireland, Lauren Willig, Letty Alsworthy, Pink Carnation Read Along, Regency Romp, The Black Tulip, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, The Pink Carnation, Zoom

The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: November 16th, 2006
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Letty and Mary Alsworthy are as different as two sisters can be. At a frizzy haired five foot, Letty will never be like her statuesque sister. And she would NEVER run off in the middle of the night for a midnight elopement with Geoffry Pinchingdale-Snipe. She might try to stop the elopement with all good intentions, but never elope herself. Until fate intervenes and she's the one being spirited away in the night to a rendezvous with a certain member of the peerage. Geoff, being Geoff, marries the sister whose reputation he inadvertently ruined. He might see her as a conniving and manipulative upstart who took her chance when the opportunity afforded itself, but at least his obligations to the Pink Carnation mean that he can hare off to Ireland and put some space between his broken heart and his unwanted bride. Practical Letty for once doesn't know what to do. She's been the one who has always taken care of her family and has never had a spot of bother. Now she's married to a man who has vanished and he hasn't let her explain what really happened. A little drunk, she gets the first packet out of London to follow Geoff to Ireland thanks to Miles and Henrietta spilling the beans as to where Goeff went. But an unwanted wife in England is a completely different situation to an unwanted wife in Ireland interfering with his mission to thwart a French and Irish alliance. Begrudgingly taking Letty into his confidences with one Pink Carnation, Jane Wolliston, and one parasol wielding pyromaniac in the making, Miss Gwen, they all try to muddle through for the good of England. But add a dangerous cousin on the prowl for Geoff's title, Lord Vaughn, who's every word has double and triple entendres, and evidence that the Black Tulip is at it again, things might be trickier than anyone thought. Can this all be untangled and England saved? Because maybe fate intervened for a reason and Letty is the sister Geoff should have been wooing all along. But back in the present Eloise has an even more pressing problem. Can she get a certain Colin Selwick to call her and set up a date?

The Deception of the Emerald Ring is itself very deceptive. Whenever I think of the Pink Carnation series as a whole it never makes the cut as a favorite, and then I re-read it and realize how much I love it. I start to question my entire ranking of the series and as of this moment while I write this review it might even make my top ten books of 2021 because I adored re-reading it so much. This book tricks me every time into thinking that it's not as good as it is. I should have learned by now having read this book as many times as I have. Also, I seriously have no idea how many times I've read it. Because of other reading commitments during the year long Pink Carnation Read Along and the fact that I was once again underestimating it and not really looking forward to picking it up The Deception of the Emerald Ring didn't make it off my bookshelf until the day before the Zoom meeting. And while I had intended to shotgun the whole book in day, I found myself so drawn into the book I wanted it to last for days. So the Zoom meeting came and went and I was still reading. And now I think I'm going to read all the books AFTER the meeting. Because I've read all these stories before it's not like a book club meeting where you're feverishly trying to finish before time so you can discuss it. No, the meeting gave me further insights into the story so that when I was reading it I picked up on these new nuggets of information. I got to thinking about the implications of donning trousers, the practicalities versus the amorous. I got to enjoy Lord Vaughn showing up and just taking over every scene he was in. And I finally got to see the Black Tulip plot line form into a more logical garden plan. To not have just one sadistic spy, but sadists working for a criminal mastermind makes more sense that the Marquise ever did. She mistook Turnip for the Pink Carnation! I'm sorry, but anyone who could think that doesn't deserve to be a criminal mastermind. A pawn though... Totally suited for a pawn.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Book Club, France, Geoffry Pinchingdale-Snipe, Ireland, Lauren Willig, Letty Alsworthy, Pink Carnation Read Along, Regency, The Black Tulip, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, The Pink Carnation, Zoom