The Masque of the Black Tulip

It has been quite some time since I read the first book in this series but I immediately fell into the story again. I love the juxtaposition of a modern day historian's discovery of the papers of Regency heroes and heroines with the story of the heroes and heroines as they were living their story.

I found many parts of the story to be laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, I was laughing so hard that I had to put down the book to wipe my eyes. The situations as two rank amateurs get involved in uncovering a dastardly French agent were both thrilling and amusing. I especially liked the friends-to-lovers plot as Henrietta and Miles each realize that their long-standing friendship was growing into something more but who don't realize or believe show more that the other has come to the same realization.

I like the modern parts of the story too which has Eloise wondering very much about Colin Selwick who is definitely a man of mystery. I am eager to carry on with this series to find out what happens next in 1803 and also what happens next for Eloise and Colin. show less

In my defence, after claiming I was only going to read the first novel in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series as an experiment, I did buy my copy of The Masque of the Black Tulip (the second sequel) at a bargain price. I couldn't borrow a copy, because my local library is wisely understocked with Willig's books, but at least I didn't pay full whack to download the Kindle version. Which I was very tempted to do.

What I cannot defend is how much I like these novels! They are written very much in the style of Georgette Heyer's 1930s Regency romances - my literary bugbear - with a very modern take on early nineteenth century England, and the author plays fast and loose with historical accuracy, but each story is so easy and enjoyable to show more read that there is little point in nitpicking the small stuff (although I could - matches were invented in the 1820s, the term 'burgle' was coined in the Victorian era, and 'rutabaga' is an American word, but hey, other than that!) Willig usually holds up her hands to any larger, deliberate anachronisms in the notes at the back of each novel - like switching the spy HQ from the Alien Office to the War Office, and rearranging the careers of historical personages to fit with the plot - so I don't mind applying the same rule to occasional minor inaccuracies, too.

What I love about the Pink Carnation novels is that they are fast and fun - part Heyer-esque romance, and part historical adventure, paying homage to the Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel series. The reader doesn't have to strain their brain to work out who will end up with who, or even which secondary character is the flowery spy of the title, but the devil is in the details. Not content with relocating Blakeney Manor to Kent in the first novel, Willig has very cheekily borrowed Austen's Donwell Abbey, home of Mr Knightley in Emma, and moved the gothic pile from Surrey to Sussex. The relationship between Henrietta Selwick, Richard's sister, and Miles Dorrington also reminded me somewhat of Austen's novel - 'There could be worse things than falling in love with one's oldest friend', thinks the hazel-eyed Henrietta. Or I could be reading far too much into the connection.

The Black Tulip is definitely my favourite so far - Henrietta might say "bleargh" and 'scrunch' her nose a lot, but at least she isn't Tigger in a frock like Amy, and Miles is a thoroughly blokey sweetheart. I'm starting to notice a formula already - even down to the 'love scenes' - but oh look at that, the next book in the series is available at the library ... show less

well, there was no bodice ripping (though there was shift ripping =])!

I liked that Ms. Willig had a parallel story line going on with the researcher and her subject- though she's now sucked me into reading the next novel to see what happens with the researcher and her potential love interest...

It was fun, a nice flouncy romp (if those can be flouncy) through regency England and it's nest of spies and potential spyees..er, those spied upon.

Vacillating between "the heights of espionage to the depths of French farce" (or a Wodehouse-styled bungling with some assistance courtesy of Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh), Willig has produced another energetic and breezy rollicking romp through 1803 Europe and modern 2003 England. Romance continues to sizzle and thrum off the pages with our new romantic couple Miles and Henrietta providing just as much romantic misadventure as Richard and Amy did in the first installment of the series. Continuing the winning formula from the previous book, Willig presents readers with a formidable foe for Miles in the form of the brooding Lord Vaughn, a known rake of London society according to Henrietta’s mother, the Marchioness of Uppington. show more While the unmasking of the Black Tulip was no surprise to me, I found the budding relationship between Miles and Henrietta to be a delight. The fact that even Eloise has her own misadventures gives the two story-lines a parallel aspect.

Overall, a wonderful blending of Regency romance with swashbuckling Napoleonic Wars espionage anchored to the present via the modern day story-line of historian student/archivist Eloise Kelly. show less

It was okay; certainly nothing I will devote precious real estate on my bookshelves to keeping against a future rereading.

I picked up the first five books in the series at a used book store and have not been sufficiently put-off as to leave the remaining volumes unread. (Such a move is unheard of for me -- to invest so much into a series without any prior recommendations, but the selections for historical fiction were slum pickings that day.) I liked the main characters (Henrietta and Miles) in this book better than I liked Richard and Amy from the first book. [Amy struck me as too childish and her romance with Richard/the Purple Gentian felt coincidental and contrived. As did their meeting, especially in light of all of Amy's girlhood show more daydreams and fantasies. And then there was the not-at-all-believable scene in the rowboat. I won't even start on that.] I felt that the simmering-under-the-surface attraction between Miles and Henrietta, as characters who had practically grown up together, was realistic, even to the point of their feelings catching each of them off-guard...but the animosity from Richard didn't sell for me. I could happily do without the gratuitous sex scene Willig feels obliged to include in each of her books. Aside from being unrealistically "perfect" (and aside from her heroines not seeming to care for a second that the hero has obviously been "sowing his wild oats" before she ended up as his bride), it adds nothing to the story.

In the end, even though it is apparently Richard and Amy who set up the secret spy school, I would rather see more of Miles and Henrietta, who seem to be a more valid couple. (And while I can appreciate the interspersed "modern day" tale of Eloise and Colin, if the author doesn't do something with that story soon, I may cease to care. Eloise, while ostensibly the reason we get the Regency-era tales (through the device of her research in various archives for her dissertation), is a far less interesting and sympathetic character. Her neuroses are starting to wear a bit thin after only two books and an apparent month or so in"real time" elapsed; how in the world will that last through the ten or so books that apparently make up the series? show less

I loved this book as much as the first, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. This one was more romance than mystery, but there’s a healthy dose of each. And humor! Once again, Eloise isn’t sure what she wants, but she’s sure she’s making a pretty big fool of herself. And back in history, the secret agents of England and France are up to their old tricks, except this time, Henrietta, the Purple Gentian’s sister, wants in on the action. It’s not too hard to figure out who the Black Tulip really is, but watching the characters follow the red herring is part of the fun. The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger in Eloise’s story, so I’m anxious to see where it goes!

I've been reading the latest installments in Willig's Pink series, and decided to skim and review the earlier books that I read before I joined Library Thing. I've been enjoying her books since my sister first alerted my attention to them, but as I read the current ones and reread the earlier ones, I noticed that Willig poured a lot of love in her first three novels. As much as I like Penelope and Charlotte and Mary, I love Lettie and Amy and Henrietta. I also was more interested in the Eloise and Colin structural plot in the first few books. This book featured Henrietta and her potential beau, Miles. I was smiling from ear to ear while I read their story. Both of those characters are just so much fun.

Henrietta is the sister of the show more famed Purple Gentian, and good friends with Amy, her sister-in-law, who created the Pink Carnation. As such, she is deeply interested, and frequently involved, in the espionage business. Yet something, or rather someone, is distracting her from this engrossing business. She grew up with Miles, who was best friends with her brother, but her feelings are less than sisterly lately. Miles is feeling a similar change of heart, but since Henrietta's brother Richard entrusted Miles with his sister's protection while he was away, Miles is conflicted. He can't admit to himself that he is in love with Henrietta, and whenever his imagination and body betray his firmly resolved convictions, he chastises himself and tries to convince himself that it's just a fancy. This is hard to do, since he spends so much time with Henrietta, and they can practically read each other's mind.

What I loved most about them was their sarcastic banter and innocent bumbling. They both mean well, but are naive in matters of the spy world. What they lack in expertise, though, they make up in earnestness. They are like puppies, stumbling in to all sorts of trouble in their genuine desire to help England, but somehow everything comes right in the end. And when they interact it's pure joy to observe. They know each other so well that they can communicate without words, and when they do talk, their friendly sparring is highly entertaining. These two characters simply belong together.

Oh yes, there is also a plot about the nefarious Black Tulip, a spy from France known for his nasty ways of torture and deception. Miles and Hen are trying to find the Tulip, unaware that the Tulip is also trying to watch them, because they are known associates of the Purple Gentian. The espionage plot accompanies the romantic plot in a nice balance of action and love, and both parts are equally interesting, As an added bonus, I enjoyed the Eloise and Colin love story much more than I have been liking them in the later novels, where they have become simply an annoying distraction from the main story. Reading this book reminded me of why I became so intrigued with the series in the first place, and I do hope that some of Willig's newer books that I haven't yet read will resonate with the same energy that this book had in abundance. show less