Fifth-year graduate student Eloise Kelly has arrived in
London from the U.S. intent on completing her dissertation
and unmasking the Pink Carnation. Mrs. Selwick-Alderly has
given Eloise permission to study the many papers stored in
her home, Selwick Hall, relating to the history of
the "flower" generation -- spies that include the Pink
Carnation and the Black Tulip.
In the 1800s, Mary Alsworthy, a shapely black-haired
beauty, is residing with her sister Letty, who's stolen
Mary's intended for her own husband. Mary has struck a
bargain with the devil, Sebastian, also known as Lord
Vaughn, to spy for him and the Pink Carnation in an effort
to uncover the identity of the Black Tulip. Falling in love
with Sebastian, Mary is confronted by a wife, supposedly
dead, and eludes the attempts of assassination. Mary
becomes involved in risky scenarios and invites danger by
playing both sides at the same time. Her initial reason for
becoming involved was the money she'd be paid, but that
soon becomes her least concern.
THE SEDUCTION OF THE CRIMSON ROSE, Lauren Willig's
fourth novel in the Pink Carnation series, is packed with
history of the Napoleonic wars and spy activity. The reader
will find the story packed with action, adventure and
passion. This novel would be especially interesting to
readers with a genuine love of historical events and
espionage.
Lauren Willig continues the exciting Pink Carnation series
with her fourth novel, The Seduction of the Crimson
Rose, featuring Lord Vaughn, the delightfully devilish
spy from The Masque of the Black Tulip, and Mary
Alsworthy, the raven-haired beauty whose sister
accidentally stole her suitor in The Deception of the
Emerald Ring. Determined to secure another London
season without assistance from her new brother-in-law,
Mary accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on
behalf of the Pink Carnation: to infiltrate the ranks of
the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his
master can stage their planned invasion of England. Every
spy has a weakness, and for the Black Tulip that weakness
is black-haired women?his ?petals? of the Tulip. A natural
at the art of seduction, Mary easily catches the attention
of the French spy, but Lord Vaughn never anticipates that
his own heart will be caught as well. Fighting their
growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of
course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost
in the shadows of a treacherous garden of lies.
As our modern-day heroine, Eloise Kelly, digs deeper into
England?s Napoleonic-era espionage, she becomes even more
entwined with Colin Selwick, the descendant of her spy
subjects.
