I wasn't all that thrilled with the previous book in the series, and this is the sequel (in a partnered sort of way) to it. But this one? Brilliant. Sizzling.
I've bitched about the Eloise chapters well, all the time, but I will NOT be doing so in this one. MUCH better. She and Colin finally go on a date, and she finally finds out what's going on behind the scenes that's been making Colin act so damn weird. Yay, yay, yay for movement and honesty!
As for who Eloise is researching this time, she's going through the papers of Lord Vaughn, a shadowy, ambiguous figure in the books who was known to have boinked an agent of the Black Tulip, and his loyalties were definitely questionable. In this book, he's definitely outed as an agent of the Pink Carnation by now (and the reasons behind this are...interesting), who asks him to recruit the jilted-in-the-last-book Mary Alsworthy to the cause. The Black Tulip likes black-haired women as his agents (which he's running a bit low on), and Mary's just his type.
Mary hasn't been doing too well since her sister ran off with her fiance. At 25 and having already been through three Seasons without coming out with a husband, she's teetering on the verge of permanent spinsterdom, despite her sultry looks. And being around and living off of her sister and brother-in-law is just plain awkward, even if she and Geoffrey weren't a love match (on her end, anyway). If you don't get married off in this society, you're permanently powerless, and Mary does NOT want that. So she bargains Lord Vaughn into paying for another Season for her, and joins the cause.
This one is a lot of fun because our two main characters are...decidedly not squeaky-clean personalities. They're cynical, snarky, love to score points off each other, and the verbal parrying is excellent. Despite Lord Vaughn's having resisted Mary's charms many a time and oft before- after a bad first marriage, he's disinclined to do it again- she starts to make him change his mind. (Indeed, there's a bit by him in this towards the end that touched even my black heart.) Then, as it turns out, circumstances for are different than he thought...and he finds himself wanting someone he can't have, and Mary has to choose between settling down comfortably and throwing it all away.
Oh, and then there's the Black Tulip- BIG, HUGE developments in this one, folks. Huge!
Anyway, I LOVED this take on the darker characters in the series. Awesome stuff. Four stars.
I really, really want to read this book, but I haven't seen it out here yet!
Don't look...I am about to do some petulant foot stomping!
Great review!
Posted by: Marg | February 12, 2008 at 03:27 AM