The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Pink Carnation, #1)

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The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Pink Carnation #1)

by Lauren Willig (Goodreads Author)

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 11,309 ratings · 1,406 reviews

Everything is coming up carnations in this national bestselling series

Realizing romantic heroes are a thing of the past, graduate student Eloise Kelly is determined to focus on her work. Her first stop: England, to finish her dissertation on the English spies of the Napoleonic Wars, like the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian.

But her greatest conquest is to reveal...more

Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages

Published October 5th 2010 by Signet Select (first published October 10th 2004)

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Dec 18, 2011 Cassy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-own, 2011, fiction-girlie, fiction-historical, region-europe, event-met-author, theme-blush-worthy, lawyers-turned-authors

I feel compelled to defend why I read this book in the first place – which is never good. And in this case, it is difficult, because I myself am still trying to understand why. The title, cover, and plot summary were flashing caution lights. A perusal of several reviews was not encouraging. Why, oh why, did I not heed the warnings?

If I am going to be honest, it came down to these two points:

1) I already had plans to attend an event with author, Tasha Alexander. As the date approached, I learned...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Pamela(AllHoney) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spies-hr, love-hate-relationship, hr-georgian-regency, 1st-in-series, dukes-earls-viscounts-etc, british-boys-uk, my-4-star-romances

The first in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series. I found this gem in the library. My first by this author and coincidentally the author's first. I was pleasantly pleased with it. I wasn't sure I would be when I opened the first page. I'm not a fan of 1st person POV but I kept on and realized the whole book is not written that way and I came to enjoy the parts that were. This is one of those stories in a story. It starts with a young American woman seeking information for her dissertation on s...more

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Aug 22, 2007 (A) Tara rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: oversexed and underaged pseudo-history buffs

Shelves: junk

I would rather like my two hours back that I spent on this book. It's not that it was bad, rather, it had an intriguing premise, but the past/future aspects were poorly merged, the part of the story set in present day was absolutely unsatisfying and the Georgian smut felt out of place, perhaps because of the highly formal nature she tried to give the characters.

The lesson to be learned there is you can't do Pride and Prejudice with an R rating.

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Aug 08, 2010 Loni rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, this book started out so cute! It's a great mix of historical fiction (granted with several liberties taken), chick lit, and a cute little Superman/Lois Lane man-in-a-mask love story. It was just a fun read. Until the sex scene... So I don't recommend it. In hind sight, although it was cute, it also was very shallow to begin with.

I HATE it when fun books turn out to be dirty when you're already half way through. Does anyone know if there's a website out there that gives tv/movie type rati...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Lisa Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-romance-historical, m-audible-dot-com, 2012-in-2012-group-challenge, zzcover-pink, reviewed-by-me, authors-w, authors-l, all-time-favorites, character-female-u, character-male-u

a) Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)
b) Pink Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)
a) Purple Gentian (Gentiana verna)
d) Pink Champagne! ☺

a)

★★★★✩ This is a review of the audiobook, narrated by Kate Reading, who did a wonderful job on this charming intro to the Pink Carnation series. I cannot recall hearing her before; but, luckily she reads the rest of the audio series as well, so I certainly look forward to listening to her.

I guess you could call this one an “historical chick-lit” with...more

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May 23, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19thcentury

This was one of those books that I found easier to read once I gave up any expectations I started with, and I will confess that it did redeem itself in my eyes by the end. It was a cute but predictable story about the hijinks surrounding the doings and identities of the preposterously-named Purple Gentian and Pink Carnation, not that the names really mattered that much. We mostly follow the dense Amy about as she desperately but naively tries to enter the world of espionage. Both she and her lov...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Bonnie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, chick-lit-by-any-other-name

This is what I get for being lulled into a false sense of security by a nice cover and an interesting premise. This book promised to be a historical fiction with a bit of mystery thrown in. Instead, it turned out to be a banal bodice-ripping generically bad Regency romance novel.

I could deal with the fact that the “modern” parts of the book were completely unnecessary. I could even deal with the fact that the way people spoke/acted in the 19th century parts and the modern parts were exactly the...more This is what I get for being lulled into a false sense of security by a nice cover and an interesting premise. This book promised to be a historical fiction with a bit of mystery thrown in. Instead, it turned out to be a banal bodice-ripping generically bad Regency romance novel.

I could deal with the fact that the “modern” parts of the book were completely unnecessary. I could even deal with the fact that the way people spoke/acted in the 19th century parts and the modern parts were exactly the same (i.e., wildly anachronistic for the Regency parts). I could even deal with the fact that it was impossible to tell how much modern-day scholar Eloise knew of the story the reader learned, considering many of the details would NOT find their way into the diaries/letters that she was supposedly reading (and why oh why did Willig just not do the 19th century bits in letter/diary form?). I could deal with all these things IF the writing, characters, and plot were any good. Unfortunately, those three things were so horribly done that the previous details I mentioned only added insult to injury.

First of all, the two main heroines (present day Eloise and Regency Amy) were Chaotic Stupid. When the main trait of your characters is Too Stupid To Live you know there is something wrong. The love interest, Lord Richard, besides having a lame secret identity name (the Purple Gentian...yeah, I know) was also dumb beyond belief. And this was the man who apparently outwitted the French Secret Service for years. Either the French Secret Service is even more incompetent than the average villainous mook, or Lord Richard survived on sheer luck.

Why do I hate this book? Let me count the ways: Everyone acts like a 12 year old, and not a particularly bright 12 year old. There is so much stomping, foot stamping and door slamming that I almost wanted to keep count to see how many times Willig managed to fit it in. And these are supposed to be grown adults. And they do dumbass things, like Lord Richard and Amy both ending up in the bad guy's room for secret spy reasons and instead of being quiet and stealthy and getting in and out fast...they make out on the bed and then stand around shouting at each other until the bad guy and his guards surround them. SERIOUSLY, HOW IS LORD RICHARD STILL ALIVE?!?!? Especially given the fact that he mostly spends the book whining, leering at the heroine, not being particularly stealthy, allowing himself to be tailed without ever figuring it out, and having the heroine, her cousin and her governess figure out his true identity in about a week. HOW HAS NO ONE ELSE BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT THEN?!?!? Truly, I think in this parallel timeline where the Scarlet Pimpernel was a real person, a dreaded Stupidity Epidemic swept through France and Britain, rendering both the Continent and the Isles thick as concrete.

Amy was perhaps one of the most annoying heroines I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. She is the main culprit of the stomping, juvenile behavior. She actually has an argument with Lord Richard that devolves into "I'm not speaking to you!" "How mature!" "Shut up!" "You just spoke to me!" "That doesn't count!" thing I did with my brothers when I was about 8. Plus, she made a point to get a job tutoring Napoleon's stepdaughter in English so she could have an in with the government...and then the entire subplot was dropped as we never saw the stepdaughter again or heard anything of any tutoring. AND she was one of those heroines who despite being a privileged, sheltered girl has no concern for propriety at all and seems to willfully try to ruin her reputation every opportunity she gets, despite the fact that at the time a ruined reputation was actually A Serious Business that could shame not only her but ALSO her family (including her cousins). I mean, this girl nearly loses her virginity on a BOAT with a poor hired guy ROWING HER AND HER PARAMOUR on the Seine. Sex in public with a witness! Does the girl have no shame? You don't think she'd feel at all awkward by the fact that, you know, someone WAS WATCHING HER? I know it's hard to think logically when you're in the middle of getting hot and heavy with a guy you like, but at the very least it should've given her a moment of pause. But, no, it barely registers. Not to mention the scene where her governess upbraids Napoleon as if he's a naughty child and isn't even thrown in jail for what would've been considered treason. The only person who showed ANY intelligence at all was cousin Jane. Basically she was the only one that ever figured anything out without having it dropped in her lap and she used the common sense that God gave her instead of acting like a spoiled, selfish brat.

You'd think that an author who was getting a PhD in history at Harvard could write a decent historical novel. You'd be wrong. This is the epitome of bad writing, idiotic characters, plot contrivances, and no apparent historical research. (less)

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Aug 03, 2008 Tina rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-historical

I was bitterly disappointed in this book. Given the quality hard cover, the lovely cover art and the blurb, I was expecting something that strives to be Heyer or Austen. I would have been happy with something that fell along the lines of Tasha Alexander or Deanna Raybourne. Heck, I would counted myself lucky if the book had been vaguely reminiscent of Mary Balogh or Julia Quinn. Instead I got something that fell far short of all of those.

Instead of sparkling wit of Heyer and the mannered prose o...more I was bitterly disappointed in this book. Given the quality hard cover, the lovely cover art and the blurb, I was expecting something that strives to be Heyer or Austen. I would have been happy with something that fell along the lines of Tasha Alexander or Deanna Raybourne. Heck, I would counted myself lucky if the book had been vaguely reminiscent of Mary Balogh or Julia Quinn. Instead I got something that fell far short of all of those.

Instead of sparkling wit of Heyer and the mannered prose of Austen, I got a by the numbers, derivative, cliche historical romance novel that (weirdly) also wanted to be modern chick lit and a rollicking spy adventure as well.

The heroine Amy is a firm and permanent resident of the too stupid to live category.

Seriously. This girl did one dumb thing after the other. Just from the glimpse of a black cloak, she believes she has discovered the identity of the Purple Gentian (a famous spy a la the Scarlet Pimpernel). So she sends the man a note to meet her at night in a deserted park. So very smart! The fact that the real Purple Gentian happened to coincidentally have a conversation with the other man (who was a leering jerk) where he learns about the assignation, is what largely saves the stupid twit from being raped.

But Amy is not the only dull knife in the drawer. For a super spy who has eluded capture for years, Richard is also remarkably inept. First he has pretty much told his entire family his secret identity. Isn't that like rule number 1 in the spy handbook? You don't tell anyone your identity especially not your mother and your younger sister. And then there is the scene where he and Amy are in the apartment of the head of Napoleon's secret police to steal papers. Instead of getting in and getting out, they have a conversation on issues of love trust and almost end up making love right then and there. Sigh. There are not words enough...

And there were many more moments where I just rolled my eyes so hard.

There was also a very modern feel to the language that struck me as out of place. While not overtly anachronistic in word usage, the tone was just off. It was too droll, too arch. I got the impression that author was doing this on purpose and trying to let us in on the joke. But imo, it failed miserably.

Also, I could pretty much predict how the H/h were going to act and react to each other. This book was just stuffed with romance novel obviousness. Not one character did anything surprising or unpredictable.

Actually, I retract that last statement a bit. This book was not a total waste. Jane, the heroine's cousin was actually an excellent character. She had all the brains, wit and composure the heroine should have had. Had Jane been the heroine of this novel and been allowed to retain her character this may have been a much different story.

And I do have to admit the book was funny in some places. Toward the end of the novel the scene where Richard's family shows up and wants to meet Amy was a entertaining.

But even with those one or two positive things, the book overall was still a big disappointment.

I can't recommend.(less)

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Jun 24, 2012 Ann rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, england, fluff, france, london, regency, romance, espionage, paris, napoleon

Don't be fooled by the cover: this book is a romance novel pretending to be historical fiction. I was completely shocked when the first sex scene started (in a small boat on a river which was currently being rowed by someone else! I kept thinking I had missed something and the rower had left the boat, but no). Along with the requisite sex, there are also the requisite shallow protagonists. I kept thinking there must be more to the characters (because I was duped by the cover!), but they really a...more

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Apr 14, 2007 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2006, historical-fiction, romance

I love the Scarlet Pimpernel and Willig has taken the foundation laid by Baroness Orczy and expanded it, creating the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation. Two stories in one, the book follows modern day scholar Eloise who is determined to unmask the Pink Carnation as well as Amy, a woman who lived in the time of Napoleon who seeks to join the League of the Purple Gentian. Part historical novel, part romance, and part adventure, this was a surprisingly good read. I will definitely be picking up...more

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Nov 11, 2012 April rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, historical-fiction

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig is an adult historical fiction romance. It alternates between modern day England and Post-Revolutionary France. The book alternates between three main characters, Eloise, Amy Balcourt, and Richard Selwick.It's basically a spin-off of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Read the rest of my review here

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Jan 08, 2010 Abby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you don't know your Regency terminology, you're out of luck. Willig inserts Georgian phrases helter skelter (trying too hard to set the scene, perhaps?)

The climax of the book is a bit of a letdown - when the reader finds out who really ends up as the Pink Carnation it's unsatisfactory and not at all how the plot should flow.

The cliff-hanger ending makes you want to dive into the next book to continue on Eloise's investigation on espionage. (No, the book doesn't have a tidy ending where everyt...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Sebina (Classicmaiden) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Romance readers who enjoys contemporary and historical settings in the same novel.

Shelves: _author_lauren-willig, _1800s, _mystery_female-spy, _1789-1799_french-revolution, _historical_historical-fiction, _historical_historical-romance, _genre_humor, _setting_london, _mystery, _type_owned-kindle-version, _romance, _historical_royality, _historical_royal-families, _type_written-by-women, _theme_espionage, _theme_swashbuckler-adventure, _1792-1802_revolutionary-france, _1803-1815_napoleonic-wars, _setting_britain, _historical_historical-mystery, _type_sexy-romance-fiction, _type_first-in-series

“In her swashbuckling debut…Willig reimagines France under Napoleon besieged by a whole bouquet of spying floral foes…Bad news for the Bonapartes but barrels of good-natured fun for the rest of us.”—Library Journal

I’ve been reading Lauren Willig’s blog for a while, and I’ve wanted to dive into her books for all that time, just waiting to be in the mood for a Historical Romance. I was this last week and so I read it.

This was Lauren Willig's debut novel back in 2005. For a debut novel she really h...more

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Oct 10, 2008 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of historical romance, chick lit, or swashbuckling films

Recommended to Kim by: my friend Becky

This book is hard to categorize, but it's a lot of fun. Eloise Kelly is a klutzy, directionally challenged graduate student in history (not like anybody I know) who is trying to discover the identity of the Pink Carnation, a spy in the mode of the Scarlet Pimpernel. The key, she believes, may lie in Selwick Hall, the estate of another aristocratic spy, the Purple Gentian, aka Richard Selwick. When Mrs. Selwick-Alderly grants her access to a box full of family papers, letters and journals dating...more This book is hard to categorize, but it's a lot of fun. Eloise Kelly is a klutzy, directionally challenged graduate student in history (not like anybody I know) who is trying to discover the identity of the Pink Carnation, a spy in the mode of the Scarlet Pimpernel. The key, she believes, may lie in Selwick Hall, the estate of another aristocratic spy, the Purple Gentian, aka Richard Selwick. When Mrs. Selwick-Alderly grants her access to a box full of family papers, letters and journals dating from the early 19th century, Eloise discovers the feisty and romantic Amy Balcourt, a wannabe spy in Napoleonic France. Will Amy live out her dream of joining the League of the Purple Gentian? Will Eloise discover the identity of the Pink Carnation? Is there romantic as well as professional fulfillment for either young woman? Clearly you'll have to read the novel to see.
This book combines multiple genres, including historical romance, chick lit, and swashbuckler, with wildly entertaining if somewhat unbalanced results. Amy's story is the one which receives the full treatment here; to find out what happens to Eloise, I suspect we may need to read the other books in the series (I believe there may be three or four). I was a bit surprised, given that Eloise learned Amy's story through letters---there is the mention of a couple diaries as well---that this section of the novel was written as a straight third person narrative, and not in epistolary fashion. It strained my credibility a bit, as did the omniscient narrator, who often gave us Amy and Richard Selwick's perspectives on events at the same time. There were a few times when the dialogue felt a bit anachronistic, though this may have been done for humorous effect and was not overly distracting. Overall, though, this book took me back to the days of my misspent youth, when I loved historical fiction, Zorro, and movies starring Errol Flynn. I love that you can tell that characters like each other because of how rude they are when they first meet, and I love that Willig has peopled Napoleonic France with a plethora of dashing, florally named spies. I particularly love that Eloise has chosen her dissertation topic because of a romantic fascination with men with masks. We historians can be like that sometimes (shhh, don't tell!).(less)

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Jul 28, 2008 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-books

Perhaps my disappointment is my own fault. The jacket blurb is fabulous, the cover captivating, the premise intriguing. I waited weeks to have enough to time to curl up on the sofa and read this book. I made it to page 55 (at page 22 I decided to force myself to get to page 100-not going to happen though, I just can't do it.).

I thought I was getting a fabulous historical novel, but it reads like every other Regency era romance out there. Amy and Richard have the exact same modern voice as Eloise...more

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Jan 28, 2008 MJ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, really-liked

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Wilig
This is the first book in the Pink Carnation series.
If you like historical novels with a splash of romance and a hint of esponiage. This is the book for you. I really enjoyed reading this book. It starts out with Eliose Kelly a Harvard student working on her disertation. She is London trying to find information on the English spy known only as the Pink Carnation. Unlike other spies of the time this spy true identity was never reveled. She c...more The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Wilig
This is the first book in the Pink Carnation series.
If you like historical novels with a splash of romance and a hint of esponiage. This is the book for you. I really enjoyed reading this book. It starts out with Eliose Kelly a Harvard student working on her disertation. She is London trying to find information on the English spy known only as the Pink Carnation. Unlike other spies of the time this spy true identity was never reveled. She come across a bunch of old letter and diaries (along with meeting the dashing Colin Selwick) which takes us back in time to tell the story of incarnation of the Pink Carnation.
There we meet Amy Bolucourt she is half English and half French and her parents died during the french reveloution and she wants nothing more then to join the legue of the Purple Gentain (another spy of the time) to bring down the French government in revenge. Joining her is her cousin Jane and their unflappable chaperion Miss Gwen. But Amy does not know who the Purple Gentain is will she find out in time and why is Sir Richard Selwick (Colin's great great great grandfather) always in her way. Will Amy be able to help the Purple Gentain stop Frances planned invasion of England and who is really the Purple Gentain and will Eliose discover through these letters the true identitiy of the Pink Carnation or while Colin be able to stop her.
While reading the book I keep thinking WOW I can reccomend this to my family no sex (just some stolen kisses) but then there was a section were Richard and Amy got carried away (on a boat on the Seine River) although they donot have sex. And then one of Eloise's friends said the F-word once. Then there was a love scene at the end after 2 people got married. I would still recommend this book to anyone who like historical fiction.
At the end of the book the author tells us what she made up and what was actually historically accurate and I really liked that she did that. The rest of the books are about the escapades of the Pink Carnation and the other spies that he works with. While interweaving the continuing story of Eloise and Colin. (less)

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Jan 17, 2008 Cynthia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Cynthia by: Michelle

I really enjoyed this book. It was humorous and cute. This book follows Amy, a wannabe spy adventurer, who tries to join The Purple Gentian's spy network against France shortly after the French Revolution. Of course nothing goes smoothly for the slightly dizzy heroine. The author combines historical fiction with fun chick lit, mostly focusing on Amy's romance with the Purple Gentian. I like both types of work so I enjoyed the combination.

I read some reviews of this book on Amazon and found peopl...more I really enjoyed this book. It was humorous and cute. This book follows Amy, a wannabe spy adventurer, who tries to join The Purple Gentian's spy network against France shortly after the French Revolution. Of course nothing goes smoothly for the slightly dizzy heroine. The author combines historical fiction with fun chick lit, mostly focusing on Amy's romance with the Purple Gentian. I like both types of work so I enjoyed the combination.

I read some reviews of this book on Amazon and found people either really liked it or absolutely hated it. Some comments I thought went way overboard included, "Jane Austen would scream, you'd have to be braindead to like this, when I think of this book I throw up a little in my mouth, and my favorite, "chick lit reflects poorly on women's literature, why isn't poorly written books written by men called dude's lit." Of course I had to reply back to some of these reviews with my own comments... like lighten up.

When I think about books, there are two main categories I divide them up in: deep, soulful books usually filled with symbolism and themes and then there's escapism books. Now I am not going to lie, when it comes to the first category I don't always "get" the message of the book. I am disappointed after I read 400 pages of fancy, convoluted sentences that I can't relate to. But a lot of that is a reflection on me as a reader, not necessaily a reflection on the author. I tend to like stories focused on great characters, interesting plots, and unusual places or time periods, like "The History of the Pink Carnation".

Pink Carnation is meant to be a light, fun book. If you don't expect Jane Austen or a historical book full of facts and dates, then I don't think you'll be disappointed. The book isn't perfect, even I noticed a few things that didn't make sense, i.e. when the true identity of the Purple Gentian is discovered and his family helps him escape, don't they all need to get the heck out of France. Also, I think it would have been funnier if the chaperone with the parasol could be the Pink Carnation.(less)

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May 15, 2012 The Lit Bitch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel like I just entered the most interesting florist shop in London. I am surrounded by flowers….the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian, and of course the Pink Carnation….but wait I’m in a book! What the deuce are all these flowers doing in a book?? Granted…it’s decidedly less fragrant in the book than in a florist shop but till what the deuce is going on here? Oh wait….I know, I am reading Lauren Willig’s novel The Secret History of the Pink Carnation!

This book is absolutely brilliant and...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Trin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historicalfiction, romance, american-lit

While Willig definitely displays some wit, this book is hampered by a dull, clichéd romantic plot. I don’t mind—and can even really like—older man/younger woman romances, but not when the man seems like a MAN, and the woman like a silly, flighty girl. Then it’s icky. And there was a bit too much of that ickiness here (even though the characters are, I think, actually less than ten years apart in age!), coupled with a mystery that’s just not very mysterious. This is supposed to be a fun, light-he...more

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Jul 18, 2007 Rachal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like frilly romance novels

Shelves: readbooks-periodbooks

Cute little book. Romance, adventure, spying, etc. It was a good light read and each character was nice. But it cuts between England/France with Napoleon to modern time by using a doctoral student researching her thesis and the secret of the pink carnation (an English spy). I would say that the parts with the characters in the past were pretty funny and kept me reading but the part with the modern student was definitely lacking. It had a lot of potential but it just wasn't developed enough, and...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 50-books-2009, owned, historical-fiction

One of the good things about managing a book store is being able to read new release magazines and see books and series that you didn't even know existed that you are curious to try, so you order them for your store.

One of the bad things about managing a book store is reading new release magazines and seeing books and series that you didn't even know existed that you are curious to try, so you order them for ~~your store~~ yourself.

I was looking for "romance" books to stock since Valentine's is comi...more

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Dec 03, 2008 Hypercat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First, let me say that this book is definitely in the romance genre, so if you don't like romance novels, don't read it. OTOH, you just might be pleasantly surprised. It's not a "heaving bosom, bulging muscles" kind of romance. It's a real story that's witty and engaging. And it's got some things that only the very best romance novels have - accurate historical details, interesting characters, an actual plot beyond the relationships between the main characters, and a healthy dose of subtle humor...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Kevin Lanahan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, romance

My lovely wife, the librarian, picked up this audio book (on the advice of a patron) for a long car trip. While I've read some chick-lit that my wife has brought home, I haven't read or listened to any romances, and most historical fiction does not capture my interest. I can safely say that I will not be reading anymore from this author.

Where to begin? The story begins as a basic chick-lit story, then turns into a historical romance, except that none of the social conventions are kept and none...more My lovely wife, the librarian, picked up this audio book (on the advice of a patron) for a long car trip. While I've read some chick-lit that my wife has brought home, I haven't read or listened to any romances, and most historical fiction does not capture my interest. I can safely say that I will not be reading anymore from this author.

Where to begin? The story begins as a basic chick-lit story, then turns into a historical romance, except that none of the social conventions are kept and none of the speech or mannerisms of that time are honored. For someone who allegedly knew some history, the author seems to have a "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" attitude for these overly-long, anachronistic period parts of the book.

One of the main characters is supposed to be a spy who has foiled the French for 10 years. So he knows a bit about spying, you'd think. Yet he gets in long romantic interludes while burgling a bad guy's apartment. No "grab the goods and we'll talk later" professional spy stuff. One look at the heroine and he goes all Spy School for Dummies on us, choosing to cop a feel instead of grabbing the papers.

I figured out who the titular character was in the first quarter of the book. You will, too. So if that's all you want to find out, you can stop reading. You're right.

If you want to see what horror the author can unleash on several genres in one mish-mash of a book, read on. You'll get plenty of exercise rolling your eyes at clumsy implementations of the basic formulaic pieces of chick-lit/romance/historical fiction. That's the only reason I actually finished this book.

I kept thinking that maybe the author was trying for irony. If she was, she failed at that. The story also failed as chick-lit, because the only semi-sympathetic character in the modern part of the book only shows up in a few chapters. The romance was too over-the-top, the historical bits were straight out of a 1930s Hollywood movie. The whole espionage/spy aspect was a farce. Yeah, don't bother with this one.
(less)

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Feb 14, 2013 Veronica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I could most accurately describe this book as a "romp." It was highly entertaining and lots of fun. Swashbuckling, spies, adventures and of course, a heady dose of romance abound in Lauren Willig's "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation."

The book takes place in Revolutionary France, and the plot centers around an energetic young woman by the name of Amy Balcourt, who is determined, along with her cousin Jane, to discover the secret identity of the Purple Gentian (who is a successor t...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Selenis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Encomendei o segundo livro sem perceber que era uma série. Depois de o ler e ter adorado, mal pude esperar que chegasse o primeiro livro da série.
Simplesmente fantástico, da capa à história, toda a trama que ela desenha entre o presente e o passado... adoro!
O enredo passa-se entre Londres do tempos modernos, onde uma americana, Eloise, tenta encontrar os dados para uma ambiciosa tese de mestrado sobre espiões ingleses entre os arquivos de uma família inglesa, e cerca de 1900, a época em se as pe...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Jayne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(From my book blog)

Plot: Amy comes to France from England during the reign of Napoleon and the time of famous spies, some of which you’ve heard of (like the Scarlet Pimpernel) and some of which you haven’t, (like the Purple Gentian or the Pink Carnation) (because they’re an invention of this book). Amy’s parents were victim to the guillotine and she longs for revenge and the excitement of spying, and she winds up in some sticky situations with the Purple Gentian himself. The identity of the Pin...more (From my book blog)

Plot: Amy comes to France from England during the reign of Napoleon and the time of famous spies, some of which you’ve heard of (like the Scarlet Pimpernel) and some of which you haven’t, (like the Purple Gentian or the Pink Carnation) (because they’re an invention of this book). Amy’s parents were victim to the guillotine and she longs for revenge and the excitement of spying, and she winds up in some sticky situations with the Purple Gentian himself. The identity of the Pink Carnation is a mystery and a really fun surprise.

The best thing about this book: it’s funny. Not like, screamingly funny on every page, as the Parasol Protectorate books are, but also not “I’m trying to be funny, here is an obviously witty scene” which is the impression I got from Julia Quinn.

However, it’s also a bit cartoonish, and even when Willig tries to make it clear that shit is about to go down, I never felt like either the hero or the heroine was actually in grave danger. In the same way, their love sort of came out of nowhere. I could understand why they were perfect for each other, but it wasn’t like, a long, burgeoning attraction. I thin that’s why it took me so long - there was never any urgency in the plot or with the characters. Most problems are solved with in a few pages and even the part that I dreaded, the MISTAKEN IDENTITY plot device (seriously, fuck the mistaken identity plot device), only lasted for a chapter and was resolved quickly and comically.

So it’s fluffy. Fluffy but very entertaining and cute, like a pile of Pomeranian puppies. It’s decently written, too, so it’s already higher quality fluff, and there’s no way you won’t have fun reading it.

One complaint: there is a frame story, and I have not mentioned it before now because it just does not work. It’s clunky, it interferes with the real plot, and it’s not really interesting. For a superior frame story, try either The Rosetti Letter, or, even better, The Devlin Diary, both by Christi Phillips.

I’m not sure I’ll carry on with the series, but I enjoyed this book and it was certainly enough fun to make me think you’d enjoy it as well. (less)

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Jun 25, 2012 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. This book I picked up on a whim. I was wondering through boarders and noticed the pretty cover. The girl on the front is in a pink satin dress holding a flower. I was curious and flipped over and scanned the back. To my surprise it was a historical romance with a bit of mystery. I bought it went home and spent the next 4 hours laughing. It was wonderful; the story is fun and light hearted with two story lines. One of a Harvard graduate s...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Zoe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Actual book, gift.
Love this book so much and I'm only 100 pages in!
Finished and immediately started the next one. Love this book so much.

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Apr 26, 2012 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After reading The Orchid Affair, I decided to start at the beginning of the series. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is like The Scarlet Pimpernel, but with hot sex. It's set a bit after the Pimpernel series (The Scarlet Pimpernel is, in this world, a real person), during the Napoleonic wars. There are hi-jinks, and saving prisoners from the French police. If you liked the Scarlet Pimpernel, it's everything you liked, with better relationships (after the inevitable misunderstanding, the...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Nancy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Novel? Check!
Fiction? Check!
Historical? Not by any stretch of the imagination.

There is an historical setting to be sure but, beyond that, the author could have added time travel to the mix with virtually no effect on the characters, their actions or their seemingly general cluelessness about how person at that time behaved or spoke.

Nonsensical, badly researched, fluff would be the most generous description and given the books that have followed, there is a demand for such things. Not from me, I...more

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Delta Xi Phi Mult...: January/February selection: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation	2	4	Mar 14, 2013 07:52pm
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About Lauren Willig

Lauren Willig is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven works of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded the RITA, Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards, and chosen for the American Library Association's annual list of the best genre fiction. After graduating from Yale University, she embarked on a PhD in English History at Harvard before...more

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Books by Lauren Willig

The Masque of the Black Tulip (Pink Carnation, #2)

The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Pink Carnation, #3)

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose (Pink Carnation, #4)

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine (Pink Carnation, #5)

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily (Pink Carnation, #6)

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“Tell them I have the headache--no, the plague! I need something nice and contagious.” — 9 people liked it

“The French just said he was a damned nuisance. Or they would have had they the good fortune to speak English. Instead being French they were forced to say it in their own language.” — 5 people liked it

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The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Pink Carnation #1)

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