The Lotus Palace (The Pingkang Li Mysteries, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 29, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, mystery, historical-romance, era-medieval

on NPR's list of 100 best romance books http://www.npr.org/2015/07/29/4267318...

*****

In the three steps it took Yue-ying to reach him, Huang dreamed a hundred dreams about how her lips would feel against him.

Unlike most historical romance/mystery novels, the historical aspect takes precedence here, and the mystery is what drives the plot forward (although you will probably not be able to solve the mystery yourself, it's not that kind of novel where all the clues are presented), the romance t on NPR's list of 100 best romance books http://www.npr.org/2015/07/29/4267318...

*****

In the three steps it took Yue-ying to reach him, Huang dreamed a hundred dreams about how her lips would feel against him.

Unlike most historical romance/mystery novels, the historical aspect takes precedence here, and the mystery is what drives the plot forward (although you will probably not be able to solve the mystery yourself, it's not that kind of novel where all the clues are presented), the romance takes a backseat.

I liked this, because it's the first historical romance I've read set in China (Tang Dynasty, to be precise), but the set-up for the story is a little clunky. Once it gets rolling, and Bai Huang and Yue-ying are investigating the murders, things flow a little more naturally. As I read more and more, I became really drawn into the story, and more and more eager to pick it up again when I had to set it down.

Mild spoilers ahead:

Once the smugglers are captured, the plot sort of stumbled for me. Everyone just completely dropped the subject, and a year goes by. Then suddenly it's re-investigated and another bad guy is found (and decapitated! I'm not sure if I've ever before read a historical romance that ends in a beheading!) and it's all very anticlimactic.

There were details that didn't make sense, most notably: why was Bai Huang traipsing around with courtesans, trying to get everyone to believe he's an airhead? I thought it was going to turn out that he was a spy, but ... no. It was more that he just had low self-esteem? I guess? Honestly it was never fully explained.

The resolution of the romance is pretty unbelievable, too, after all of the detail given about how socially unacceptable this couple is. I'm not sure if I was ever really sold on the romance, but I enjoyed my time spent reading, anyway.

The women in this story work as courtesans (basically, classy prostitutes, who are owned as slaves by the brothel manager). They're more or less resigned to their fates, and their lives are not horrifying, but Lin does not gloss over the fact that they are slaves.

“This place will take our souls if we stay too long. The Pingkang li never changes. The same girls are brought here, over and over. We have different faces, but we’re all the same. We’ll grow old and new ones will replace us."

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Mar 05, 2022 Ann rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2022-ssdd

My first historical romance that wasn't set in England, first almost-illiterate heroine (it's typical for an HR to have the low-class lead have an atypical high-class education, first Chinese courtesan so I learned many cultural details of the time. It read a bit awkwardly in the beginning but I warmed up to how the women leads are realists, with the class and gender issues also discussed with open eyes. The investigation of the murder mysteries was slow going but fine.

"Mingyu’s love was honest, ...more

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