The Passion of the Purple Plumeria

by Lauren Willig
4/5 stars
New American Library, 2013
457 pages
Adult Historical Romance Mystery

Source: Library

Just a quick review today as I check in with Eloise and her historical research for the tenth book in the Pink Carnation series. Though I have not reviewed every book in the series for my blog (see the Lauren Willig tag for those I have reviewed), I have read every book and found myself especially enjoying the most recent ones. Sixth book The Betrayal of the Blood Lily was an especial favorite and I knew this book featured characters related to ones in that book though as they took place roughly concurrently, there was not an overlap in appearance.

Our main characters are Miss Gwen Meadows who has served as a second in command to the Pink Carnation but who I don't really remember. As an older unmarried woman, she serves as a chaperone and has cultivated a brash domineering persona that helps her to organize everything while covering up some of the softer parts of herself that have been heart. Her unlikely hero is Colonel William Reid, father to the hero of Blood Lily, whose unconventional past has led him on a crazy road to Miss Meadows.

The adventure in this book keeps them in England while they track down Gwen's charge's younger sister and Reid's daughter, both of whom have disappeared possibly under nefarious (French-related) circumstances as the English still war with Napoleon and the French. They go on a merry and slightly danger-filled journey to track the pair down. I enjoyed the banter between the couple but was never fully engaged with the plot.

Meanwhile in the present day Eloise and Colin are rapidly facing her return to America and must decide how their relationship will progress. They are also still in conflict with Colin's cousin/stepfather Jeremy and his greed. I am very invested in the Eloise/Colin relationship by now and like how this appears to be going. This was actually an instance where I wanted to focus on their story even more than the historical bits.

An added delight in my edition were interviews at the end between Miss Gwen and the author-a meta treat!

Overall: If you've read the previous books, of course you're going to want to continue! If you haven't started yet, I'd advise you to go back to the beginning so you can dive in with fresh knowledge about the Pink Carnation.

Notorious Royal Marriages

Notorious Royal Marriages

By Leslie Carroll

New American Library, 2010

498 pages

Non-fiction; European

Summary: An examination of notorious royal marriages from Henry and Eleanor to Henry and his six wives to Charles and Diana.

Why I Read: My mom read it and passed it on to me.

My Thoughts: This is a delightfully gossipy history that is far more interesting than every other book I've been assigned to read this semester for history. I was surprised at how many of the couples were love matches! The big thing is that most of the ladies are repurposed from traditional portrayals into thinking, acting feminists in large part. I'm going to talk a little bit about most of the couples mentioned:

Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII and Henry II: I had seen the Katharine Hepburn film The Lion in Winter (and you know the character is awesome if Kate plays her!) but I didn't know all that much about her. Now I very much want to read more both non-fiction and historical fiction about her.

Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville: I read about this couple in Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' The Founding, where the characters were decidedly negative toward them but they were in love and seem to have been generally happy.

FerdinandandIsabella: He is such a tool (as will be explained more in his daughter's chapter) but they seem to have been very much in love and together were powerful Catholic monarchs.

Joanna and Philip: Philip and Joanna's father Ferdinand were such jerks; it got me thinking about portrayals of women through history (she's known as Joanna the Mad).

Arthur and Katherine of Aragon: Not much to say about this couple other than did they or didn't they?

Henry VIII and his wives: Apparently four of them had auburn hair so I guess he had a type and he seems to have been as much in love with five of them as he had the capacity to be (Anne of Cleves alas was not pretty enough to tempt him)

Henri II and Catherine de Medici: Not a love match on his side but she loved him and her role in ruling France was very impressive. She was the daughter of no one important who was then queen and mother of three kings!

Mary, Queen of Scots and her three husbands: Wow, was she in a crappy position.

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: Apparently her spendthrift ways began before she gave brith and set her reputation for the rest of her life. They also ended up having quite a kind and intimate relationship especially once they were deposed.

George IV, the bigamist, and Maria Fitzherbert and Caroline of Brunswick: I completely understand Jane Austen's antipathy to this man because he is not honorable.

Napoleon and Marie Louise: She was kind of weird. Read it

Victoria and Albert: Obviously this was a love match but one fraught with conflict as Victoria sought to be a traditional wife who submits to her husband (WHY?!) yet cannot submit to anyone besides God as the British monarch.

Franz Joseph and Elisabeth: I read the story of her youth in those Royal Diaries series (Check those out for the 8-10 year old girl in your life.)

Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra: Another love match! I didn't know! Their story is also tragic, I mean beyond their end.

Edward VIII and Wallis: I did not know that they were fascists! I'm actually really glad that he abdicated. What if Edward and Hitler had made some kind of an alliance?!

Overall: 4 out of 5.

Cover: Not sure who that is supposed to be but it fits the style and tone.

Can anyone recommend any enjoyable books, nonfiction or historical, about any of the couples?