The Masque Of The Black Tulip (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
Things to love about this novel? In chapter one, it picks up with the tale of its modern-day research, Eloise Kelly, who is off to the country with the dishy Colin Selwick for a look at his archives. (Insert eyebrow waggle here.) The Black Tulip also picks up with the lives of some of the characters introduced as secondary in the first book in the series, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. Amy and Richard, the main couple in the historical portion of the first novel, are seen and heard from again, but in chapter two, this book picks up with the story of Richard's sister, Henrietta Selwick. And when I turned the page to chapter three and saw the name "Miles Dorrington", I actually squeed aloud, since I'd been shipping Hen and Miles while reading the first book. At that moment, I fear I acquired a permagrin that refused to budge until I finished the book down around 5:30 this afternoon.As an Austen fan, things that I particularly enjoyed were a character named Wickham (although in fairness, he was an actual guy from Regency England, and not based on Austen's soldier in Pride and Prejudice) and a place called Donwell Abbey (the name of Mr. Knightley's estate in Emma).As a person who loves humor, the lengths to which Willig went for a punny joke went highly rewarded, as I chortled for a full minute or more (and nearly fell off my cheetah-print chaise, as M will attest). There is much ado made in the Miles-based chapters over the importance of the care and keeping of one's cravat, and over how important his valet, Downey, is to him. So much so that Miles ditched his mistress, since his valet had given him an ultimatum: either she went or he did. Downey and cravats are introduced on page 38 of the book. On page 90 comes this line: "No one kept linen quite as fresh as Downey." *cue chaise-falling-off laughter*Another bit that I particularly enjoyed was Miles's reflection on poetry:"It wouldn't be quite so bad, reflected Miles, if Geoff were going to write lovelorn poetry, if he would at least write good lovelorn poetry. Which begged the age-old question, was there such a thing as good lovelorn poetry? Probably not, concluded Miles."In this book, as in the prior one, very few days pass in Eloise's contemporary time, and most of the pages are dedicated to the material she's reading - the story of Henrietta and Miles and the French spy known as the Black Tulip. I should note that I spotted the correct bad guy immediately, and knew who the false bad guy was as well just as quickly. I knew that Hen & Miles were going to end up together, although I didn't know how. And, as with Sarah MacLean's excellent YA Regency novel, The Season, or Willig's first book, The Secret of the Pink Carnation (in which I correctly shipped the couple, and figured out the correct gender for the Pink Carnation, but without necessarily identifying the proper person), this in no way diminished my enjoyment of the book. If anything, it enhances things to find out that one is correct, and to see how the author gets you where you're going.
The dilemma - I requested the 1st 2 books of this series from the library (in case I liked it and wanted to keep reading), read #1 and wasn't impressed but here was #2 looking at me. Having nothing else better to read at the moment... I read it... I suppose a literary version of: "I wanted a few potato chips and had enough but it seemed a waste to toss away the remainder"... okay, maybe that's just me.I didn't think it possible for this books to be even less believable than #1 but it was. Odd things that would be simple to address and make a bit more, well obviously not believable, but semi-realistic, were not done... from a single young woman travelling without her maid or a chaperone to a married woman travelling in an open carriage for a 6 hour trip without a maid or luggage, for example.This is silly fluff and there is no harm in it, but it could have aimed for more wit, maybe then it would have been more palatable and easier to ignore the egregious errors.
What do You think about The Masque Of The Black Tulip (2006)?
If you’ve never read a Historical Fiction/Romance revolving around espionage here's what you can expect:• A heroine that stands above her peers. She’s schmart you see. She’s spechul. All the other debutantes are shallow, vapid young girls more concerned with title chasing and ribbons than the state of the nation. If you’re really lucky the heroine will have a few friends or a sister or two that are also spechul and you won’t be subjected to three hundred pages of the heroine’s lady boner for misogyny. • A hero that’s tall, dashing, in between mistresses (Ah the good ole days of raging double standards and female oppression. I miss you), works for the War Department and avoids social functions and the Marriage Mart at all costs. • A mission of upmost importance. There's an enemy spy in the realm and the main characters need to capture and unmask her (view spoiler)[FYI it’s ALWAYS a her (hide spoiler)]
—Navessa
Second in the Pink Carnation series. I liked it. Maybe not quite as much as the first but close. I would have liked to see more of Eloise and Colin but I guess I'll have to continue the series to see how they do. This one is the romance between Lady Henrietta and Miles Dorrington. A friends to lovers theme, they have known each other since they were children. Miles was called upon to watch out for Henrietta and keep her out of trouble. Meanwhile, a french spy is loose in London and Miles is tasked with finding out who he is. Flowed nicely with no great lags. Very entertaining.
—Pamela(AllHoney)
★★★★★ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Kate Reading narrates the audiobook perfectly! I can’t believe this one is even better than the first in the Pink Carnation series.It’s not easy to pull off a “time warp” book, running two timelines in parallel, but Ms. Willig does it with aplomb. Not only that, but this novel is really two genres: historical romantic suspense (with a ton of humor), and a contemporary chick-lit romance. It is witty and clever and sophisticated. So much so, I had to get the paperback, so I could actually read the words after I had already just listened to them. Such a delight! Sure, some scenes have been done before – ad infinitum; however, these are written so well, they are like a breath of fresh air. And there is always a twist! Making the “buddy read” I was in ever more fun! Can't wait until we read the next. P.S. I could totally picture Cary Grant in the hero, Miles Dorrington’s, role. He is an actor who could get away with this degree of humor and sophistication. Alas, Miles is a blond Adonis and I wouldn’t dye a hair on Cary’s head.
—Lisa Kay
