Favorite book of your favorite series - Seduction of the Crimson Rose

Day 04 - Favorite book of your favorite series...

I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to give you my favorite book from the series I mentioned in day three (the Gemma Doyle trilogy), but since this is my blog and I can write what I want, I'm not going to. I'm going to give you my favorite book from the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig.

There are currently nine books in the series (one is yet to be published). The books concern spies during the Napoleonic wars a la The Scarlet Pimpernel. They go back and forth between present day with Eloise Kelly to the past. Eloise is a Harvard grad student determined to write her final thesis on a series of spies related to the Selwick family. She gets access to their secret archives and meets a mysterious heir to the Selwick family, Colin (yum!). At the archives, she settles in to read a little bit from letters and miscellany, and all of a sudden.... we are in London 1803.

In London, we follow the exploits of the mysterious Pink Carnation, Scarlet Pimpernel and Purple Gentian. The stories manage to combine history with mystery and romance. They are all really good.

My favorite however, is The Seduction of the Crimson Rose. This is the fourth book in the series. I think perhaps this is my favorite because who doesn't love a rake? I mean really. The rake in this book is the devilish spy Lord Vaughn (again, yum!) and Mary Alsworthy, whose sister just accidentally stole her suitor. (In her sister's defense, it was an accident AND Mary deserved it.) Lord Vaughn uses Mary to trick the mysterious Black Tulip, who prefers raven-haired petals to his tulip. Another reason I liked this one the most is that Mary has a lot of spunk for a girl in Victorian times. I definitely recommend this series. I'd start with the first one, but I think they could be read out of order if you are so inclined. Pin It