The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

This addition to the Pink Carnation series is absolutely wonderful. A definite step up from Crimson Rose, in which I found the characters rather aggravating. Charlotte is charming in Night Jasmine. I felt like I could relate to her very easily, and the re-emergence of Henrietta adds some humor to the story. And Robert was very endearing. The romance is much subtler in this latest addition, and in my opinion, more genuine. Also, as the series go own, I find myself more and more in love Eloise and Colin. It's so frustrating sometimes that they have so few chapters dedicated to them. I wish they would get their own book in the future.

Willig spins her usual erudite and fascinating tale about the modern day romance of Eloise (history doctoral candidate) and Colin (modern scion of a noble family) with the Napoleonic Wars era romance of Lady Charlotte and her cousin Robert, the duke. Mystery and suspense, spies and rakes abound. The story is great but the problem with this audio book is that instead of Kate Reading doing the narration and voice characterizations -- one of the finest audio book performers working today and whose voice is the perfect embodiment of the characters in all the previous Willig audio books -- we have a new performer who can't even pronounce Eloise's name correctly (giving it a faux French pronunciation that is simply ludicrous). Honestly, I feel the publisher should recall every copy.

A lovely continuation of the Pink Carnation series. I find these books light and easy to read. Clever and witty dialogue keep the story moving. Sometimes a bit fluffy and obvious but fun nonetheless. I can't put them down. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine was no exception.

For those of you who have been following the "Pink Carnation" series, this one is the best yet! Like Sesame Street, these novels are written on two levels -- and are not your average bodice rippers. While this book has the comedic imbedded cultural references that Willig has become know for (where else would you find references to Sex and the City and the Wizard of Oz in the first 100 pages), this book owes as much to M. M. Kaye as to Georgetta Heyer and therefore delivers a much richer 21st century version of the Regency novel.

Inevitably in any popular series, sooner or later the writing gets stale - character arcs become unbelievable, plots are rehashed, or the reader can simply feel the writer's own weariness for the once beloved storylines. Not so for Lauren Willig! If anything, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine is the strongest book in the Pink Carnation series so far. Framed once again by the research and relationship trials of graduate student Eloise Kelly, the Night Jasmine opens after Eloise and her new-beau Colin have been together for three months. A week-long romantic getaway to Colin's home in Surrey, not to mention his library's inexhaustible cache of historical archives, leads Eloise to a new discovery in her study of the aristocratic spy, the Pink Carnation - a plot involving french spies (naturally), betrayal of a king, and the infamous Hellfire Club. Enter Lady Charlotte Lansdowne and Robert, the Duke of Dovedale, the real stars of this Carnation installment. Robert, newly home from a decade long stint in India, is on the trail of his mentor's murderer, but is unprepared for both the attraction he feels for the bookish Charlotte (a very, very distant cousin) and the real forces at work in his friend's death. Like the other Pink Carnation books, the mystery here is well plotted out and the excitement high enough to keep the pages flying well into the night. The true strength lies within the romance of Robert & Charlotte, however. Both characters show very strong growth over the course of the book: Charlotte must deal with her realization that real life is not quite how it is in books (which can be a good a thing), and Robert has to grapple with not only his dubious past, but that of his father. As you would expect, a happy ending lies in wait for these two, but not without a few bumps along the way. Even more so than past books, the reader will truly find herself rooting for these two. So, the verdict - if you loved the previous Carnation books, definitely pick up The Temptation of the Night Jasmine! You won't regret it. If you're new to the series,I recommend starting at the beginning (with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation) so you'll be fully in the loop when secondary characters appear, as well as up to speed on the framing romance of Colin & Eloise. Happy reading!