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2015 Book Review #4: The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla
Title: The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla
Author: Lauren Willig
Genre: Romance (Napoleonic era)
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: When a long-missing duke suddenly appears, the rumours of his apparent vampiric nature cannot convince Sally that he's not actually up to his elbows in spies.
Thoughts: As the surprisingly long-running Pink Carnation series winds to a close, Willig is tying up some loose ends. (Apparently, this was supposed to be the final, Carnation-centric book, but Willig got distracted by marrying off Turnip's younger sister instead.
As is frequent with the series, the framing plot of Eloise the historian and her boyfriend Colin is...pretty boring. Most of the tension drained off several books ago. Fortunately, they barely appear, as the historical spies are far more interesting characters.
Is this a fairly stereotypical spy romance? (Somehow, this seems to have become its own odd subcategory.) Yes. But it's still a lot of fun. Miss Gwen has lost none of her sharpness despite losing her "Miss". Sally has always been an entertainingly interfering busybody, and this just gives her rein to run fully amuck. The villain is perhaps not the most convincing, in retrospect, but that doesn't make the various shenanigans any less fun to read. The conceit is perhaps growing a bit stale, but there's still enough life in this series left for one last hurrah.
Author: Lauren Willig
Genre: Romance (Napoleonic era)
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: When a long-missing duke suddenly appears, the rumours of his apparent vampiric nature cannot convince Sally that he's not actually up to his elbows in spies.
Thoughts: As the surprisingly long-running Pink Carnation series winds to a close, Willig is tying up some loose ends. (Apparently, this was supposed to be the final, Carnation-centric book, but Willig got distracted by marrying off Turnip's younger sister instead.
As is frequent with the series, the framing plot of Eloise the historian and her boyfriend Colin is...pretty boring. Most of the tension drained off several books ago. Fortunately, they barely appear, as the historical spies are far more interesting characters.
Is this a fairly stereotypical spy romance? (Somehow, this seems to have become its own odd subcategory.) Yes. But it's still a lot of fun. Miss Gwen has lost none of her sharpness despite losing her "Miss". Sally has always been an entertainingly interfering busybody, and this just gives her rein to run fully amuck. The villain is perhaps not the most convincing, in retrospect, but that doesn't make the various shenanigans any less fun to read. The conceit is perhaps growing a bit stale, but there's still enough life in this series left for one last hurrah.
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