The Seduction of the Crimson Rose & Mermaid

I just found out that Ricky Jill of Art @ Home and Bonnie of The Boatwright Family Blog will no longer be hosting the Linky Party and I am quite heart broken about it.  I loved their format and even though I just discovered them last month I found quite a few books that I want to read because of the party.  Maybe I'll come up with something but I don't want to step on their toes.

This past month I read The Seduction of the Crimson Rose (Pink Carnation, Bk 4) by Lauren Willig

Determined to secure another London season without assistance from her new brother-in-law, Mary Alsworthy accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on behalf of the Pink Carnation: to infiltrate the ranks of the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his master can stage their planned invasion of England. Every spy has a weakness,... more » and for the Black Tulip that weakness is black-haired women-his "petals" of the Tulip. A natural at the art of seduction, Mary easily catches the attention of the French spy, but Lord Vaughn never anticipates that his own heart will be caught as well. Fighting their growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost in the shadows of a treacherous garden of lies.

Lauren's Pink Carnation series is a blend of contemporary chick lit, historic romantic suspense and historic fiction.  It follows a group of English and French spies during the Napoleonic era (historical line) and a woman working on her dissertation (chick lit line). I'm not a huge fan of pure chick lit or of contemporary romantic suspense, but this series hits just the right balance for me.

It has been quite some time since I read the previous books in this series and it took me a bit to get into this one because for the first time the historical line picked up almost exactly where it stopped in The Deception of the Emerald Ring (See my review HERE).  So I suggest, if you do pick up this series, that you read books 3 and 4 close together (I fear I might end up saying that about book 5, but I haven't picked that one up yet). 

This book concentrated on Mary and Lord Vaughn, two characters I already formed opinions of in The Deception of the Emerald Ring.  While I enjoy having my mind changed by authors who transform their characters I think I was a bit to busy trying to remember them from The Deception of the Emerald Ring to really appreciate the characters turn around. 

For the past three books the "bad guy" has been The Black Tulip, in this book you finally discover who that is, which was good and I loved the twists behind this individuals character, what motivated them.  What I wonder now is who will be the "bad guy" in the next book. 

As always Lauren has a great way of wrapping up a story but yet leaving you hanging, I will be reading The Temptation of the Night Jasmine (Pink Carnation, Bk 5) soon!

I also read Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

Two sheltered princesses, one wounded warrior; who will live happily ever after? — Princess Margrethe has been hidden away while her kingdom is at war. One gloomy, windswept morning as she stands in a convent garden overlooking the icy sea, she witnesses a miracle: a glittering mermaid emerging from the waves, a nearly drowned man in her arms. By... more » the time Margrethe reaches the shore, the mermaid has disappeared into the sea. As Margrethe nurses the handsome stranger back to health, she learns that not only is he a prince, he is also the son of her father's greatest rival. Sure that the mermaid brought this man to her for a reason, Margrethe devises a plan to bring peace to her kingdom.

Meanwhile, the mermaid princess Lenia longs to return to the human man she carried to safety. She is willing to trade her home, her voice, and even her health for legs and the chance to win his heart....

A surprising take on the classic tale, Mermaid is the story of two women with everything to lose. Beautifully written and compulsively readable, it will make you think twice about the fairytale you heard as a child, keeping you in suspense until the very last page.

I am in love with modernizations of old twisted fairy tales and the Little Mermaid is one of my favorite stories so I just had to read this and it grabbed me right off.  There is just something about Carolyn's writing style that pulls you in. 

I think the reason I love re-tellings dosn't try to glamorize her version at all, it may start off kind of sweet but it is dark and sexual and sad just like the real story (which I am going to re-read).

I'm not going to say anymore about this book because this is going to be my Read Along Book for January.  If you didn't take part in my last read along then please check it out, we read Practical Magic and had great fun!  I am right now working on setting this one up, getting all the questions and prizes together.  The official announcement will come shortly after Christmas, hope you can read along with us.

And right now I am reading Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires, Bk 4) by Rachel Caine

Claire Danvers's college town may be run by vampires but a truce between the living and the dead made things relatively safe. For a while. Now people are turning up dead, a psycho is stalking her, and an ancient bloodsucker has proposed private mentoring. To what end, Claire will find out. And it's giving night school a whole new meaning.

There is nothing special about these books, they are just light little mysteries and I enjoy them because of that.  I also didn't want to start anything long because my fabulous sister brought me a copy of a book I have been dying to read.  So next time (and I plan on continuing to post my reviews on the 20th of the month) I will tell you all about that one.

Thanks for stopping by, please share with me what you are reading!