girl_curious's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
booksforbrooks's review
4.0
Why on earth did I wait so long to read this? In the third volume of the Pink Carnation series, Willig serves up another joyous blend of espionage, romance and wit that lives up to the promise of it's predecessors. Letty is a fabulous heroine, and her forced marriage to Geoffrey provides an unusual start to the story. A wonderful supporting cast of characters from the previous books are back in action (I particularly enjoyed seeing Miles and Henrietta again) and moving the plot to Ireland lends a fresh element. There are multiple plot twists, characters in disguise, murders and love-to-hate villains which kept me reading late into the night.
I couldn't quite give this a full five stars due a couple of niggles, however. Geoffrey's change of heart towards Letty comes a little too quickly to be believable to me. My main issue is with the modern day heroine, though. Eloise spends her chapters being utterly hopeless and entirely unsympathetic. I wanted to slap her constantly, and always dragged myself through her sections wishing to get back to the historical action as soon as possible. The storyline with Colin didn't move along at all and I hope that their "romance" isn't dragged out so much in the next installments that it takes too much away from the regency plotlines.
A super enjoyable read. I'm off to buy #4 from amazon right now.
I couldn't quite give this a full five stars due a couple of niggles, however. Geoffrey's change of heart towards Letty comes a little too quickly to be believable to me. My main issue is with the modern day heroine, though. Eloise spends her chapters being utterly hopeless and entirely unsympathetic. I wanted to slap her constantly, and always dragged myself through her sections wishing to get back to the historical action as soon as possible. The storyline with Colin didn't move along at all and I hope that their "romance" isn't dragged out so much in the next installments that it takes too much away from the regency plotlines.
A super enjoyable read. I'm off to buy #4 from amazon right now.
spiringvenus's review
2.0
This was a book in which I felt that nothing really happened. Girl meets boy. There is a misunderstanding. Blah Blah. The misunderstanding is cleared up. It is over. More filler text for the modern day subplot in which a three deep book flirtation is only two weeks along.
librovert's review against another edition
4.0
The Deception of the Emerald Ring was a fun read in the spy sense. I enjoyed the continue adventures of the spy ring introduced in the last book and I was really excited to see Jane take more a role in this novel.
The romance between Letty and Geoffrey was unique. Geoffrey is planning to elope with Letty's older sister, Mary. When Letty finds out she tries to stop it, but ends up being caught in a compromising situation forcing her and Geoffrey to marry. I thought it was plausible they way their romance develops, but I also wish there were more scenes between the lines - there are very few scenes that build up their relationship and there was a skip of several weeks in the middle of the story that I think would have shed more light on their relationship.
The romance between Letty and Geoffrey was unique. Geoffrey is planning to elope with Letty's older sister, Mary. When Letty finds out she tries to stop it, but ends up being caught in a compromising situation forcing her and Geoffrey to marry. I thought it was plausible they way their romance develops, but I also wish there were more scenes between the lines - there are very few scenes that build up their relationship and there was a skip of several weeks in the middle of the story that I think would have shed more light on their relationship.
zoemaja's review
5.0
my book
I really liked this one - but I always like it when they get married first and then fall in love. Absolutely my favorite of the series so far.
I really liked this one - but I always like it when they get married first and then fall in love. Absolutely my favorite of the series so far.
rachbreads's review
3.0
I actually feel like I learned a lot from this book, considering it is basically a historical romance. I didn't know anything about Ireland in the late 1700/early 1800s, and it was fun to see the book set mostly there. I also thought the set-up in this one was *chef's kiss* - the fact that Geoffrey & Letty have to marry even though he loves her sister, and then he leaves her, and she follows....it made for so many lol moments as well as some lovely slow build romantic tension. The series continues to be so much fun!
moviemavengal's review
4.0
I've always loved the forced to marry and then they fall in love trope. Very enjoyable read.
faerieminstrel's review
4.0
In this third installment of the Pink Carnation series, Lauren Willig continues to entertain and impress. The romance is subtle (barring one particularly steamy scene) and the mystery and intrigue is enough to keep me plowing through the series. Willig does a great job of linking the "Black Tulip" storyline not only to this particular volume, but to at least the next (and perhaps beyond).
The Eloise-Colin sub-plot, anchoring us a bit in the modern-day, does just enough to unify the whole of the Pink Carnation story, as well as to compliment, and perhaps even break-up the main narrative just enough to keep you guessing (and perhaps even re-cap the important points). Willig nicely balances the modern/Regency elements, never bogging the reader down too much with either storyline.
[As an aside, I have to admit that what I most love about Eloise and Colin has less to do with the potential of their blossoming romance, and far more to do with how Eloise can gush to Colin about all of her research findings. As a former academic (or perhaps, an academic on hiatus), I am always happy to have people around who appreciate my excitement over various things I've only just discovered/learned/connected (no matter how tenuously).]
Third books, I feel, often have the possibility of losing the readers and keeping them from wanting to keep reading, but I found none of that here.
That said, I am off to start book four!
The Eloise-Colin sub-plot, anchoring us a bit in the modern-day, does just enough to unify the whole of the Pink Carnation story, as well as to compliment, and perhaps even break-up the main narrative just enough to keep you guessing (and perhaps even re-cap the important points). Willig nicely balances the modern/Regency elements, never bogging the reader down too much with either storyline.
[As an aside, I have to admit that what I most love about Eloise and Colin has less to do with the potential of their blossoming romance, and far more to do with how Eloise can gush to Colin about all of her research findings. As a former academic (or perhaps, an academic on hiatus), I am always happy to have people around who appreciate my excitement over various things I've only just discovered/learned/connected (no matter how tenuously).]
Third books, I feel, often have the possibility of losing the readers and keeping them from wanting to keep reading, but I found none of that here.
That said, I am off to start book four!
salene27's review
5.0
The third book in the Pink Carnation series. I loved the developing relationship between Geoff & Letty.