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    The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
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    The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
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    The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

    Written by Lauren Willig

    Narrated by Kate Reading

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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. She must 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 and for the Black Tulip that weakness is beautiful 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 anticipated that his own heart would be caught as well. Fighting their growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost in a treacherous garden of lies.

    And as our modern-day heroine, Eloise Kelly, digs deeper into England?s Napoleonic-era espionage, she becomes even more entwined with Colin Selwick, the descendant of her spy subjects.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 31, 2008
    ISBN9781429592505
    Unavailable
    The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
    Author

    Lauren Willig

    Lauren Willig is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An alumna of Yale University, she has a graduate degree in history from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

    3.5/5

    314 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the next one!
    • 4/5
      This series is great fun, and this book is the best so far. You start with the basis of the series, that the Scarlet Pimpernel kept spying for England after the execution of Robespierre (instead of retiring at the end of the Terror as Orczy had it in the original series) until he was unmasked, when he was replaced by another flowery-named amatuer spy, who was eventually unmasked and replaced by the Pink Carnation, whose identity was never revealed until two hundred years later when grad. student Eloise is allowed access to the Selwick family papers which contain documentary proof that the Pink Carnation was a woman. This is an adventure-romance series in the vein of the Scarlet Pimpernel for a modern era, in which the clever women actually are clever and don't stand around waiting to be rescued.Mary Alsworthy and Lord Vaughn are older than the protagonists of the previous volumes in the series, and consequently have a wonderfully more cynical, world-weary perspective. Even if this were not to my taste, I would be impressed by Willig's ability to depict the characters that we have seen in earlier books through the eyes of a very different narrator. I am looking forward to the next book, even if I am slightly concerned that I will find it a let-down after this one.
    • 4/5
      I loved the characters in this episode of the Pink Carnation series. Lord Vaughn and Mary complemented each other perfectly. I loved their banter throughout the book. The ending lost me a tad. The revelation of the Black Tulip and the resolution of the situation with Ann was a little convenient. However, it was still a fun ride.
    • 4/5
      This series is great fun, and this book is the best so far. You start with the basis of the series, that the Scarlet Pimpernel kept spying for England after the execution of Robespierre (instead of retiring at the end of the Terror as Orczy had it in the original series) until he was unmasked, when he was replaced by another flowery-named amatuer spy, who was eventually unmasked and replaced by the Pink Carnation, whose identity was never revealed until two hundred years later when grad. student Eloise is allowed access to the Selwick family papers which contain documentary proof that the Pink Carnation was a woman. This is an adventure-romance series in the vein of the Scarlet Pimpernel for a modern era, in which the clever women actually are clever and don't stand around waiting to be rescued.Mary Alsworthy and Lord Vaughn are older than the protagonists of the previous volumes in the series, and consequently have a wonderfully more cynical, world-weary perspective. Even if this were not to my taste, I would be impressed by Willig's ability to depict the characters that we have seen in earlier books through the eyes of a very different narrator. I am looking forward to the next book, even if I am slightly concerned that I will find it a let-down after this one.
    • 4/5
      This episode stars Lord Vaughn and Mary Alsworthy. Both of them have appeared in earlier books. Neither was really a positive character. Mary is single-minded in her search for a husband and is willing to use all her womanly wiles to capture one. Lord Vaughn has been a mysterious character of uncertain loyalties. In this story, Vaughn offers to pay for Mary's next London season if she will act as bait to capture the mysterious Black Tulip. Mary wants the season. In her defense, marriage really was the only acceptable path for a woman in her social class at the time. I loved the dialogue between the two of them as they sparred, exchanged quotations, and tried to outdo each other. It was fun to watch two cynical and practical people fall in love but secrets from Lord Vaughn's past threaten to derail their bright new future. And the Black Tulip has plans of his own that create all sorts of danger for both Vaughn and Mary.In the present section of the story, Eloise finally gets to have her date with Colin wherein she learns why he was so unwelcoming when she came to look at the family papers.
    • 4/5
      I am continuing to enjoy Willig’s historical fiction/espionage/romance series. For me, a lot of the charm is that in each book Willig focuses attention on a different romantic couple, while continuing to bring earlier characters into the story line, where appropriate. I have to say that Lord Vaughn and Mary Alsworthy have been my favorite “couple” in the series so far. Lord Vaughn is the epitome of a wealthy sardonic rake of the time period, one who lives for verbal sparring and mental game-play with the individuals he encounters. Mary is the epitome of an icy goddess capable of matching Vaughn’s remarks with sharp, witty rejoiners of her own. The espionage case plays second fiddle, IMO, to the sparks flying between Vaughn and Mary, while the “complication” in Vaughn’s life works exceptionally well to spice up the plot. The developing romance between the present day characters of Eloise and Colin continues to move along at a nice pace but for me, it is the historical fiction part of the story that really captured my attention.Overall, I am loving this series and looking forward to reading the next installment.
    • 3/5
      I ended up liking this a bit more than I expected. With the minimal exposure to the Mary from the previous books and the unflattering exposure to Lord Vaughn in book #3, I was not expecting to care about the relationship — either good or bad — between them. Thankfully, the author managed to produce a story that did not rely on a graphic coupling between the main characters. (To be fair, she flirted with it, but refrained from letting the temptation carry through.) Mary's character become a bit more sympathetic over the course of the book, but I honestly never got a firm grasp of what Willig wants us to think about Vaughn. And I sincerely hope the Black Tulip is not going to continue to be presumed dead at the end of successive books, only to resurrect in a new storyline. This is two books in a row, and the is-he (or she)-dead-or-inexplicably-escaped trope has already worn thin for me. I have two more books in the series on my shelf, but I am already beginning to feel a sense of ennui with both the historical and modern-day stories of the series. I may see if they are available from the library, but I definitely will not be buying any more of Ms. Willig's books; it's beginning to feel like the same basic story being told over and over with a basic change of name and location.
    • 3/5
      I've been tempted to try Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation novels for years, because of the tenuous connection with The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, and The Seduction of the Crimson Rose was the closest instalment to hand in the library (I wasn't about to pay for the dubious pleasure). The jury is still out, however. My Pimpernel phase has long since withered, so I was far from being mortally offended on behalf of my favourite books, but Willlig is more Georgette Heyer than Orczy anyway. Which is fine for fans of Heyer's peculiarly 1930s Regency romances, alas, I do not rank among the legions. I did manage to read the whole novel, which was around 200 pages too long, and quite enjoyed the experience, but I'm glad I only borrowed a copy for my 'experiment'. The modern day narrative, with Eloise the American grad student and her slightly muddled boyfriend Colin, was Chick Lit 101, with a lot of rambling introspection and 'cute' everyday observations. That's fine, I don't mind a dose of light and frothy romance every now and again. But the Crimson Rose part of the story, set two hundred years earlier in 1803, was little more than historical chick lit, if there is such a thing. After pages and pages of repetitive 'formal' dialogue between bitter spinster Mary Alsworthy and the tall, dark and debonair Lord Sebastian Vaughn - which only hit the giddy heights of witty banter on one or two occasions - Willig seemed to stop fighting the anachronisms and Americanisms, and resorted to Victorian melodrama instead ('Damn you, Vaughn! You were supposed to be dead by now!') Heyer would be proud, but I don't think I'll bother with the rest of the floral spies in the series.On a tangent, I may have been unduly influenced by my recent reading matter, but a better twist to this tale would have been to make Vaughn a vampire, in the style of Count Dracula. Seriously! His dark hair, pale ('silver') eyes, cynical attitude, and suitably gothic taste in dress (black velvet shot through with silver) and decor, make him an ideal candidate for undeath (Mary even jokes about his immortality). There is even a fitting quote from Shakespeare in one of the epigraphs that would suit Vaughn as a family motto: 'Who dares not stir by day must walk by night'. Probably not what Lauren Willig had in mind, but I think she missed a trick there!
    • 4/5
      I skipped this entry in the series originally because I wasn't as interested in Mary and Vaughn. I have revised my opinion. True, their initial attraction isn't as intense or exciting to me, but that's because I'm a fan of star-crossed lovers. Two people that dislike each other, but only to hide their true feelings. Or when one person is madly in love but thinks the other person couldn't care less, except, of course, they do. Mary and Vaughn exhibit none of these behaviors, as is true to their characters. They are cynical and bitter, they have seen love stripped of illusions, and they are all too familiar with lust. When they realize that they are attracted to each other, they don't engage in much subterfuge. Although their initial courtship was different from others in the series, it was exactly as it should have been. Mary and Vaughn are almost the complete opposite of other heroes and heroines in the Pink Carnation series, and they would naturally act in a contrary manner. In fact, the whole tone of this novel is much darker and more sarcastic in humor than others. Also, after their first kiss, the author rewards us with romantic tension of the sort I crave, as Vaughn pretends complete disinterest in Mary, and Mary decides to catch Mr. St. George as her husband. Despite their intentions, the two are inescapably drawn together, and life contrives to provide a happy ending for the pair.Oh yes, there is a plot besides the romance, of course. The Black Tulip is still on the loose, and the Pink Carnation has asked Vaughn to use Mary as a decoy, a new tulip in his collection. The plan succeeds, but the spy is not so trustful, sensing a plot, and asks Mary to prove her loyalty by killing Vaughn. She attempts to stop him, showing the Black Tulip that her involvement is just a ruse, and risks her own life to help Vaughn after the Tulip successfully shoots him through the shoulder. The action is as fast-paced and fun as I've come to expect from the Carnation series, and blends with the romance to create a tidy little package of reading escapism. In spite of my first impressions, I very much enjoyed this novel. It is not one of my favorites, but it is still a delightful read.
    • 3/5
      In this fourth installment of the Pink Carnation saga, Eloise Kelly is still working on her dissertation which concentrates on the spies during the Napoleonic Wars. She's discovered who was the Pink Carnation and now she is trying to find out who the enemy Black Tulip is. With the information that she found in Ireland, Eloise heads to review the Vaughn collection hoping to find the details that will lead her to the enemy of the Pink Carnation.This story centers around Mary Allsworthy, the older sister of Letty Allsworthy who was the main character in the previous installment. Mary is uncomfortable knowing that she will live as a pensioner to her sister if she doesn't find a groom. Making a bargain with Lord Vaughn to hunt down the Black Tulip in exchange for a dowry, Mary along with Vaughn, work to reveal the Black Tulip. This tale is my least favorite of the series, mainly because I didn't particularly care for the main characters. Mary was a social climber and Lord Vaughn was just a bit too haughty. Hopefully, the next book will be back on track.
    • 3/5
      Willig delivers yet again with the fourth book in her enjoyable Pink Carnation series. This one is particularly interesting because the characters are, in a way, not her most overtly likeable but being an old grump myself, I quite like their darkness and cynicism. The sections featuring Eloise and Colin are, however, useful for lightening the tone - but the plot certainly thickens in twenty-first century London. This series is an always welcome diversion and I look forward to settling in with the next one soon.
    • 3/5
      While I appreciated the witty banter and thrilling action of book four, I had a real difficult time getting into this particular story. It seemed to me that the previous installments had helped to create this character in Lord Vaughn who was quite unpopular to the reader. Throughout the stories, he seemed like this swine who flirted with the women, and who could or could not be spying for the French and playing both sides. In all honesty, I viewed Lord Vaughn as a great villain, and I just couldn't let that go to see him as a possible love interest for Mary, nor as someone that I should feel the least bit of sympathy for.Lest I demonize the lead male character without giving the lead female character her just dues, I have to say that Mary came across as a spoiled brat as well. In some ways I was supposed to feel bad for Mary, as she had lost her "love interest" to her sister, but she didn't even really love him! Instead, Mary was more interested in looking for status, and I wasn't completely convinced that she had completely changed as she fell in love with Lord Vaughn. Could I say the two fell in love? I suppose you can say the two were a good couple, and deserved one another, but I really struggled to connect to these two characters. It's not that the story in itself is bad, as the thriller theme is carried forward and you learn more about the espionage and action of the story, but I wasn't as into the main characters.On the flip side, I couldn't get enough of our modern narrator's story. Eloise, as the graduate student researching the Pink Carnation, has developed a relationship with the rich owner of these sensitive historical document, Colin. He was so reluctant and snooty about allowing Eloise access to the documents in the beginning, that it created this delicious tension between the two, that has left them pretty much falling for one another by this point. The problem is, you only get the rarest snippets of the modern day story!!! Honestly, I've switched gears a bit, and really just want to know what's going to happen between Eloise and Colin!Altogether, as with the previous books, I have enjoyed this series. There wasn't any extended love scenes in this particular installment, but there was the characteristic sexual tension present as in the others. I can't say this was my favorite of the first four, but I really am loving the story of our modern narrator that has been building up. Because of the modern element of the story, I can't wait to read the next installment!
    • 4/5
      This series is fantastic! Willig, who says she got her degree in history solely so she could write historical romances, does a wonderful job! The characters, plot and setting are richly drawn, the banter is sexy and funny and I devour these greedily!
    • 4/5
      I've always enjoyed the mixture of a modern story with a historical romance in these books.Although I like reading it, the current day plot is getting a bit thin-- Eloise Kelly is an American in England, working on research for her dissertation on spies in the Napoleonic wars. She's hit a vein of useful papers, and met a very interesting man, who happens to be guardian of said papers. Romance and research! A villain was introduced in this volume, which adds promise for the future installments.The meat of the book is the historical story. Until now, these have featured typical regency characters-- the woman with flaws that are modern day virtues, the men who are strong but ready to fall in love.Mary Allsworthy is beautiful, and really a bit of a bitch. She knows what she wants, and figures out what she needs to do to get it. She isn't mean-spirited, but other people aren't really a priority with her.Lord Vaughn isn't a particularly nice guy. In fact, those somewhat in the know are suspicious of whether he is in league with the Black Tulip, an infamous French spy.As you would expect, they both end up involved in the spy ring, and once you've been involved in a government plot together, can true love be far behind? Of course,there are complications, and of course they explain why Vaughn has become the unpleasant fellow he seems to be.I like the historical notes at the end. Of course, the author could be making those up as well, and I'd never know.An entertaining adventure with a slightly unusual romance, and a modern day framing. It works for me.
    • 4/5
      The Seduction of the Crimson Rose continues the adventure that started four books ago with The History of the Pink Carnation. Lauren Willig has developed this series with a mixture of history, wit, humour and romance.I think this book may be my favourite of the series. Mary Alsworthy has more personality in her little finger than her sister, who was the heroine of the last book. Lord Vaughn has long been one of my favourite characters, and now he has found a worthy companion. I found their self-interest and less-than-heroic motives refreshing. And it was nice to see Eloise and Colin finally move their attraction along.These books are part historical romance, part chick-lit and all fun. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose is a lively and enjoyable addition to the series.
    • 1/5
      #4 in the Pink Carnation series and it is by no means the best. I loved how the book started off -- Mary Allsworthy, Letty's conniving sister from book 3, is staying with her newly married sister and hates life since she lost the man she tried to snare. I was intrigued to find out how Willig would make her a likable character since in the previous book Mary had been controlling and fake. And like her I did! Well, at least at first. She is 'recruited' by Vaughn to help flush out the Black Tulip (sinister French spy) and begins to learn more about him - Vaughn - as a person and *gasp* likes him! Vaughn is witty and is constantly throwing out references to literature that I am quite sure Mary should not have understood, but they were still enjoyable nonetheless. I loved their unorthodox 'courtship' but as soon as they decided to both declare their undying love for each other, it all went downhill from there. I did not feel like either of these cynical, proud characters should have all the sudden found themselves blissfully happy about their new-found relationship. I half-enjoyed it but felt like the last 1/3 of the book should have been rewritten. Oh well.
    • 2/5
      I was very disappointed in this book, especially after the excellency of the last two volumes of the series. The Seduction Of the Crimson Rose moved at a much slower pace. I was so used to the fast-paceness of the previous three volumes that I became quite bored quite fast. I simply wasn't interested in the characters of Mary or Vaughn and the story seemed to go downhill once they declared their 'love' for each other. I can't count how many times I thought, "Spare me!" Actually, I was quite interested in Vaughn before The Seduction Of the Crimson Rose. In the previous two volumes he was a mysterious sort of character. There was no mystery in this book.The better parts of this book was the last third. The only purpose of The Seduction Of the Crimson Rose seemed to be the uncovering of the Black Tulip and that was incredibly disappointing, as well.The story of Eloise, however, was very much the best part. I was disappointed with how her chapters are greatly spaced out between the historical chapters. There just isn't enough of her story, in my opinion.Nevertheless, I do very much love this series and am looking forward to the next installment.
    • 2/5
      My first reaction to this book was feeling let down. The climax when the Black Tulip was discovered wasn't all that great. Not a lot of the book was devoted to finding about who he was. It was more focused on Lord Vaughn and Mary's romancing.
    • 4/5
      All in all, a good story. A little light on chapters covering the modern-day drama between Colin and Eloise - when will they get their own installment?! - but as far as history goes, this one certainly fits in well with the series. Not being big on British history, the plot reveal near the end confused me...but still a good read.
    • 4/5
      imagine my delight upon finding lord vaughn the center of this next installment of the flower spy stories - in case the text doesn't convey it, sarcasm is implied here, heavily. oh lord vaughn. though, honestly, he wasn't as aggravating as i had anticipated, considering how unimpressed i was with him in the previous books. i was able to suspend my disbelief and buy into his character, his role as the dissolute, debonair rogue with a rapier wit, if only because i had to in order to get through the book. i thought mary, the heroine of this book, was great (for the most part) - though the romance between her and vaughn seemed a bit forced and abrupt. they had good chemistry for a while, but then it kind of fizzled out half way through. or i lost interest, not sure which. as for the mystery that mary and vaughn have to unfold on their way to true love and happiness, it started out pretty interesting, with mary convincingly and successfully assuming a central role in efforts to grapple with and thwart the arch villain, the black tulip. but about half way through the actual unfolding of the plot, beyond the establishment of the story's premise, things started to get rather contrived, and the pace slackened a bit. and i wasn't that impressed with the revealed identity of the black tulip. oh well.as for the modern element of the book, eloise and colin's romance continues to progress nicely, and i think their story was the most enjoyable part of the crimson rose, which is too bad considering it only took up a handful of chapters.overall the book was entertaining enough, and, in keeping with what seems to be developing into a theme with these stories, it ends with a bang and a good deal of the ridiculous and amusing thrown in.still waiting for jane's story...
    • 3/5
      I found this fourth book of Willig's series to be a bit obvious. It reminded me vividly of historical romance novels, rather than drawing me into the intrigue and time period as a well-written historical fiction novel will do. Still, I enjoyed it for what it was, and I will continue to read new instalments of the series.
    • 5/5
      Willig has done it again, pulling the readers of her fourth historical fiction novel into Napoleonic England with grace and skill. Not only have Willig's writing style and plot formation improved drastically since her first book, but the sub-plot of Eloise Kelly enriches the story, rather than takes away from the plot (as in the first novel). After enjoying each of the Pink Carnation books, I can safely proclaim myself a loyal fan of Willig. I can't wait for more!
    • 4/5
      I thought I was growing tired of this historical fiction series, but the fourth book is really much more entertaining than some of the previous novels. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose focuses on Lord Vaughn, a man who has loomed mysteriously in previous novels, his loyalties much in doubt. Willig's novels can be frivolously light, but this somewhat darker episode is eminently readable.