Book Review: The Passion of the Purple Plumeria

Author: Lauren Willig

Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Publisher: NAL Trade
Series: Pink Carnation # 10

Colonel William Reid has returned home from India to retire near his children, who are safely stowed in an academy in Bath. Upon his return to the Isles, however, he finds that one of his daughters has vanished, along with one of her classmates.

Having served as second-in-command to the Pink Carnation, one of England’s most intrepid spies, it would be impossible for Gwendolyn Meadows to give up the intrigue of Paris for a quiet life in the English countryside—especially when she’s just overheard news of an alliance forming between Napoleon and an Ottoman Sultan. But, when the Pink Carnation’s little sister goes missing from her English boarding school, Gwen reluctantly returns home to investigate the girl’s disappearance.

Thrown together by circumstance, Gwen and William must cooperate to track down the young ladies before others with nefarious intent get their hands on them. But Gwen’s partnership with quick-tongued, roguish William may prove to be even more of an adventure for her than finding the lost girls…

The spy wore purple. Only amateurs wore black. Miss Gwendolyn Meadows knew that the true color of a Paris night wasn’t a flat black, but a deep purple, composed of a hundred shades of shadow.

“Merciful heavens, no!” You couldn’t pay me to be a teacher.” The idea was horrifying enough to stop Miss Meadows in her tracks.

William was beginning to experience grave doubts about Miss Clompson’s academy. “Do the girls here misplace themselves frequently?”

Lizzy Reid’s desk would be of no interest to someone looking for anything that might incriminate the Pink Carnation. Agnes’s, however, would be.

This entire series has been a must read for me. I have not missed one book, and I certainly don’t plan on starting now. Again Willig takes another minor character and tells readers their story. I was so happy to hear about Gwen, and she wasn’t at all what I truly expected. She was a fearsome, brave leader and chaperone. She had enough spunk and confidence to fill a ten story building. In the tenth installment of the Pink Carnation series, we get another action-packed mystery filled with tons of chaos, secrets, and of course romance! This time the Pink Carnation’s younger sister, Agnes, has gone missing as well as her best friend, Lizzy. Along with Lizzy’s father, Gwen embarks on a journey to find the girls and understand why they ever went missing in the first place!

Gwen was even more witty, brave, and courageous than I imagined she would be. I got an up close look into her life, and I am so glad that Willig decided to give her her own book. I loved the mystery in this book, and the fact that Gwen got so up close and personal with everything. I really felt like I was right inside the action with Gwen as the leading narrator. I was concerned about Gwen and William, Lizzy’s father, at first, but then I realized that William was the sweet to Gwen’s saucy and sometimes the other way around! They were the perfect pair. Gwen, being the passionate feminist and clever spy that she was, needed someone like William to reign her in at times.

This series has been so amazing for me! The books combines so many genres into one. Romance, historical fiction, mystery, and even adventure/action. I strongly recommend starting with the first book in this series, and you cannot go wrong with any of them really. If you start from the beginning, you are sure to get key information about supporting and lead characters that you might miss out on otherwise. This books have a little of bit of everything, and are sure to please many reading tastes. I am even thinking about starting the series over myself!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at NAL Trade in exchange for my honest review***