The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig

They were close enough that she could make out the faint hint of a scar beside his lip, close enough to kiss. 92 She on the other hand, never expected to be partnered with such a man and is surprised by the thoughts and emotions he inspires. “That,” said Colonel Reid, ‘sounds remarkably like a challenge.” p. “Do you ever allow anyone else the last word, Miss Meadows?” “Not if they haven’t wit enough to seize it,” said Gwen. The lines at the corners of Colonel Reid’s eyes crinkled. 55įinding they must work together if they have any hopes of finding the two young ladies, the Colonel discovers his partner to be quite a delightful, refreshing conundrum and not only because of her dexterity while under attack. And by everyone, she meant the Pink Carnation. Bad enough that Agnes had gone missing worse yet to have to deal with the parent of the other girl, poking his nose in-however attractive a nose it might be-and posing questions that might prove inconvenient for everyone. All her instincts, well honed over years of midnight raids, were shouting “trouble.” How much of the trouble was coming from the situation and how much from a certain sun-bronzed colonel was a matter for debate. While conducting an interview with the headmistress, they meet the aforementioned comely, charming Colonel.

And where Miss Wooliston goes, so goes her caustically witty and straight-laced companion, and adroit, clever, a parasol-wielding agent of the War Office, Miss Gwendolyn Meadows. Soon we learn the other missing student is Agnes Wooliston, the sister of British spymaster, errr, ehm, spymistress, the Pink Carnation – generally known as Miss Jane Wooliston – recalling her home from Paris to England.

In Purple Plumeria, (those of us who have been previously “Pinked,” often refer to the novels by the abbreviated Flower title…), the handsome Colonel William Reid, who we first encountered in Blood Lily ( The Betrayal of the Blood Lily ) has returned to his daughters in England from a lifelong military career in India only to discover his youngest has recently disappeared from boarding school with one of her classmates. This historical romance series of Napoleonic era English spies, that fight for Britain and for love, is constructed within a modern-day love story, told from the point of view of the American grad student Eloise Kelly who is writing her dissertation on the true identity of the Pink Carnation, the master British spy of the time.

Acclaimed author Lauren Willig’s latest offering, The Passion of the Purple Plumeria, is the tenth novel in her New York Times bestselling Pink Carnation series.

The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig