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Pink Carnation #8
The Orchid Affair
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Romance (2011)Laura Grey, a veteran governess, joins the Selwick Spy School expecting to find elaborate disguises and thrilling exploits in service to the spy known as the Pink Carnation. She hardly expects her first assignment to be serving as governess for the children of Andre Jaouen, right-hand man to Bonaparte's minister of police. Jaouen and his arch rival, Gaston Delaroche, are investigating a suspected Royalist plot to unseat Bonaparte, and Laura's mission is to report any suspicious findings.
At first the job is as lively as Latin textbooks and knitting, but Laura begins to notice strange behavior from Jaouen-secret meetings and odd comings and goings. As Laura edges herself closer to her employer, she makes a shocking discovery and is surprised to learn that she has far more in common with Jaouen than she originally thought...
As their plots begin to unravel, Laura and Jaouen are forced on the run with the children, and with the help of the Pink Carnation they escape to the countryside, traveling as husband and wife. But Delaroche will stop at nothing to take down his nemesis. With his men hot on their trail, can Laura and Jaouen seal the fate of Europe before it's too late?
At first the job is as lively as Latin textbooks and knitting, but Laura begins to notice strange behavior from Jaouen-secret meetings and odd comings and goings. As Laura edges herself closer to her employer, she makes a shocking discovery and is surprised to learn that she has far more in common with Jaouen than she originally thought...
As their plots begin to unravel, Laura and Jaouen are forced on the run with the children, and with the help of the Pink Carnation they escape to the countryside, traveling as husband and wife. But Delaroche will stop at nothing to take down his nemesis. With his men hot on their trail, can Laura and Jaouen seal the fate of Europe before it's too late?
406 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 2011
95 people are currently reading
3027 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Willig
42 books4,729 followersLauren Willig is the New York Times bestselling author of nineteen works of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded the RITA, Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards, and chosen for the American Library Association's annual list of the best genre fiction. After graduating from Yale University, she embarked on a PhD in History at Harvard before leaving academia to acquire a JD at Harvard Law while authoring her "Pink Carnation" series of Napoleonic-set novels. She lives in New York City, where she now writes full time.
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January 31, 2011
Here's the thing. If you're at the point where you're reading the SEVENTH of a series in HARDCOVER, you don't really need my review. You're like me; you're going to read it regardless of what the main storyline might be. We've come this far and we've been amused enough with the ride, so we'll continue on.
The Orchid Affair is, indeed, the seventh book in the Pink Carnation series (a count which doesn't include the Christmas intrigue published a few months ago or that little online novella) published by Lauren Willig -- historical romance novelist who found her way to full time writing only after going to Harvard Law (something tells me that when they talk about the many things you can do with your law degree, this might not have been what they had in mind). Willig has certainly published a great deal since The Secret History of the Pink Carnation appeared in 2005, so thank goodness she seems to know exactly what her readers want. The series is loosely gathered around the doings of the Pink Carnation, an English spy, but the Pink Carnation herself is a somewhat elusive character -- only peeking in occasionally while each book focuses on the love lives of two other individuals. Most of the pairs of lovers in question are English, regardless of the country that provides our setting, but The Orchid Affair is unique; rather than featuring Englishfolk running about France while sporting flowery spy names, this installment features a Frenchwoman returning home after spending years in England as a governess... so she can sport a flowery spy name and be planted in the home of a French official. Much less Englishness. And running. At least in the first half. In the end, what she (and her super secret spy boss The Pink Carnation) doesn't quite count on is that the French official in question might not be totally on board with the current government's practices either, which would make them surprising allies in the need to smuggle a French claimant to the throne out of France.
Willig readers know the basic idea of what they'll be getting here. Some ridiculous fun and an eventual happy ending, preferably with a sexy scene or two tossed in... or at least some nice romantic angst. And when the obvious set up is between a secret spy governess and the employer she's spying on, well, there you have it. Laura Grey is, indeed, a governess, so posing as a governess isn't a terribly difficult role for her. Her parents were artists (her mother a poet of some note and her father a well-known sculptor) and while they had many friends in life, when they died in a boating accident, Laura made her own way in life. Now, the thrill of serving as a spy (and having gone through the Selwick Spy School) is a bit muted by the daily duties of teaching children, so thankfully the story does eventually veer off into something much more amusing -- a traveling troupe of actors. Andre Jaouen is her employer, the right-hand man (and cousin by marriage) to the Chief of Police. It's not surprising, therefore, that the Pink Carnation might want someone in his employ to glean any useful bits of information... what Laura eventually discovers, however, is that Andre is assisting the Royalist cause, having grown jaded with what the Revolution has led to. As a result, we get a fresher look at all the post-Revolution politics in France, which provides a welcome perspective in a series where naturally one must worry about the whole "those Frenchies seek him everywhere" storyline could get tired.
On the modern end of things (as each novel does tie together with the modern graduate student Eloise and her blossoming romance with the many-time-great-grandson of one of these flowery spies), we actually are seeing some drama stir up that goes beyond Eloise and Colin. I was a tad disappointed that we get no new information about exactly what Colin might be up to (is he really writing a spy novel or is he, perhaps, taking up the family business of spying?), but we do get a bit of drama as it concerns his family's estate and his mother's husband (who was her husband's nephew... ew) making a bit of a power play in his desire to be head of the family and trump Colin. The trouble here is that we get so little time with this cast that I always find myself wishing for more and not in the good sense, strictly speaking. Certainly it's interesting, but it does feel like we're rather eking along there.
I enjoy Willig's novels because she clearly has fun with the story -- which means that the reader is more likely to have fun reading it. She creates likable characters (often of the bumbling variety) and they get up to ridiculous antics -- and The Orchid Affair one was about par for the course (though it takes a little while to get to the ridiculous antics, as Paris is far too grim and serious for such things, evidently). Sadly, we're getting to the point where Willig has paired off so many people, it seems almost absurd when you come across them... a whole group of perfectly matched couples in charge of espionage operations across the Channel. But I chuckled and read the book in a weekend, so clearly it was all still amusing enough. It wasn't my favorite of her novels by any means -- the best one in the recent past was The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. It was good to get back to the actual center of the series (aka the French Revolution), though, and the French perspective was a nice angle. The Mischief of the Mistletoe introduced a whole crop of younger sisters, so clearly Willig has ample future heroines tucked away, so I'll keep on reading. Reading a Lauren Willig novel is an exceedingly pleasant way to pass a winter's afternoon/evening. Just keep the tea warm and the scones at the ready.
The Orchid Affair is, indeed, the seventh book in the Pink Carnation series (a count which doesn't include the Christmas intrigue published a few months ago or that little online novella) published by Lauren Willig -- historical romance novelist who found her way to full time writing only after going to Harvard Law (something tells me that when they talk about the many things you can do with your law degree, this might not have been what they had in mind). Willig has certainly published a great deal since The Secret History of the Pink Carnation appeared in 2005, so thank goodness she seems to know exactly what her readers want. The series is loosely gathered around the doings of the Pink Carnation, an English spy, but the Pink Carnation herself is a somewhat elusive character -- only peeking in occasionally while each book focuses on the love lives of two other individuals. Most of the pairs of lovers in question are English, regardless of the country that provides our setting, but The Orchid Affair is unique; rather than featuring Englishfolk running about France while sporting flowery spy names, this installment features a Frenchwoman returning home after spending years in England as a governess... so she can sport a flowery spy name and be planted in the home of a French official. Much less Englishness. And running. At least in the first half. In the end, what she (and her super secret spy boss The Pink Carnation) doesn't quite count on is that the French official in question might not be totally on board with the current government's practices either, which would make them surprising allies in the need to smuggle a French claimant to the throne out of France.
Willig readers know the basic idea of what they'll be getting here. Some ridiculous fun and an eventual happy ending, preferably with a sexy scene or two tossed in... or at least some nice romantic angst. And when the obvious set up is between a secret spy governess and the employer she's spying on, well, there you have it. Laura Grey is, indeed, a governess, so posing as a governess isn't a terribly difficult role for her. Her parents were artists (her mother a poet of some note and her father a well-known sculptor) and while they had many friends in life, when they died in a boating accident, Laura made her own way in life. Now, the thrill of serving as a spy (and having gone through the Selwick Spy School) is a bit muted by the daily duties of teaching children, so thankfully the story does eventually veer off into something much more amusing -- a traveling troupe of actors. Andre Jaouen is her employer, the right-hand man (and cousin by marriage) to the Chief of Police. It's not surprising, therefore, that the Pink Carnation might want someone in his employ to glean any useful bits of information... what Laura eventually discovers, however, is that Andre is assisting the Royalist cause, having grown jaded with what the Revolution has led to. As a result, we get a fresher look at all the post-Revolution politics in France, which provides a welcome perspective in a series where naturally one must worry about the whole "those Frenchies seek him everywhere" storyline could get tired.
On the modern end of things (as each novel does tie together with the modern graduate student Eloise and her blossoming romance with the many-time-great-grandson of one of these flowery spies), we actually are seeing some drama stir up that goes beyond Eloise and Colin. I was a tad disappointed that we get no new information about exactly what Colin might be up to (is he really writing a spy novel or is he, perhaps, taking up the family business of spying?), but we do get a bit of drama as it concerns his family's estate and his mother's husband (who was her husband's nephew... ew) making a bit of a power play in his desire to be head of the family and trump Colin. The trouble here is that we get so little time with this cast that I always find myself wishing for more and not in the good sense, strictly speaking. Certainly it's interesting, but it does feel like we're rather eking along there.
I enjoy Willig's novels because she clearly has fun with the story -- which means that the reader is more likely to have fun reading it. She creates likable characters (often of the bumbling variety) and they get up to ridiculous antics -- and The Orchid Affair one was about par for the course (though it takes a little while to get to the ridiculous antics, as Paris is far too grim and serious for such things, evidently). Sadly, we're getting to the point where Willig has paired off so many people, it seems almost absurd when you come across them... a whole group of perfectly matched couples in charge of espionage operations across the Channel. But I chuckled and read the book in a weekend, so clearly it was all still amusing enough. It wasn't my favorite of her novels by any means -- the best one in the recent past was The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. It was good to get back to the actual center of the series (aka the French Revolution), though, and the French perspective was a nice angle. The Mischief of the Mistletoe introduced a whole crop of younger sisters, so clearly Willig has ample future heroines tucked away, so I'll keep on reading. Reading a Lauren Willig novel is an exceedingly pleasant way to pass a winter's afternoon/evening. Just keep the tea warm and the scones at the ready.
February 10, 2022
This was one of my favorite books in the Pink Carnation series (some spoilers in this review). The action returned to Paris, focusing on a new spy, Laura Griscogne, known as the Silver Orchid, as she infiltrated the home of Andre Jaouen, posing as a governess for his two children. Thinking his post with the Paris Prefecture would provide valuable information, Laura found the tables turned on her as Jaouen apparently had a change of heart from his revolutionary days, and was now working to restore the monarchy. This book was packed with suspense, from the deadly interrogation of spies to the dramatic escape from a very dangerous and desolute Paris. There was a glimpse into the artistic world with such characters as painter Antoine Daubier, Laura's reminiscences of her sculptor father and poet mother, and Jaouen's thoughts of his deceased artist wife. Willig created an atmosphere of despair with her descriptive passages of action ocurring in dimly lit rooms and cold, rainy weather. There were brief moments of light and humor with the portrayal of the Commedia del'Arruzio, and appearances by the Pink Carnation and her poetic sidekick, the effervescent Augustus Whittlesby.
This book had everything to make it a thoroughly enjoyable read - danger, suspense, romance, mystery, and engaging characters. It was an insightful look into the Paris that existed after the Reign of Terror. This continues to be one of my favorite books of this series. The ending was dramatic, with an appearance by Lord Richard Selwick, the elusive Purple Gentian.
This was actually my third time reading this book, and it keeps getting better and better. I love these characters and the way they interacted to become a unit.
This book had everything to make it a thoroughly enjoyable read - danger, suspense, romance, mystery, and engaging characters. It was an insightful look into the Paris that existed after the Reign of Terror. This continues to be one of my favorite books of this series. The ending was dramatic, with an appearance by Lord Richard Selwick, the elusive Purple Gentian.
This was actually my third time reading this book, and it keeps getting better and better. I love these characters and the way they interacted to become a unit.
October 28, 2022
Since the first book, the series has turned the focus from classic Scarlet Pimpernel territory of France for other locales, but after the brief and light distraction of the Mischief of the Mistletoe, The Orchid Affair plunges into a caper set right under the nose of Napoleon himself with the suspense taking up even more than the romance. Never underestimate primness as a disguise.
The Orchid Affair is the eighth entry in the Pink Carnation series of mostly standalone romances and intrigues, but also moderately connected by series plot threads and world building. While one could pick some of these up, including this one, and get away with reading them standalone, they do go best in order.
As with previous books, The Orchid Affair has split timelines. In the contemporary line, Eloise and Colin are traveling over to Paris together with two-fold purpose. To visit his mother and step-father in true awkward fashion and get a stunning, unwelcome surprise and for Eloise to pursue her dissertation research into French records and pursue the exploits further of the Pink Carnation and debut spy, The Silver Orchid.
The Silver Orchid is governess turned spy, Laura Grey, who started as French artists’ daughter, then orphan, long-time governess attending the spy school, and now a chance to live an adventure. The Pink Carnation gets her into the household of the assistant to Napoleon’s minister of police. Andre Jaouen has secrets, but they are not what she was expecting and they launch the whole family into grave danger.
The Orchid Affair isn’t as frivolous as some of the earlier books much because of the personality of the main characters. Laura has been going it alone for so long that she has formed an armor of her prim, unflappable, and most capable governess persona that she hides behind not showing all of her true self. Widower, Andre has been living a dangerous lie for so long that he, too, has walls about him. They’d rather be lonely than vulnerable to another. But, after skirmishing for a bit about each other, a tentative partnership forms in the household when the children who barely know their father and the glaring nursemaid make settling into governessing and spying duties complicated. Meanwhile, Royalist conspirators against Napoleon and their plot sink everyone into dire danger. And, that was when the story kicked into high adventure and suspense and I loved seeing the wary pair, Andre and Laura become something more together.
The Pink Carnation was a stronger presence and, as I said, this one was more serious in tone. There was romance for Laura and Andre, but it was back burner and slow build. I enjoyed that they were French and fighting Napoleon and that the post-revolutionary and Napoleonic Paris setting and situation was so well drawn. Most of the time, Andre was the focus of Laura’s efforts and the efforts of his nemesis. It was fun that Andre didn’t know what to make of Laura and suspected she was his rival’s plant and never guessed she was a British spy. Usually, I find these entertaining, but this one had my attention through some good suspenseful moments and I hope this trend in tone continues through the remainder of the series. That bombshell surprise in the modern time thread was interesting and I think this was the first book that left me eager to see what comes next in the modern thread.
All in all, I was excited to be back in the world of spies and love, mischievous characters and the mayhem they create. The Pink Carnation series just keeps offering me colorful and entertaining installments to enjoy. Romantic suspense, historical romance, and historical mystery lovers who enjoy it on the lighter sexy side should give these a go.
My full review will post at Books of My Heart on Oct 26th.
The Orchid Affair is the eighth entry in the Pink Carnation series of mostly standalone romances and intrigues, but also moderately connected by series plot threads and world building. While one could pick some of these up, including this one, and get away with reading them standalone, they do go best in order.
As with previous books, The Orchid Affair has split timelines. In the contemporary line, Eloise and Colin are traveling over to Paris together with two-fold purpose. To visit his mother and step-father in true awkward fashion and get a stunning, unwelcome surprise and for Eloise to pursue her dissertation research into French records and pursue the exploits further of the Pink Carnation and debut spy, The Silver Orchid.
The Silver Orchid is governess turned spy, Laura Grey, who started as French artists’ daughter, then orphan, long-time governess attending the spy school, and now a chance to live an adventure. The Pink Carnation gets her into the household of the assistant to Napoleon’s minister of police. Andre Jaouen has secrets, but they are not what she was expecting and they launch the whole family into grave danger.
The Orchid Affair isn’t as frivolous as some of the earlier books much because of the personality of the main characters. Laura has been going it alone for so long that she has formed an armor of her prim, unflappable, and most capable governess persona that she hides behind not showing all of her true self. Widower, Andre has been living a dangerous lie for so long that he, too, has walls about him. They’d rather be lonely than vulnerable to another. But, after skirmishing for a bit about each other, a tentative partnership forms in the household when the children who barely know their father and the glaring nursemaid make settling into governessing and spying duties complicated. Meanwhile, Royalist conspirators against Napoleon and their plot sink everyone into dire danger. And, that was when the story kicked into high adventure and suspense and I loved seeing the wary pair, Andre and Laura become something more together.
The Pink Carnation was a stronger presence and, as I said, this one was more serious in tone. There was romance for Laura and Andre, but it was back burner and slow build. I enjoyed that they were French and fighting Napoleon and that the post-revolutionary and Napoleonic Paris setting and situation was so well drawn. Most of the time, Andre was the focus of Laura’s efforts and the efforts of his nemesis. It was fun that Andre didn’t know what to make of Laura and suspected she was his rival’s plant and never guessed she was a British spy. Usually, I find these entertaining, but this one had my attention through some good suspenseful moments and I hope this trend in tone continues through the remainder of the series. That bombshell surprise in the modern time thread was interesting and I think this was the first book that left me eager to see what comes next in the modern thread.
All in all, I was excited to be back in the world of spies and love, mischievous characters and the mayhem they create. The Pink Carnation series just keeps offering me colorful and entertaining installments to enjoy. Romantic suspense, historical romance, and historical mystery lovers who enjoy it on the lighter sexy side should give these a go.
My full review will post at Books of My Heart on Oct 26th.
January 25, 2011
The "Silver Orchid" shines in post-revolutionary Paris
The Orchid Affair is Willig’s eighth novel in the popular Pink Carnation series set during the Napoleonic Wars between England and France. They involve historical espionage, romance, swash, buckle and a fair dose of comedy and sardonic wit – neatly ticking off all the check boxes on my ideal historical/romance/comedy reading hit list.
The opening chapters of Orchid were an abrupt change after the high comedy of Willig’s last offering, The Mischief of the Mistletoe. Get ready to shift gears. No Christmas pudding capers here! It is 1802 post-revolutionary Paris. The tone is serious and somber; lots of cold rain, a prison interrogation and a visit by Madame Guillotine. Brrr!
Our heroine Miss Laura Grey is eager to do anything other than the governessing that has consumed her life for the past sixteen years. Recruited by the elusive flower spy, The Pink Carnation, she has just graduated from the Selwick Spy School and traveled to Paris on her first mission to, of course, do what she knows best, be a governess, albeit an undercover one, teaching young children and blending into the woodwork as a servant in the household of an important police official. Undercover as Laure Griscogne’s (code named The Silver Orchid), her assignment is to observe and collect information on the movements of her new employer Andre Jaouen who works at the Prefecture de Paris under Louis-Nicolas Dubois, Chief of Police and protégé of Joseph Fouche, Bonaparte’s Minister of Police. Jaouen and his arch-rival Gaston Delaroche, an agent of Fouche, are investigating a Royalist plot to overthrow the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, and reinstate the Bourbon line.
Paris is grim and imposing – a police state – and not at all what Laura remembered from her childhood. Orphaned at sixteen by the untimely death of her artistic parents, famous French sculptor Michel de Griscogne and Italian poetess Chiara de Veneti, Laura has spent the last half of her life earning her bread in the oppressive governess trade in England. Her current employers wife Julie Beniet died four years prior to her arrival and their two young children have until recently been raised by a family friend in the country. Jaouen is suspicious that Laura is a plant in his house by Gaston Delaroche, the mad megalomaniac to sinister Fouche. He does not quite know what to make of this prim, matter-of-fact governess. She on the other hand, is as equally curious of him. Handsome and austere, this disheartened Revolutionist ideals of liberté, égalité and fraternité are now a muddled dream after the coup d’état of Napoleon and his self-installation as First Consul. The age of revolutionary enlightened for both of them is now a regime of terror and fear.
Teaching Latin texts and Aesop’s Fables seem rather dull and un-spy-like to Laura until her employer’s secret meetings, suspicious doings and shocking reveal change the course of her mission. As Andre and Laura put aside their differences, they are forced to flee the city as husband and wife with the children under the cover of traveling performers in a Commedia dell’arte troupe. In hot pursuit is the evil Gaston Delaroche.
As in all of the previous novels in the Pink Carnation series except The Mischief of the Mistletoe, the parallel plot with contemporary scholar Eloise Kelly prompts the historical story as she conducts her own research for her doctoral thesis on the enigmatic British flower spies during the Napoleonic Wars. Her ongoing relationship with Colin Selwick, a direct descendant of the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation, brings them to Paris for Colin’s estranged mother’s weekend birthday party. As both plots unfold, will the Pink Carnation’s help be enough to assist Laura and Andre to safety and success, supply Eloise with enough footnotes for her dissertation and the reward of a marzipan pig?
What a fun adventure The Orchid Affair is. Since a ladies imagination is very rapid, I was guessing at plots left and right. Hmm? 1.) Stern widower in a dripping greatcoat and prim impoverished governess? Will there also be mad wife hidden in the attic like Jane Eyre? 2.) Brave widower and prim governess flee nasty government officials? Do they sing next and go mountain climbing like Sound of Music? 3.) Stoic widower and prim governess escape by disguise as actors in a comedy troupe a la Scaramouche? Oh, it doesn’t matter in the least because it is all totally original in the end. I just like playing these mind games. Readers will see the fun too and join in the hunt.
Fans of the series will be pleased to be back in the “Pink” again. As a standalone novel, The Orchid Affair is an historical triumph. Willig is known for her romances, but this really is heavier on the historical fiction than romance aside. It hearkens back deeply to The Scarlet Pimpernel for espionage and swash. A true Anglophile, I didn’t know much about this period of French history until I read For the King this past summer. This novel covers a later period in Napoleon’s reign as First Consul by a few years, but I did recognize many of the same names. Thankfully, less Googling. The research alone must have warranted many trips to the actual Musée des Collections Historiques de la Préfecture de Police in Paris. The detail is quite stunning.
One of Willig’s trademarks is to interlink characters from one novel to the next. It gives the reader a sense of continuity, like one big happy “Pink” family. She has successfully achieved this by introducing a character, albeit briefly, in one novel and then highlighting them in another. We meet some old acquaintances here too: Lady Selwick, the Pink Carnation appears, and one of my favorites, Miss Gwendolyn Meadows, Our Lady of the Sharp Umbrella, but the two new protagonists, Laura Grey and Andre Jaouen take up the majority of the narrative, and I could not be happier. They are delightful: both guarded and reserved, they are hiding their real personalities that come to life because of circumstance and association. Their romance is well wrought and touching. Willig’s writing is just, well, awesome. There are few who can surpass her in witty dialogue and imaginative plots. She is top on my list of contemporary authors.
Laurel Ann, Austenprose
The Orchid Affair is Willig’s eighth novel in the popular Pink Carnation series set during the Napoleonic Wars between England and France. They involve historical espionage, romance, swash, buckle and a fair dose of comedy and sardonic wit – neatly ticking off all the check boxes on my ideal historical/romance/comedy reading hit list.
The opening chapters of Orchid were an abrupt change after the high comedy of Willig’s last offering, The Mischief of the Mistletoe. Get ready to shift gears. No Christmas pudding capers here! It is 1802 post-revolutionary Paris. The tone is serious and somber; lots of cold rain, a prison interrogation and a visit by Madame Guillotine. Brrr!
Our heroine Miss Laura Grey is eager to do anything other than the governessing that has consumed her life for the past sixteen years. Recruited by the elusive flower spy, The Pink Carnation, she has just graduated from the Selwick Spy School and traveled to Paris on her first mission to, of course, do what she knows best, be a governess, albeit an undercover one, teaching young children and blending into the woodwork as a servant in the household of an important police official. Undercover as Laure Griscogne’s (code named The Silver Orchid), her assignment is to observe and collect information on the movements of her new employer Andre Jaouen who works at the Prefecture de Paris under Louis-Nicolas Dubois, Chief of Police and protégé of Joseph Fouche, Bonaparte’s Minister of Police. Jaouen and his arch-rival Gaston Delaroche, an agent of Fouche, are investigating a Royalist plot to overthrow the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, and reinstate the Bourbon line.
Paris is grim and imposing – a police state – and not at all what Laura remembered from her childhood. Orphaned at sixteen by the untimely death of her artistic parents, famous French sculptor Michel de Griscogne and Italian poetess Chiara de Veneti, Laura has spent the last half of her life earning her bread in the oppressive governess trade in England. Her current employers wife Julie Beniet died four years prior to her arrival and their two young children have until recently been raised by a family friend in the country. Jaouen is suspicious that Laura is a plant in his house by Gaston Delaroche, the mad megalomaniac to sinister Fouche. He does not quite know what to make of this prim, matter-of-fact governess. She on the other hand, is as equally curious of him. Handsome and austere, this disheartened Revolutionist ideals of liberté, égalité and fraternité are now a muddled dream after the coup d’état of Napoleon and his self-installation as First Consul. The age of revolutionary enlightened for both of them is now a regime of terror and fear.
Teaching Latin texts and Aesop’s Fables seem rather dull and un-spy-like to Laura until her employer’s secret meetings, suspicious doings and shocking reveal change the course of her mission. As Andre and Laura put aside their differences, they are forced to flee the city as husband and wife with the children under the cover of traveling performers in a Commedia dell’arte troupe. In hot pursuit is the evil Gaston Delaroche.
As in all of the previous novels in the Pink Carnation series except The Mischief of the Mistletoe, the parallel plot with contemporary scholar Eloise Kelly prompts the historical story as she conducts her own research for her doctoral thesis on the enigmatic British flower spies during the Napoleonic Wars. Her ongoing relationship with Colin Selwick, a direct descendant of the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation, brings them to Paris for Colin’s estranged mother’s weekend birthday party. As both plots unfold, will the Pink Carnation’s help be enough to assist Laura and Andre to safety and success, supply Eloise with enough footnotes for her dissertation and the reward of a marzipan pig?
What a fun adventure The Orchid Affair is. Since a ladies imagination is very rapid, I was guessing at plots left and right. Hmm? 1.) Stern widower in a dripping greatcoat and prim impoverished governess? Will there also be mad wife hidden in the attic like Jane Eyre? 2.) Brave widower and prim governess flee nasty government officials? Do they sing next and go mountain climbing like Sound of Music? 3.) Stoic widower and prim governess escape by disguise as actors in a comedy troupe a la Scaramouche? Oh, it doesn’t matter in the least because it is all totally original in the end. I just like playing these mind games. Readers will see the fun too and join in the hunt.
Fans of the series will be pleased to be back in the “Pink” again. As a standalone novel, The Orchid Affair is an historical triumph. Willig is known for her romances, but this really is heavier on the historical fiction than romance aside. It hearkens back deeply to The Scarlet Pimpernel for espionage and swash. A true Anglophile, I didn’t know much about this period of French history until I read For the King this past summer. This novel covers a later period in Napoleon’s reign as First Consul by a few years, but I did recognize many of the same names. Thankfully, less Googling. The research alone must have warranted many trips to the actual Musée des Collections Historiques de la Préfecture de Police in Paris. The detail is quite stunning.
One of Willig’s trademarks is to interlink characters from one novel to the next. It gives the reader a sense of continuity, like one big happy “Pink” family. She has successfully achieved this by introducing a character, albeit briefly, in one novel and then highlighting them in another. We meet some old acquaintances here too: Lady Selwick, the Pink Carnation appears, and one of my favorites, Miss Gwendolyn Meadows, Our Lady of the Sharp Umbrella, but the two new protagonists, Laura Grey and Andre Jaouen take up the majority of the narrative, and I could not be happier. They are delightful: both guarded and reserved, they are hiding their real personalities that come to life because of circumstance and association. Their romance is well wrought and touching. Willig’s writing is just, well, awesome. There are few who can surpass her in witty dialogue and imaginative plots. She is top on my list of contemporary authors.
Laurel Ann, Austenprose
September 21, 2021
What’s not to love as the series returns to Paris!
February 18, 2011
This was much, MUCH, better than the last couple of Carnation books (I don't even think I really remember those - I must have blocked them out). Jane actually shows up, and the focus is back on France/England, which makes much more sense, since I doubt the Secret Carnation controlled espionage on every continent.
Anyway, this one was a bit more mature in terms of character - both Laura and Andre are in their 30s - and I felt that it was also less frivolous than previous installments. The romance bloomed more slowly, and the spy elements made more sense (although I'm still not convinced of Andre's motives). My only disappointment is the modern section which just seems to drag without purpose. I would like it better if that story just framed the other - the interruptions began to get tedious. Still, it was a welcome relief to have the Carnation series back into fighting shape.
Anyway, this one was a bit more mature in terms of character - both Laura and Andre are in their 30s - and I felt that it was also less frivolous than previous installments. The romance bloomed more slowly, and the spy elements made more sense (although I'm still not convinced of Andre's motives). My only disappointment is the modern section which just seems to drag without purpose. I would like it better if that story just framed the other - the interruptions began to get tedious. Still, it was a welcome relief to have the Carnation series back into fighting shape.
March 16, 2022
I think I liked this a little less on reread than I had the first time I read it, but I think it's still very good. One thing I usually don't give Willig enough credit for is that she does write a variety of relationship dynamics and that's not something that every romance adjacent author actually manages. Very curious about what comes next because I think that was my low point with the series and I'm wondering if I will feel the same way years later.
1. The Masque of the Black Tulip
2. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring
4. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
5. The Orchid Affair
6. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
7. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
8. The Mischief of the Mistletoe
1. The Masque of the Black Tulip
2. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring
4. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
5. The Orchid Affair
6. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
7. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
8. The Mischief of the Mistletoe
October 7, 2012
I'm glad to see Willig getting back to a more espionage-heavy plot. I thought the political intrigue here was one of her best -- she notes at the end that it is based on real events and characters, and I think that approach worked well for her.
February 4, 2017
J'ai beaucoup beaucoup beaucoup aimé mais pour être honnête un peu moins que le précédent ... Je pense que Penelope et Alex vont être difficile à détrôner (Mary et Vaughn sont hors concours)... donc ici c'est un 4,5
J'ai beaucoup aimé le fait que pour une fois, on laisse la parole à un révolutionnaire, un de ceux déçu parle tour qu'ont pris les évènements.
Place au poète !!!!
J'ai beaucoup aimé le fait que pour une fois, on laisse la parole à un révolutionnaire, un de ceux déçu parle tour qu'ont pris les évènements.
Place au poète !!!!
February 26, 2019
Oh, I loved this installment of
Pink Carnation
! The historical action shifts to France, and I loved the intrigue. The Selwick spy school sends one of its pupils off on a mission, and it kept me buried deep in reading.
Laura Grey has spent 16 long years as a governess, and her life feels as drab and grey as her wardrobe. Given the chance, she goes undercover in France as...what else?...a governess in the household of the Minister of Police's right-hand man. However, the widower Jaouen is not all he seems. Laura appears to have an aptitude for spy work, but there is also a connection forming between her and her employer. The twists and turns of their story are fascinating. Creating chemistry between two characters who (1)should be enemies and (2) where at least one of whom cannot be honest with the other cannot have been easy, but Willig makes it look seamless.
Added bonus: the relationship between Eloise and Colin in the contemporary frame of this story makes some real progress as well. Even though it gets much less time on-page, I found myself following that plot more avidly as well.
This series is fabulous, and I particularly enjoyed this installment of it. Laura and Jaouen are both intelligent and a bit more mature than the usual historical leads (Laura is 32/33 and I'd guesstimate Jaouen to be in his mid, maybe late 30s). If you've not started this series yet, it's definitely a do not miss reading experience.
Laura Grey has spent 16 long years as a governess, and her life feels as drab and grey as her wardrobe. Given the chance, she goes undercover in France as...what else?...a governess in the household of the Minister of Police's right-hand man. However, the widower Jaouen is not all he seems. Laura appears to have an aptitude for spy work, but there is also a connection forming between her and her employer. The twists and turns of their story are fascinating. Creating chemistry between two characters who (1)should be enemies and (2) where at least one of whom cannot be honest with the other cannot have been easy, but Willig makes it look seamless.
Added bonus: the relationship between Eloise and Colin in the contemporary frame of this story makes some real progress as well. Even though it gets much less time on-page, I found myself following that plot more avidly as well.
This series is fabulous, and I particularly enjoyed this installment of it. Laura and Jaouen are both intelligent and a bit more mature than the usual historical leads (Laura is 32/33 and I'd guesstimate Jaouen to be in his mid, maybe late 30s). If you've not started this series yet, it's definitely a do not miss reading experience.
February 3, 2011
Ahh, Willig is such a delightful author to read!
But...a funny thing happened on the way through this book, a subtle role-reversal took place. The contemporary storyline, which through the previous books was merely a conduit to further the historical plot line, became much more intriguing than the main story! The historical adventures of the "Silver Orchid" were interesting, if a little slow moving, while the intrigue among the modern day Selwick clan was palpable. I found myself wanting to just skim over history in order to get to the parts that contained Eloise and Colin's predicament. Unfortunately that ended up being the biggest disappointment in the book. Nothing was revealed, nothing was accomplished and nothing was learned after all the suspense. It was just left dangling with no one saying a thing. If I hadn't loved the wonderful yet humorous writing of Willig, this would have suffered greatly in the star department.
But...a funny thing happened on the way through this book, a subtle role-reversal took place. The contemporary storyline, which through the previous books was merely a conduit to further the historical plot line, became much more intriguing than the main story! The historical adventures of the "Silver Orchid" were interesting, if a little slow moving, while the intrigue among the modern day Selwick clan was palpable. I found myself wanting to just skim over history in order to get to the parts that contained Eloise and Colin's predicament. Unfortunately that ended up being the biggest disappointment in the book. Nothing was revealed, nothing was accomplished and nothing was learned after all the suspense. It was just left dangling with no one saying a thing. If I hadn't loved the wonderful yet humorous writing of Willig, this would have suffered greatly in the star department.
February 4, 2017
Encore une réussite et un tome différent des autres (elle se renouvelle pour le moment A CHAQUE FOIS)... peut-être 4,5 mais je l'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé. L'intrigue générale est très bien, avec des méchants cliffhangers à répétition quand on lit 2 chapitres par jour (frustration to ze max). Quant aux deux héros, hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, coeur coeur coeur sur André et Laura, la romance avance presque en arrière plan, c'est dommage, mais c'est tendre et touchant.
January 15, 2024
Oh dear. Laura and Letty are now having a face-off over who is the best Willig heroine. Arabella is looking on to see if she can capitalize on the disagreement (if Pen doesn't beat her to the punchline). Mary thinks she is better than all this, Charlotte is reading a book, and Hen and Amy are far too busy training new spies to notice.
October 31, 2017
3.5 stars
After diving back into the Pink Carnation series with the sixth book, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, I was eagerly ready to continue reading.
I have already read the seventh book so I moved on to The Orchid Affair instead. As with the previous books we meet a likable heroine in a decidedly awkward situation and a headstrong bachelor with the last thing on his mind being love.
While many of Willig’s books have a decidedly obvious formula, that has never turned me off to the series. I think what I love most is her ability to make me buy into the romance no matter how odd or challenging it is.
About the only way I can describe this book is the Von Trapp family without Nazi’s and singing. I am not really sure why but it just seemed like that was the best way to describe it. Governess goes to work for man who is supposed to be the ‘enemy’ and has children to ‘win over’ only to find that he isn’t as brutish as he seems and the children in desperate need of a female influence. With the threat of the French master of terror, Gaston Delaroche, stalking their every move it becomes rapidly apparent that the family needs to get out of Paris. So for me there were hints of The Sound of Music throughout the story.
I thought this was going to be a more difficult romance for me to buy into, mostly because the other romances has more of less been between the gentry or lords/ladies. It’s implied that Andre Jaouen is more of a wealthy gentleman in Paris, especially because he has a governess.
Where as Laura is clearly what she seems….a poor governess eager for adventure but lacking funds or options. I figured that would be a challenge for me to believe however, Willig as usual does a fantastic job at weaving a believable story between the hero and heroine. I loved watching their romance evolve and come to fruition. There were times that I felt like maybe it was a little too rushed but the speed seemed more about circumstance than about realism.
Moving there series back to its roots pleased me. While I liked the dog leg into India and some of it’s politics, the series started as more of a Paris/England situation so I liked that we were getting back to its roots so to speak. I also enjoyed returning characters like Miss Gwen and Jane. I also appreciated how Willig kind of gave us a little ‘ever after’ in this book. Sometimes it isn’t clear what happened to some of our favorite couples but in this one she kind of fills in the gaps toward the end with Eloise’s research.
I want to talk a little about my ratings for some of the books in the series. While I might give 3 stars to a book in this series, it by NO MEANS indicates that it’s a subpar book. Every book in the Pink Carnation series is wonderfully addicting for me. I literally start one and the next thing I know it’s 2 am and I am still reading. I love love love these books. They are everything that is promised….the modern Jane Austen. I love them. However, when compared to the first book in the series, it’s hard to compare. I tend to base my ratings of the books as they compare to the first book. This one was a 3.5 for me, but as I said that doesn’t mean it’s a ‘mean’ book, because it was anything but that, it just means that compared to the first book it was good rather than outstanding (as was the first book).
See my full review here
After diving back into the Pink Carnation series with the sixth book, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, I was eagerly ready to continue reading.
I have already read the seventh book so I moved on to The Orchid Affair instead. As with the previous books we meet a likable heroine in a decidedly awkward situation and a headstrong bachelor with the last thing on his mind being love.
While many of Willig’s books have a decidedly obvious formula, that has never turned me off to the series. I think what I love most is her ability to make me buy into the romance no matter how odd or challenging it is.
About the only way I can describe this book is the Von Trapp family without Nazi’s and singing. I am not really sure why but it just seemed like that was the best way to describe it. Governess goes to work for man who is supposed to be the ‘enemy’ and has children to ‘win over’ only to find that he isn’t as brutish as he seems and the children in desperate need of a female influence. With the threat of the French master of terror, Gaston Delaroche, stalking their every move it becomes rapidly apparent that the family needs to get out of Paris. So for me there were hints of The Sound of Music throughout the story.
I thought this was going to be a more difficult romance for me to buy into, mostly because the other romances has more of less been between the gentry or lords/ladies. It’s implied that Andre Jaouen is more of a wealthy gentleman in Paris, especially because he has a governess.
Where as Laura is clearly what she seems….a poor governess eager for adventure but lacking funds or options. I figured that would be a challenge for me to believe however, Willig as usual does a fantastic job at weaving a believable story between the hero and heroine. I loved watching their romance evolve and come to fruition. There were times that I felt like maybe it was a little too rushed but the speed seemed more about circumstance than about realism.
Moving there series back to its roots pleased me. While I liked the dog leg into India and some of it’s politics, the series started as more of a Paris/England situation so I liked that we were getting back to its roots so to speak. I also enjoyed returning characters like Miss Gwen and Jane. I also appreciated how Willig kind of gave us a little ‘ever after’ in this book. Sometimes it isn’t clear what happened to some of our favorite couples but in this one she kind of fills in the gaps toward the end with Eloise’s research.
I want to talk a little about my ratings for some of the books in the series. While I might give 3 stars to a book in this series, it by NO MEANS indicates that it’s a subpar book. Every book in the Pink Carnation series is wonderfully addicting for me. I literally start one and the next thing I know it’s 2 am and I am still reading. I love love love these books. They are everything that is promised….the modern Jane Austen. I love them. However, when compared to the first book in the series, it’s hard to compare. I tend to base my ratings of the books as they compare to the first book. This one was a 3.5 for me, but as I said that doesn’t mean it’s a ‘mean’ book, because it was anything but that, it just means that compared to the first book it was good rather than outstanding (as was the first book).
See my full review here
January 18, 2011
Laura Grey has had it being a governess. She has just graduated from the Selwick Spying Academy and is off to France to do her bit to fight the revolution. Of course she just happens to be going to France in the very role she was trying to escape, that of "governess." Laura, or more precisely, Laure Griscogne, has been away from her homeland since her parents died and left her orphaned and having to take care of herself in the only way possible, by rearing others children, though when she started she was but a child herself. Now she has two new charges, the children of Andre Jaouen, a man The Pink Carnation is desperate to know more about, especially because he works in the Abbaye Prison with that most odious of men, Delaroche. But when you spend most of your time taking care of the children in a large and desolate house and rarely spying at keyholes and sneaking messages to The Pink Carnation through various booksellers, it's hard to see the value in your work. But there is more to Jaouen then meets the eye. He has connections within the artistic community that Laura's family was once in the center of. Laura was once the child of a somebody, a great poetess. Andre is having a hard time rectifying this stern, prim governess, with the loose and wanton Paris saloons of pre-revolutionary France. All the while Laura is having a hard time rectifying this rather attractive bespectacled man with that of a hardened revolutionary who wants to kill all the aristos he can find. But when both their missions unexpectedly collide around a man who could restore the French monarchy, they have to decide whether it is best to let animosities and allegiances fall by the wayside and trust their instincts and growing attraction to each other. Plus sneaking through the countryside as travelling performers can't be as hard as it sounds?
The newest in Lauren Willig's ever expanding cannon of Pink Carnation books takes us right back to the heart of what this series is about. Spying. Even if with a little Commedia it's, as the author puts it so well, "like The Sound of Music… meets Mata Hari." We are back within the courts of Napoleon and the streets of Paris, where blood might run in the streets at any moment, and the reality of the horrors that await in the Abbaye Prison are a real threat, not comfortably located on the other side of the channel. While the previous books have all had spies in various locals with various flower monikers, this one feels the closest to the legacy of The Scarlet Pimpernel; with our heroine in enemy territory, with barely an ally, and no ally that she can get to without a bookstore or an effusive poet. Speaking of said poet... we get nice little cameos from some of the Pink cast, but they are just the icing on the cake, what makes this book soar are the new characters of Andre and Laura, which even readers new to the series can enjoy without the previous installments. Every book since the first has been a pairing off of a previous hero or heroine with someone new or some old friend, but not in this case. Here we have a blank canvas ripe for the painting, Miss Grey has only had a few brief and enigmatic references which have given her no illumination. Laura has a rich and complicated past that was filled with sumptuousness and luxury and is now contained within harsh grey stays. Andre has also had a life that was once filled with love and an artistic wife, instead he now has to change ideals and live a sparse and paired down life. Both these two have spent a life hiding who they really are and masking what they want and feel. I felt such an instant connection with both of them, just waiting with baited breath for Laura to realize this man could not possibly be evil, even if he is French, they aren't all Delaroches. How Lauren is able to continually excel at each subsequent book astonishes me. While they do build on each other to form a perfect shelf in my library, they also are wonderfully contained little jewels of stories that you just want to go back to again and again, which Lauren does do. One day we wonder who is that lady at the Selwick Spy School, years later, she is flesh. She is whole and wonderful and I didn't want the book to end. I hope when you get your hands on a copy you'll feel as I do. And if you hate the new cover, you don't have to keep in on the book.
The newest in Lauren Willig's ever expanding cannon of Pink Carnation books takes us right back to the heart of what this series is about. Spying. Even if with a little Commedia it's, as the author puts it so well, "like The Sound of Music… meets Mata Hari." We are back within the courts of Napoleon and the streets of Paris, where blood might run in the streets at any moment, and the reality of the horrors that await in the Abbaye Prison are a real threat, not comfortably located on the other side of the channel. While the previous books have all had spies in various locals with various flower monikers, this one feels the closest to the legacy of The Scarlet Pimpernel; with our heroine in enemy territory, with barely an ally, and no ally that she can get to without a bookstore or an effusive poet. Speaking of said poet... we get nice little cameos from some of the Pink cast, but they are just the icing on the cake, what makes this book soar are the new characters of Andre and Laura, which even readers new to the series can enjoy without the previous installments. Every book since the first has been a pairing off of a previous hero or heroine with someone new or some old friend, but not in this case. Here we have a blank canvas ripe for the painting, Miss Grey has only had a few brief and enigmatic references which have given her no illumination. Laura has a rich and complicated past that was filled with sumptuousness and luxury and is now contained within harsh grey stays. Andre has also had a life that was once filled with love and an artistic wife, instead he now has to change ideals and live a sparse and paired down life. Both these two have spent a life hiding who they really are and masking what they want and feel. I felt such an instant connection with both of them, just waiting with baited breath for Laura to realize this man could not possibly be evil, even if he is French, they aren't all Delaroches. How Lauren is able to continually excel at each subsequent book astonishes me. While they do build on each other to form a perfect shelf in my library, they also are wonderfully contained little jewels of stories that you just want to go back to again and again, which Lauren does do. One day we wonder who is that lady at the Selwick Spy School, years later, she is flesh. She is whole and wonderful and I didn't want the book to end. I hope when you get your hands on a copy you'll feel as I do. And if you hate the new cover, you don't have to keep in on the book.
October 24, 2023
This story took place in France at the time of the French revolution. There is a plot to overthrow the ruling party, with one of the chief of police involved in the subterfuge in an under cover role. He hires a female governess to care for his children who is also unknowingly involved in the plot. This story unfolds similar to the story of the Scarlet Pimpernel as a means to secret the supporters out of the country to safety.
June 30, 2011
What a fun book to read! There are two loosely connected stories, each one echoing how our upbringing affects our adult relationships, coloring how we react to stress and with whom we fall in love.
In 2004, Harvard graduate student, Eloise, is traveling to Paris with her boyfriend. Hmmm, a whiff of romance early on in the story. However, she is there to continue her research on the English spy ring active during and just after the French Revolution, while the boyfriend, Colin, is there by command of his mother and stepfather to attend a gallery opening of his mother's paintings and her birthday party. Colin has an unhappy relationship with both his mother and stepfather. His famous mother is completely oblivious to his feelings, among other things. In a rare bit of good luck for a graduate student, Colin is heir to the home and papers of the ringleader of spies Eloise is studying.
Which brings us to the French Revolution. The spies take their names from flowers. Among the papers written by Colin's ancestor are documents describing one Silver Orchid, a resourceful governess inserted into the family of Andre Jaouen, the deputy minister of police to discover what is known about a plot to get rid of Bonaparte and put one of the last remaining Bourbons back on the throne. Miss Laura Grey, (the Silver Orchid) finding life as a governess extremely boring, has volunteered for the adventure of a spy. She, too, was the daughter of a famous sculptor and a famous poetess and her parents were as oblivious to her needs as Colin's.
Rounding out the oblivious parent list, is Andre Jaouen's late wife, also a famous painter of her time. Andre is neglectful due more to his work than his nature. Laura feels immediate kinship to Andre's children remembering her own childhood pain of being neglected.
In the meantime, there is spying to be done. There are plots afoot and surprises around every corner, clandestine meetings to arrange, secret messages to be passed. Miss Grey occasionally finds spywork a little too exciting, especially during their flight for their lives in a gypsy caravan with a traveling theatrical troop, but she manages beautifully to save the day. I really liked her and hope she shows up again in future books. Oh, yes, and there's romance for Miss Grey as well.
Now that I've read this one, I'll have to go back and read the first ones in this exciting series. I enjoyed the afterward, in which it is revealed which characters are based on which actual people and which events really did happen.
In 2004, Harvard graduate student, Eloise, is traveling to Paris with her boyfriend. Hmmm, a whiff of romance early on in the story. However, she is there to continue her research on the English spy ring active during and just after the French Revolution, while the boyfriend, Colin, is there by command of his mother and stepfather to attend a gallery opening of his mother's paintings and her birthday party. Colin has an unhappy relationship with both his mother and stepfather. His famous mother is completely oblivious to his feelings, among other things. In a rare bit of good luck for a graduate student, Colin is heir to the home and papers of the ringleader of spies Eloise is studying.
Which brings us to the French Revolution. The spies take their names from flowers. Among the papers written by Colin's ancestor are documents describing one Silver Orchid, a resourceful governess inserted into the family of Andre Jaouen, the deputy minister of police to discover what is known about a plot to get rid of Bonaparte and put one of the last remaining Bourbons back on the throne. Miss Laura Grey, (the Silver Orchid) finding life as a governess extremely boring, has volunteered for the adventure of a spy. She, too, was the daughter of a famous sculptor and a famous poetess and her parents were as oblivious to her needs as Colin's.
Rounding out the oblivious parent list, is Andre Jaouen's late wife, also a famous painter of her time. Andre is neglectful due more to his work than his nature. Laura feels immediate kinship to Andre's children remembering her own childhood pain of being neglected.
In the meantime, there is spying to be done. There are plots afoot and surprises around every corner, clandestine meetings to arrange, secret messages to be passed. Miss Grey occasionally finds spywork a little too exciting, especially during their flight for their lives in a gypsy caravan with a traveling theatrical troop, but she manages beautifully to save the day. I really liked her and hope she shows up again in future books. Oh, yes, and there's romance for Miss Grey as well.
Now that I've read this one, I'll have to go back and read the first ones in this exciting series. I enjoyed the afterward, in which it is revealed which characters are based on which actual people and which events really did happen.
February 17, 2011
There's a reason why Lauren Willig's books are so popular, and "The Orchid Affair" reminded me of why. I didn't want this book to end. The story is an excellent, well-rounded historical. There's lots of adventure and mystery, great characters, and a lot of sweet romance.
The book started a little slow for me, there wasn't a lot of action at the start. But I felt the story picked up as soon as Andre and Laura ran into the boisterous painter, Daubier. I feel like that's when the secrets really started to come out in the open.
At first, I couldn't tell if Emma's relationship with Andre was going to lead to romance or not, but once it did, I was on the edge of my set for the rest of the book. Their love had it all, secrets, jealousies, insecurities, and always and foremost, respect and friendship. TI loved that they were a little older and wiser than romance heroes and heroines normal are. That made their love so much deeper and more real.
Andre was so strong and such an honorable character. I loved that his quiet strengths were so much different than a typical hero. I also loved that Andre had eye glasses and that he was always actually wearing them. It wasn't a detail that got lost in the story, it was very much a part of his character.
I really liked the secondary characters, they made the story come alive. The two children were so cute and seem so real, They weren't used just for laughs. Daubier was a lovable bachelor Uncle type of character, and I'm not going to lie, De Barry was hot!
The mystery was very well plotted and had me guessing the whole time. I was often shocked at the twists and turns in the story. I loved trying to decipher the messages form the Pink Carnation.
I wasn't totally a fan of the present day part of the story. I see it as a way to tie the series together, but I felt lit took me out of the real story sometimes. At one particularly exciting point, I was so upset to turn the page and see the modern characters. It was like the dreaded "to be continued" at the end of your favorite tv show.
This book perfectly balances a sweet and tender romance with an adventurous historical mystery. I can't wait to read the books that I've missed in this wonderful series.
sent by publisher in exchange for honest review
reviewed for http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com
The book started a little slow for me, there wasn't a lot of action at the start. But I felt the story picked up as soon as Andre and Laura ran into the boisterous painter, Daubier. I feel like that's when the secrets really started to come out in the open.
At first, I couldn't tell if Emma's relationship with Andre was going to lead to romance or not, but once it did, I was on the edge of my set for the rest of the book. Their love had it all, secrets, jealousies, insecurities, and always and foremost, respect and friendship. TI loved that they were a little older and wiser than romance heroes and heroines normal are. That made their love so much deeper and more real.
Andre was so strong and such an honorable character. I loved that his quiet strengths were so much different than a typical hero. I also loved that Andre had eye glasses and that he was always actually wearing them. It wasn't a detail that got lost in the story, it was very much a part of his character.
I really liked the secondary characters, they made the story come alive. The two children were so cute and seem so real, They weren't used just for laughs. Daubier was a lovable bachelor Uncle type of character, and I'm not going to lie, De Barry was hot!
The mystery was very well plotted and had me guessing the whole time. I was often shocked at the twists and turns in the story. I loved trying to decipher the messages form the Pink Carnation.
I wasn't totally a fan of the present day part of the story. I see it as a way to tie the series together, but I felt lit took me out of the real story sometimes. At one particularly exciting point, I was so upset to turn the page and see the modern characters. It was like the dreaded "to be continued" at the end of your favorite tv show.
This book perfectly balances a sweet and tender romance with an adventurous historical mystery. I can't wait to read the books that I've missed in this wonderful series.
sent by publisher in exchange for honest review
reviewed for http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com
May 28, 2011
The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig
Dutton, 2011
403 pages
Historical Espionage Romance
4.5/5 stars
Source: Library
I've been reading the Willig books from the beginning, meaning pre-blog, so of course I wanted to read this one. It seems so weird to me that the books started in 2004 and because the modern section moves so slowly it is still 2004. I'm not sure how much has changed since that time but I know a lot has. What hasn't changed is Willig's ability to craft a satisfying historical espionage with delightful writing and characters. In fact, I would say she has improved as this was one of my favorite outings so far.
This time we have Laura Grey or Griscogne as she will be known when she becomes governess to an important official in Napoleon's government in 1804. Over her sixteen years of governess service, she has become as bland and plain as her name suggests, able to hide in plain sight. But this is her opportunity for something different, to serve with the forces arrayed against Napoleon in a spy mission in collaboration with the Pink Carnation and forces.
Her employer is Andre Jaouen, who has his own secrets and two children in need of education and attention. Although outwardly secure with a powerful patron, Andre is in a precarious position with the sinister Gaston Delaroche dogging his steps. Soon he and Laura will have to use all of their wits to escape certain torture and death and protect the ones they love. Their romance was one of my favorites within this series and I felt it was really built on solid foundation that bodes well for their future. The spy part wasn't quite as thrilling because I had no doubts that they would extricate themselves from their troubles. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to read but not as suspenseful as some others.
Meanwhile back in 2004, Colin and Eloise are going strong but Colin faces challenges from his family and his douchey cousin/stepfather Jeremy. They are also in Paris and I wish there could have been a bit more of them because I really want to see how they deal with the new challenge but I guess I will have to wait for the next book.
Cover: I really like this cover although perhaps the dress should have been more grey?
Dutton, 2011
403 pages
Historical Espionage Romance
4.5/5 stars
Source: Library
I've been reading the Willig books from the beginning, meaning pre-blog, so of course I wanted to read this one. It seems so weird to me that the books started in 2004 and because the modern section moves so slowly it is still 2004. I'm not sure how much has changed since that time but I know a lot has. What hasn't changed is Willig's ability to craft a satisfying historical espionage with delightful writing and characters. In fact, I would say she has improved as this was one of my favorite outings so far.
This time we have Laura Grey or Griscogne as she will be known when she becomes governess to an important official in Napoleon's government in 1804. Over her sixteen years of governess service, she has become as bland and plain as her name suggests, able to hide in plain sight. But this is her opportunity for something different, to serve with the forces arrayed against Napoleon in a spy mission in collaboration with the Pink Carnation and forces.
Her employer is Andre Jaouen, who has his own secrets and two children in need of education and attention. Although outwardly secure with a powerful patron, Andre is in a precarious position with the sinister Gaston Delaroche dogging his steps. Soon he and Laura will have to use all of their wits to escape certain torture and death and protect the ones they love. Their romance was one of my favorites within this series and I felt it was really built on solid foundation that bodes well for their future. The spy part wasn't quite as thrilling because I had no doubts that they would extricate themselves from their troubles. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to read but not as suspenseful as some others.
Meanwhile back in 2004, Colin and Eloise are going strong but Colin faces challenges from his family and his douchey cousin/stepfather Jeremy. They are also in Paris and I wish there could have been a bit more of them because I really want to see how they deal with the new challenge but I guess I will have to wait for the next book.
Cover: I really like this cover although perhaps the dress should have been more grey?
January 26, 2011
In the seventh installment in the Pink Carnation series, Laura Grey has been recruited as a spy by the Pink Carnation and completed a "spy course" at Selwick Hall. In her first assignment as the Silver Orchid, she is placed in the household of the right-hand to the French Minister of Police, Andre Jaouen, as governess to his two children. Miss Grey (or Mlle Giscogne in French) had been a governess for 16 years prior to her spy career, so the cover was perfect. Miss Grey becomes embroiled in uncovering important details about French efforts to thwart a plot to overturn Bonaparte and reinstate a Bourbon on the throne of France. In the course of her duties, Miss Grey starts to see possibilities for a new life for herself, a life that might even include love......even though a love match with the forbidding Andre seemed unlikely at first. Both Laura and Andre are interesting, complicated characters, both in their personalities and in their professions. The plot of the book tracks a true historical plot in or around 1805 post-Terror France and the book is rich with historical details. Unlike some authors who write series, Willig manages to retain the heart of her books -- plucky, somewhat unlikely heroines who find love despite long odds -- without turning the book into a cookie-cutter copy of her previous works. Each of her heroines. including Laura, is original and uniquely loveable. In addition, Andre is refreshingly different as a "hero", given his occupation with the Minister of Police, an organization diametrically opposed to everything the Pink Carnation (and her cohorts) stand for. As usual, this book was delightfully entertaining.
August 30, 2012
Kate Reading reads this novel and right away that elevates this novel into something special. Her ability to take you from past to present was like having a completely different narrator. Her voice was entirely different when Eloise and Colin came on the scene. Thankfully, that wasn't often, even though she was spot on for those characters. The more I read of Eloise and Colin, particularly Eloise, the less I like them. Whereas the Silver Orchid was a hoot. Laura Grey, governess, was sent to France to be a governess, a role she excelled at. The fact that she was entirely more had been lost on herself long ago. This was her first mission for the Pink Carnation and it turned into something much greater very quickly including finding the lost prince of the realm. Getting everyone out of France is the order of the day but it's increasingly difficult when she's fallen in love with the man she's been sent to spy upon. Sweet and funny it was the kind of story that launched the success of the Pink Carnation series in the first place. Reading brings it all alive and makes you forget where and when you are and every time she is forced to bring you back to the present you get more aggravated that you have to wait to find out what happened.
February 6, 2011
What a refreshing return to the Pink Carnation series. Although I enjoyed the light-hearted comedy of the previous book (Mischief of the Mistletoe), it was a bit of a let-down in terms of plot quality and character. This book brings back both of those aspects of Willig's writing very well and was an enjoyable read. Once again, I was very glad that the modern aspect of the book (the relationship between Colin and Eloise) was kept to a bare minimum. As the series has progressed, I've lost more and more interest in their characters and the chapters that cover their stories almost seem like unwelcome interruptions of the real book.
December 26, 2013
Historically-not-innacurate PG romance fun for smart chicks. Legit enjoyable even if this genre is not generally your go-to. Turns out the engaging storyline was actually inspired by historical events, too, so now my grasp of goings-on in Paris with Napoleon at the helm is less nonexistent. Will totally read more books in this series, especially if I end up having another kid.
August 4, 2019
Laura Grey has joined the Selwick Spy School her first mission is to go undercover as a governess which she's had lots of experience as. She's on a mission to report anything suspicious about the plan to unseat Bonaparte. It's clear after arriving that she needs to purchase some books to teach the children as they are lacking. Bundling up the kids they set out on an adventure in Paris encountering several characters.
It isn't long that Laura starts to piece together the things going on with Jaouen and his work. However, things spiral out of control when a blast from her past comes into play and her secret identity is almost revealed. As if that wasn't enough now someone she cares about is about to be wrongfully accused and they jump into action. Saving the day with an elaborate plan that will risk them all.
I'm not a huge historical fiction fan but I instantly was drawn into Laura's story it's captivating right from the start. I admit the book was read out of order but each book seems to tell a different story and I don't think that caused any issues reading out of order. I found the concept super interesting a creative spin on the Neopolianic war times.
I really liked Laura as a character she was easy to connect with right from the start, and I was drawn into her story. I wasn't sure about Jaouen but the more we got to know him the more I liked him as a potential love interest for Laura. Who says you can't fall in love with the man you are sent to watch and end up saving. This is my first book by the author and I'm a huge fan. I look forward to going back and reading from the start.
It isn't long that Laura starts to piece together the things going on with Jaouen and his work. However, things spiral out of control when a blast from her past comes into play and her secret identity is almost revealed. As if that wasn't enough now someone she cares about is about to be wrongfully accused and they jump into action. Saving the day with an elaborate plan that will risk them all.
I'm not a huge historical fiction fan but I instantly was drawn into Laura's story it's captivating right from the start. I admit the book was read out of order but each book seems to tell a different story and I don't think that caused any issues reading out of order. I found the concept super interesting a creative spin on the Neopolianic war times.
I really liked Laura as a character she was easy to connect with right from the start, and I was drawn into her story. I wasn't sure about Jaouen but the more we got to know him the more I liked him as a potential love interest for Laura. Who says you can't fall in love with the man you are sent to watch and end up saving. This is my first book by the author and I'm a huge fan. I look forward to going back and reading from the start.
July 26, 2023
Edit: Reading this 10 years later and I enjoyed it more this time around. Now that I have history degrees, I can really appreciate Lauren Willig's combination of fun and excellent research. I even have more patience for Eloise this time around. I actually prefer Research Eloise to Colin Family Drama Eloise, which might make me a standout weirdo. The audiobook narrator I listened to this time was excellent and really brought the characters to life. I don't know if I really feel like rereading the whole series, especially since I think that they got better as the series continued, but I'm looking forward to dipping back into my favorites.
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I liked Laura as a heroine for a number of reasons. She's 32, so has a little bit of life experience. She is not an expressive individual and lacks an emotive spirit(I especially like how terrible she is at acting), something which was refreshing in a genre where the heroines are often good at everything. I enjoyed her description as someone who plays piano and speaks languages with technical proficiency but who lacks that certain something. I also like that her relationship with the troubled Gabrielle, one of her charges, was so important to the story.
Rant time: In terms of looks, she follows the "secretly gorgeous but hides her good looks" trope, which I was a little sad about. Although broody heroes are not my thing, I've always thought Charlotte Bronte was to be commended for making the eponymous heroine of Jane Eyre plain. So plain that even Mr. Rochester tells her all the time how plain she is but how he loves her anyway (pre-PUA negging?). I hate that everyone seems to be afraid to do that. WHY does she either have to have lustrous locks and gorgeous eyelashes etc, or tell us that she is plain as anything but one million people in love with her (a la Bella Swan)? /end rant
I also must say I am pretty bored by Eloise. I understand that Ms. Willig feels she is needed for exposition, but I kind of wish that her chapters were shortened and put in one place so I could skip it (maybe at the end, so we can all still indulge in "what happened next?")
Anyway, I always pick these up when I find them. They are enjoyable reads. Regardless of what I think of any of these books, I am going to read them as long as there is a series.
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I liked Laura as a heroine for a number of reasons. She's 32, so has a little bit of life experience. She is not an expressive individual and lacks an emotive spirit(I especially like how terrible she is at acting), something which was refreshing in a genre where the heroines are often good at everything. I enjoyed her description as someone who plays piano and speaks languages with technical proficiency but who lacks that certain something. I also like that her relationship with the troubled Gabrielle, one of her charges, was so important to the story.
Rant time: In terms of looks, she follows the "secretly gorgeous but hides her good looks" trope, which I was a little sad about. Although broody heroes are not my thing, I've always thought Charlotte Bronte was to be commended for making the eponymous heroine of Jane Eyre plain. So plain that even Mr. Rochester tells her all the time how plain she is but how he loves her anyway (pre-PUA negging?). I hate that everyone seems to be afraid to do that. WHY does she either have to have lustrous locks and gorgeous eyelashes etc, or tell us that she is plain as anything but one million people in love with her (a la Bella Swan)? /end rant
I also must say I am pretty bored by Eloise. I understand that Ms. Willig feels she is needed for exposition, but I kind of wish that her chapters were shortened and put in one place so I could skip it (maybe at the end, so we can all still indulge in "what happened next?")
Anyway, I always pick these up when I find them. They are enjoyable reads. Regardless of what I think of any of these books, I am going to read them as long as there is a series.
June 20, 2013
Yes, I have enjoyed this series, but I am a bit tired of the format with the graduate student and her romance. I think that this portion is becoming tired and worn. However, the spy tale is intriguing although Willig had to throw a romance in that portion, too. It puts Laura Grey, a neophyte at spying, as a governess in the home of Andre Joauen. This is a role she is well qualified to occupy. Intrigue comes with the addition of a sinister colleague, Gaston DeLaroche, whose veiled threats are disturbing to the family.
The spy tale is heating up. Laura encounters a childhood friend who painted her in one of his well known works. She was the girl with the yellow bird in Antoine Daubier's painting. He admired and called her parents friends. However, at a party in the home of Laura's employer, he is arrested for treason. In her efforts to search his flat and remove anything incriminating, Laura discovers the identity of prince the police are seeking.
When Antoine Daubier is arrested for treason, Laura discovers that Andre and Daubier have been hiding the prince. With Daubier's arrest, she becomes very worried about her old friend. Andre agrees to leave Paris under her guidance after he rescues the painter. In the prison, he finds a man unlike the one he calls friend. All the fingers on his painting hand have been broken and the knuckle crushed. The group leaves Paris with an traveling acting group. However, there is more to this quick read but readers will need to discover the rest for themselves. Except, for the graduate student's romance, I quite enjoyed it.
The spy tale is heating up. Laura encounters a childhood friend who painted her in one of his well known works. She was the girl with the yellow bird in Antoine Daubier's painting. He admired and called her parents friends. However, at a party in the home of Laura's employer, he is arrested for treason. In her efforts to search his flat and remove anything incriminating, Laura discovers the identity of prince the police are seeking.
When Antoine Daubier is arrested for treason, Laura discovers that Andre and Daubier have been hiding the prince. With Daubier's arrest, she becomes very worried about her old friend. Andre agrees to leave Paris under her guidance after he rescues the painter. In the prison, he finds a man unlike the one he calls friend. All the fingers on his painting hand have been broken and the knuckle crushed. The group leaves Paris with an traveling acting group. However, there is more to this quick read but readers will need to discover the rest for themselves. Except, for the graduate student's romance, I quite enjoyed it.
November 26, 2011
Hooray! The Pink Carnation is back!
I'm glad to see Willig branching out so far as her heroines and heroes are concerned. And both the hero and the heroine in this book are very much of a different stripe. Many people have complained about how Willig often sets up her books so that the hero and heroine are needlessly suspicious of each other. In this case, she very skillfully also makes the reader initially suspicious of the man who later turns out to be the hero.
This book dispenses with certain aspects of the formula that Willig had set up in the previous books. Instead, we see Laura Griscogne/Gray on her first assignment, and in many ways very much alone. We don't realize who the hero is until nearly midway through the book - and instead of being a wealthy noble, he's a widower with two kids who is ostensibly on the other side. It reads much more as a historic espionage novel with romantic elements than a romance novel with espionage elements, and the shakeup in the formula is refreshing.
I had been disappointed in the Eloise and Colin bits in the previous novel, but in this book the issues that were established there finally paid off. Film crews often do an enormous amount of damage when they're on location; it will be fascinating to see what happens here.
I'm glad to see Willig branching out so far as her heroines and heroes are concerned. And both the hero and the heroine in this book are very much of a different stripe. Many people have complained about how Willig often sets up her books so that the hero and heroine are needlessly suspicious of each other. In this case, she very skillfully also makes the reader initially suspicious of the man who later turns out to be the hero.
This book dispenses with certain aspects of the formula that Willig had set up in the previous books. Instead, we see Laura Griscogne/Gray on her first assignment, and in many ways very much alone. We don't realize who the hero is until nearly midway through the book - and instead of being a wealthy noble, he's a widower with two kids who is ostensibly on the other side. It reads much more as a historic espionage novel with romantic elements than a romance novel with espionage elements, and the shakeup in the formula is refreshing.
I had been disappointed in the Eloise and Colin bits in the previous novel, but in this book the issues that were established there finally paid off. Film crews often do an enormous amount of damage when they're on location; it will be fascinating to see what happens here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2012
As a HUGE Lauren Willig fan I have purchased and loved everything by her but found it hard to finish this one. Not sure why. The hero Andre perhaps was just a little bit too staid or not as much as a rogue as previous Pink heroes and maybe that's why this one just didn't do it for me. The hero is a father to two young children and the heroine is their governess. I didn't fall in love with them. On the (many) plus sides: the scenes with Colin and Eloise are just as good as always (if not better); the setting of 19th century Paris was phenomenal, I still love Miss Willig's writing style and she is still an auto-buy for me plus the cover art is just so beautiful and the previous 5 novels in the Pink series are keepers for me. This h/h won't deter me from buying more of Miss Willigs books in hb though and I'm eagerly awaiting the next one The Garden Intrigue.
December 10, 2014
This 8th book in a series about intrigues following the French Revolution had some great aspects. I liked each of the story lines, although the historical one was more engaging. I did not care for the bounce back and forth between them, and found it jarring. However, I liked the couples in each, and enjoyed the family and political intrigue that occurred with each. It was nice to have political intrigue with people who were not nobility, and who would not become such. I feel as though the present day story line could have been a separate story, perhaps a short story at the end of the historical novel. I have not yet decided whether I will read the second book in the series or not. Finally, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the fabulous Kate Reading, who did a fabulous job.
February 2, 2011
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Another solid entry in the Pink Carnation series!
I'm not sure how long Ms. Willig is planning on keeping this series going, but personally I hope the end is a long time off. With the exception of one, I have adored each and every book in this series. They are such a treat to read.
From the historical aspect, I found Laura and André to be a delightful heroine/hero. The story as always is well written and contains all those things that Pink Carnation fans have come to rely on.
I do have a quibble with the modern day part of the story, though. I love reading about Eloise and Colin, but their parts of the story are so small that I don't feel like they're getting much forward development.
Another solid entry in the Pink Carnation series!
I'm not sure how long Ms. Willig is planning on keeping this series going, but personally I hope the end is a long time off. With the exception of one, I have adored each and every book in this series. They are such a treat to read.
From the historical aspect, I found Laura and André to be a delightful heroine/hero. The story as always is well written and contains all those things that Pink Carnation fans have come to rely on.
I do have a quibble with the modern day part of the story, though. I love reading about Eloise and Colin, but their parts of the story are so small that I don't feel like they're getting much forward development.
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