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A review by nightravyn
The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
4.0
Book 3 in the Pink Carnation series follows a similar format to the rest of the series: in the Napoleonic era, girl meets boy, boy and girl say variations of "oh dear lord, hell no", boy goes off to spy, girl gets mixed up in spying, rescues occur, as do mixed identities, slip-ups, and general confusion, all with a romantic (but not cloyingly so) streak and a fair bit of wit and teasing. In the modern era, our intrepid discoverer of all these past events is befuddled with her own bit of mixups, mistaken thoughts, wishful thinking and a fair bit of romantic dreaming.
Honesty time: I recognize our modern lady, as she's very much myself in my more girly moments. Well, sans the shoe obsession (okay it's small bowls and blue glass, but it's not shoes, dammit). Wanting happy endings? Check. Insane "whisk me away!" movie-type romantic thoughts? Oh my stars, check. Complete inability to communicate effectively verbally with the source of those romantic thoughts but perfectly fine when writing? Here, let me hand you my dissertation in "check"...
While it's true it follows the same format as the two previous books, it's not a detraction, provided you actually enjoyed the two previous books. Me? I love them. They are a light-hearted romp: dashing spies, ladies with a good deal more backbone than the men give them credit for, and a nice layer of romance going through it all. All in all, a great read for those afternoons where you want something fun that amuses you in a Jane Austin-ish way.
Honesty time: I recognize our modern lady, as she's very much myself in my more girly moments. Well, sans the shoe obsession (okay it's small bowls and blue glass, but it's not shoes, dammit). Wanting happy endings? Check. Insane "whisk me away!" movie-type romantic thoughts? Oh my stars, check. Complete inability to communicate effectively verbally with the source of those romantic thoughts but perfectly fine when writing? Here, let me hand you my dissertation in "check"...
While it's true it follows the same format as the two previous books, it's not a detraction, provided you actually enjoyed the two previous books. Me? I love them. They are a light-hearted romp: dashing spies, ladies with a good deal more backbone than the men give them credit for, and a nice layer of romance going through it all. All in all, a great read for those afternoons where you want something fun that amuses you in a Jane Austin-ish way.