Roses are Crimson

This weekend I finished The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig.  Between driving to Minnesota, baking up a storm for my sister's house warming party, and avoiding Winter Storm Luna, I managed to get it finished.  It is really scary seeing that deadline on the rented e-books.  It's like a ticking time bomb - can I finish it before it goes puff!?!

Anyway, the book is part of the Pink Carnation series.  It follows the flowery sleuths on the trail of the Black Tulip, an evil Parisian spy.  Mary, a recently jilted and rather calculating lady when it comes to love, is recruited by the Pink Carnation to tempt the Black Tulip.  The Pink Carnation has a rather cold and calculating Lord Vaughn recruit and watch over Mary in her attempt to trap the Black Tulip.   Mary is exactly the type of woman that both the Black Tulip and Lord Vaughn have a weakness for: beautiful and calculating.  Mary isn't pure ice, she has just grown up knowing the only way to have a better life is to marry well.  After nearly 5 seasons and her last beau running off with her sister, she is really fed up with love and only looking for someone to make sure the rest of her days are comfortable.  She agrees to work for the Pink Carnation in order to have one more season paid for so she can catch a spy and a husband.  Twists and turns leave both Mary and Lord Vaughn bloody on the battle field of love (oi, I think I just made myself gag a bit). 
The modern day parts of the book follow Eloise on her hunt through Britain's archives to find the web of flowery spies that seem to have not only alluded the French government, but history as well.  She has made her way to the Vaughn Collection and a first date with Colin (*everyone, squeal with glee). 

Anyways, it was super cutesy.