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    The Masque of the Black Tulip
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    The Masque of the Black Tulip
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    The Masque of the Black Tulip
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Masque of the Black Tulip

    Written by Lauren Willig

    Narrated by Kate Reading

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    ...But now she has a million questions about the Pink Carnation's deadly French nemesis, the Black Tulip. And she's pretty sure that her handsome onagain, off-again crush, Colin Selwick, has the answers somewhere in his archives. But what she discovers in an old codebook is something juicier than she ever imagined.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateDec 29, 2005
    ISBN9780786555758
    Unavailable
    The Masque of the Black Tulip
    Author

    Lauren Willig

    Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Band of Sisters and Two Wars and a Wedding, plus four popular historical novels cowritten with Beatriz Williams and Karen White. An alumna of Yale University, she has a graduate degree in history from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She lives in New York City with her husband, two young children, and lots and lots of coffee.

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    Reviews for The Masque of the Black Tulip

    4/5

    443 ratings25 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Guilty pleasure
    • 3/5
      The mix of past and present really keeps the story moving. I know the spies should be the most important part of the story, but I keep looking for the flashes to the present. Wonder what Colin is up to...
    • 4/5
      A delightful entry in the Pink series. I loved Miles and Henrietta, but I'm sad they misunderstood each other for so long before realizing they were in love. They can't get their first romance back, you know? Plus Richard is a big doofusface. Apparently it's fine for him to fool around with Amy in book one, but he might shoot Miles for smooching Henrietta? Kind of made me think less of him. And everyone's general failure to actually CONVERSE about what happened.Again, the writing is delightful, though. It's very light for a historical, almost Monty Python-esque... Just that little pinch of the zany madcap stirred into the mix to keep things interesting and the reader laughing. It's a big book, but a quick read, and the characters are all great. I like the prospect of exploring all the minor characters one by one as the series continues! Turnip Fitzhugh is actually my favorite, but it remains to be seen if he's a fop like he seems, or something more. (I really thought [the note he passed to Miles would reveal he's a spy too, but the note is never mentioned again. Hmmm. Oversight, or foreshadowing? (hide spoiler)]). On the other hand, I'm entirely bored with Eloise and Colin at this point. Neither is compelling, their story can't really go anywhere if it's supposed to stretch over all these books a little at a time, and they're always interrupting the good bits. I also don't feel like the "reading old letters" structure really works, since the historical parts of the book aren't epistolary. That's really a small complaint in comparison to how much I enjoyed the rest of the book, though.
    • 5/5
      It has been quite some time since I read the first book in this series but I immediately fell into the story again. I love the juxtaposition of a modern day historian's discovery of the papers of Regency heroes and heroines with the story of the heroes and heroines as they were living their story.I found many parts of the story to be laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, I was laughing so hard that I had to put down the book to wipe my eyes. The situations as two rank amateurs get involved in uncovering a dastardly French agent were both thrilling and amusing. I especially liked the friends-to-lovers plot as Henrietta and Miles each realize that their long-standing friendship was growing into something more but who don't realize or believe that the other has come to the same realization.I like the modern parts of the story too which has Eloise wondering very much about Colin Selwick who is definitely a man of mystery. I am eager to carry on with this series to find out what happens next in 1803 and also what happens next for Eloise and Colin.
    • 4/5
      Fun continuation of the Pink Carnation series.
    • 3/5
      It was okay; certainly nothing I will devote precious real estate on my bookshelves to keeping against a future rereading.

      I picked up the first five books in the series at a used book store and have not been sufficiently put-off as to leave the remaining volumes unread. (Such a move is unheard of for me -- to invest so much into a series without any prior recommendations, but the selections for historical fiction were slum pickings that day.) I liked the main characters (Henrietta and Miles) in this book better than I liked Richard and Amy from the first book. [Amy struck me as too childish and her romance with Richard/the Purple Gentian felt coincidental and contrived. As did their meeting, especially in light of all of Amy's girlhood daydreams and fantasies. And then there was the not-at-all-believable scene in the rowboat. I won't even start on that.] I felt that the simmering-under-the-surface attraction between Miles and Henrietta, as characters who had practically grown up together, was realistic, even to the point of their feelings catching each of them off-guard...but the animosity from Richard didn't sell for me. I could happily do without the gratuitous sex scene Willig feels obliged to include in each of her books. Aside from being unrealistically "perfect" (and aside from her heroines not seeming to care for a second that the hero has obviously been "sowing his wild oats" before she ended up as his bride), it adds nothing to the story.

      In the end, even though it is apparently Richard and Amy who set up the secret spy school, I would rather see more of Miles and Henrietta, who seem to be a more valid couple. (And while I can appreciate the interspersed "modern day" tale of Eloise and Colin, if the author doesn't do something with that story soon, I may cease to care. Eloise, while ostensibly the reason we get the Regency-era tales (through the device of her research in various archives for her dissertation), is a far less interesting and sympathetic character. Her neuroses are starting to wear a bit thin after only two books and an apparent month or so in"real time" elapsed; how in the world will that last through the ten or so books that apparently make up the series?
    • 4/5
      Vacillating between "the heights of espionage to the depths of French farce" (or a Wodehouse-styled bungling with some assistance courtesy of Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh), Willig has produced another energetic and breezy rollicking romp through 1803 Europe and modern 2003 England. Romance continues to sizzle and thrum off the pages with our new romantic couple Miles and Henrietta providing just as much romantic misadventure as Richard and Amy did in the first installment of the series. Continuing the winning formula from the previous book, Willig presents readers with a formidable foe for Miles in the form of the brooding Lord Vaughn, a known rake of London society according to Henrietta’s mother, the Marchioness of Uppington. While the unmasking of the Black Tulip was no surprise to me, I found the budding relationship between Miles and Henrietta to be a delight. The fact that even Eloise has her own misadventures gives the two story-lines a parallel aspect. Overall, a wonderful blending of Regency romance with swashbuckling Napoleonic Wars espionage anchored to the present via the modern day story-line of historian student/archivist Eloise Kelly.
    • 4/5
      In my defence, after claiming I was only going to read the first novel in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series as an experiment, I did buy my copy of The Masque of the Black Tulip (the second sequel) at a bargain price. I couldn't borrow a copy, because my local library is wisely understocked with Willig's books, but at least I didn't pay full whack to download the Kindle version. Which I was very tempted to do.What I cannot defend is how much I like these novels! They are written very much in the style of Georgette Heyer's 1930s Regency romances - my literary bugbear - with a very modern take on early nineteenth century England, and the author plays fast and loose with historical accuracy, but each story is so easy and enjoyable to read that there is little point in nitpicking the small stuff (although I could - matches were invented in the 1820s, the term 'burgle' was coined in the Victorian era, and 'rutabaga' is an American word, but hey, other than that!) Willig usually holds up her hands to any larger, deliberate anachronisms in the notes at the back of each novel - like switching the spy HQ from the Alien Office to the War Office, and rearranging the careers of historical personages to fit with the plot - so I don't mind applying the same rule to occasional minor inaccuracies, too.What I love about the Pink Carnation novels is that they are fast and fun - part Heyer-esque romance, and part historical adventure, paying homage to the Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel series. The reader doesn't have to strain their brain to work out who will end up with who, or even which secondary character is the flowery spy of the title, but the devil is in the details. Not content with relocating Blakeney Manor to Kent in the first novel, Willig has very cheekily borrowed Austen's Donwell Abbey, home of Mr Knightley in Emma, and moved the gothic pile from Surrey to Sussex. The relationship between Henrietta Selwick, Richard's sister, and Miles Dorrington also reminded me somewhat of Austen's novel - 'There could be worse things than falling in love with one's oldest friend', thinks the hazel-eyed Henrietta. Or I could be reading far too much into the connection.The Black Tulip is definitely my favourite so far - Henrietta might say "bleargh" and 'scrunch' her nose a lot, but at least she isn't Tigger in a frock like Amy, and Miles is a thoroughly blokey sweetheart. I'm starting to notice a formula already - even down to the 'love scenes' - but oh look at that, the next book in the series is available at the library ...
    • 3/5
      This is the second of the Pink Carnation books, a series that is well-known to anyone who might be interested in them, so I won’t go into much detail. They are silly, fluffy books that don’t work on every level but are good fun. I liked this one better than the first, mostly because I found the two primary characters more enjoyable to spend time with. The plot is ridiculous, of course, but that’s what I like best. Willig is unabashed in her ridiculousness but delivers some genuinely funny moments. A good light, summer read but nothing more than that.
    • 4/5
      I've been reading the latest installments in Willig's Pink series, and decided to skim and review the earlier books that I read before I joined Library Thing. I've been enjoying her books since my sister first alerted my attention to them, but as I read the current ones and reread the earlier ones, I noticed that Willig poured a lot of love in her first three novels. As much as I like Penelope and Charlotte and Mary, I love Lettie and Amy and Henrietta. I also was more interested in the Eloise and Colin structural plot in the first few books. This book featured Henrietta and her potential beau, Miles. I was smiling from ear to ear while I read their story. Both of those characters are just so much fun. Henrietta is the sister of the famed Purple Gentian, and good friends with Amy, her sister-in-law, who created the Pink Carnation. As such, she is deeply interested, and frequently involved, in the espionage business. Yet something, or rather someone, is distracting her from this engrossing business. She grew up with Miles, who was best friends with her brother, but her feelings are less than sisterly lately. Miles is feeling a similar change of heart, but since Henrietta's brother Richard entrusted Miles with his sister's protection while he was away, Miles is conflicted. He can't admit to himself that he is in love with Henrietta, and whenever his imagination and body betray his firmly resolved convictions, he chastises himself and tries to convince himself that it's just a fancy. This is hard to do, since he spends so much time with Henrietta, and they can practically read each other's mind.What I loved most about them was their sarcastic banter and innocent bumbling. They both mean well, but are naive in matters of the spy world. What they lack in expertise, though, they make up in earnestness. They are like puppies, stumbling in to all sorts of trouble in their genuine desire to help England, but somehow everything comes right in the end. And when they interact it's pure joy to observe. They know each other so well that they can communicate without words, and when they do talk, their friendly sparring is highly entertaining. These two characters simply belong together.Oh yes, there is also a plot about the nefarious Black Tulip, a spy from France known for his nasty ways of torture and deception. Miles and Hen are trying to find the Tulip, unaware that the Tulip is also trying to watch them, because they are known associates of the Purple Gentian. The espionage plot accompanies the romantic plot in a nice balance of action and love, and both parts are equally interesting, As an added bonus, I enjoyed the Eloise and Colin love story much more than I have been liking them in the later novels, where they have become simply an annoying distraction from the main story. Reading this book reminded me of why I became so intrigued with the series in the first place, and I do hope that some of Willig's newer books that I haven't yet read will resonate with the same energy that this book had in abundance.
    • 4/5
      This is the second installment of the Pink Carnation series and entertainingly reports more of Eloise's efforts to work on her dissertation as well as the data that she is gathering on espionage during the Napoleonic wars.Eloise is not only spending time with Colin (searching through the archives at the ancestral home of the Selwicks) and possibly starting a relationship, but discovers interesting aspects with her research identifying the most notorious French spy, the Black Tulip. Miles Dorrington, best friend of Richard Selwick- the Purple Gentian, and Richard's sister - Lady Henrietta Selwick and are involved in the investigation and their adventures carry the Pink Carnation further along. Good second book
    • 5/5
      Harvard grad student Eloise Kelly is still whirling from her discovery of the Pink Carnation's identity in the archives of Colin Selwick's family. She heads with Colin to his family estate for further digging into archives and discovers the existence of a French spy known as the Black Tulip.Centuries earlier the Pink Carnation's best friend, Miles, and his sister, Henrietta, race to find out the identity of the deadly Black Tulip. As danger creeps up on them, they begin to realize that the relationship that they've taken for granted has grown into something very special.
    • 3/5
      I was originally irritated by this as things at the end of the books in this series get sort of wacky-sitcom-y, but once I decided to roll with it, this became a lot more fun. Henrietta and Miles get some great lines, though Eloise is starting to feel a lot more ditzy than she did in the last book.
    • 4/5
      If the story plot sounds complicated, it really isn't. While it jumps around, pulling you from character to character, making you wonder who might be a spy, the real story centers around this complicated relationship and emotional dance between Henrietta and Miles. Although you realize there is a spy story going on, the tension mainly focuses on the misunderstandings and social pressures between the two love birds.As with the last story, there is a good deal of romance involved in the story, but isn't developed until the later part of the novel. In this particular installment, there seemed to be less storytelling done from the present, which I actually missed...strange enough. I have been curious about Eloise, and can sense that she has developed feelings for the man who owns the journals she is reading. Honestly, I did want a bit more from the present, and grew to care a little more about our grad student. For some reason, now that she has uncovered the story behind The Pink Carnation, I wanted to know more about what Eloise was going to do with her story, and hope to get more in the novels that follow!Overall, I have enjoyed these stories and am looking forward the the next installment. This second book leaves you with a bit of a cliffhanger with Eloise, and dropped Henrietta and Miles a bit, even though you knew they were all right and happy. There is a certain playfulness to these stories that I find interesting, and I enjoy following to see how the spies will catch their enemy, and how their female spy love interest will help them. These really are fun to follow, and while you could probably read them individually, I do think you need some back up from the previous story to really dive in. However, if you like period dramas with a bit of romance built into a spy thriller, then you might enjoy these.
    • 2/5
      This one started off a little slow for me but I quickly got into the story and enjoyed learning more about the characters. I actually enjoyed reading Henrietta's story (the historical girl) better than Eloise's (the modern girl) this time. Henrietta is funny and witty and gets her man in the end. I actually thought Miles made a horrible 'spy' but he was quite funny in a clueless sort of way. Willig does have a habit of wrapping up the conflict a little too nicely but I could stretch my imagination a little since I was enjoying all the witty dialogue too much.Enjoyable series that is light and not too deep. I'll enjoy reading the rest of the series to discover more of Eloise's story.A little rant: Willig is a respectable author with a good sense of comedic timing and easily blends literature references into her books. That said, she has an annoying habit of starting a chapter/section with a thought or something this happening and then going all the way back to show you how they got there. I found myself constantly having to go back to see if I missed something -- only to find out I haven't and that the story is continued several pages later. A little bothersome.
    • 4/5
      Loved, loved, loved this book much more than the first installment The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. The Masque Of the Black Tulip was full of characters that did not irk me. I already loved Henrietta and Miles from the first book, along with the modern day heroine Eloise, but I even loved the smaller characters like Geoff and even Turnip; he was hilarious.Some of the romantic bits made me want to gag, but there wasn't really a whole lot of them. This book was full of mystery that had me guessing until the end. Brava! I expect the series to continue to get better as I go.
    • 4/5
      The Masque of the Black Tulip brings us once again into the modern day life of Eloise the grad student and Colin the Selwick descendent. And of course the past lives of Richard, Jane, Miles, Amy and Henrietta. Slipping into the pages of this book was like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes. You knew where you were, picking up precisely where you left off. But oh the places you will go.We see more flirtations between Eloise and Colin, as you might in any good chic lit. But it remains mostly light, sarcastic and fun. They have a witty commentary all the while Eloise is flipping through Colin’s family papers. And oh what we learn in those family papers this time.Miles is tired of being the side kick, its not that he doesn’t love his fried Richard (The Purple Gentian), he does of course. But now that Richard has been unmasked Miles would like to find his own way to help the kingdom. The problem for Miles is he happens to be very big, very broad, and very blonde. He doesn’t move with the same graceful ease as a general spy, rather he looms. And once in a place is somewhat like a bull in a china shop. But never mind he has charm! I positively love Miles; he is witty, charming and just hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud (and getting some looks) on more pages than I can count.Miles is eventually given the job by the War Office of finding the Black Tulip, a very dangerous French spy. You really will enjoy following Miles and Henrietta as they see about catching the Black Tulip. Because Henrietta doesn’t see why Richard should have all the fun. Why should her brother be the only spy in the family? Along the way somehow the pair (separately) realise…they are in love. But the key is…will they tell one another? If you enjoy history, and a bit of fun you will love the Mask of the Black Tulip. This is one you can’t miss.
    • 4/5
      This was a great follow up to Pink Carnation. I enjoyed every twist and turn in the story. A great combination of historical fiction, romance, and mystery. I can't wait to read the next in the series, I'm hooked!
    • 4/5
      I loved this book as much as the first, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. This one was more romance than mystery, but there’s a healthy dose of each. And humor! Once again, Eloise isn’t sure what she wants, but she’s sure she’s making a pretty big fool of herself. And back in history, the secret agents of England and France are up to their old tricks, except this time, Henrietta, the Purple Gentian’s sister, wants in on the action. It’s not too hard to figure out who the Black Tulip really is, but watching the characters follow the red herring is part of the fun. The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger in Eloise’s story, so I’m anxious to see where it goes!
    • 4/5
      Eloise is back, and now that she’s found out the identity of the Pink carnation, but is not allowed to write about it, she’s continued researching, and is now on the track of the French spy, the Black Tulip. I’m more interested in Henrietta and Miles, the historic figures in this story – they’re both delightfully bumbling. Things are also progressing – kind of – between Eloise and Colin… Looking forward to the next one (December 06, bleccch!)
    • 3/5
      This 2nd installment in the series is similar to the first -- pretty cheesy characterization & filled with lots of unnecessary fluff. I found myself just wanting the story to get on with itself without all the filler. But as I've said before, I'm such a sucker for series books & I already have installment #3 on audio, so I'll probably go ahead & read it just to say I've done so.
    • 4/5
      wow, what happened?! i don't know if i had a major personality change between reading the first installment of this series and the sequel, if the black tulip just caught me in the right mood, or if i got used to/stopped begrudging the tone and mood of willig's style or all of the above, but i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. pardon me while i gush a bit, but throughout the black tulip i was alternately grinning like a fool and giggling my head off. it was such fun. i can’t believe i’m saying this but, the best word that comes to mind is delightful. maybe amy (the heroine of the pink carnation) really was what sabotaged the pink carnation for me, because she only, mercifully, appears briefly in the black tulip, and doesn't have much of a chance to make me what to strangle something. instead, we have henrietta, who, i thought initially, was going to be just as bad as amy - the annoying little sister of the purple gentian (hero of the pink carnation) whose first words, in willig's description, were "me too!" but i was pleasantly surprised at how rational henrietta is in this book. i really liked her. the heart of the black tulip is her relationship with miles dorrington, a member of the purple gentian's league, and someone she's grown up with, who's been there all her life. it was a refreshing take on a different kind of romance, depicting their friendship and showing how it grows into something more, albeit with many bumps and a lot of humor along the way. this next installment also introduces a worthy foe for the pink carnation. i don't want to spoil the book for anyone so tread cautiously for this bit: i was pleased to find out who the black tulip was, but i wished that willig could have fleshed the character out more. in retrospect, the black tulip showed a lot of potential but ended up being very one-dimensional. the good guys are all too pristine, and the bad guys too much of the cookie-cutter, moustache-twirling variety. there are my expectations creeping in again, hoping for a little meat with my fluff - or something like that.i also thought that jane's doings and intrigues as the pink carnation were woven in well with the rest of the book. she's always on the periphery of this book, only a few cameos, but when she does show up, it's exciting and interesting to see her at work as the pink carnation.in addition, eloise and colin's story continues to develop alongside the characters from the past. i feel that with eloise willig offers as close an approximation to another bridget jones (in a different setting and profession) as you can get, and after reading so many bland knock offs, that's high praise indeed. eloise has the same sense of humor, self-deprecation, and desperation that makes bridget so endearing and universal. we're not let into colin's head at all at this point, so he comes off as distant and mysterious - not necessarily in a good way. but he's hunky so i won't complain too much. let's see, what else. there's lord vaughn, a new character of whom i can't say i wholly approve. he just seems to have caught the author's fancy and high jacked a lot of the book, when ultimately he's very out of place. he's just kind of weird with the snake obsession, the cane, and his "tergiversations" that aren't, upon closer inspection, even clever, all of which appear all the more ridiculous when they're clearly supposed to make vaughn creepy/cool. he just doesn't work for me. so in spite of a few objections, i feel great after i read this book and can't wait till the next one. the black masque, like the pink carnation, is fluffy and silly, but for some reason i didn't mind this time around.
    • 5/5
      This is my favorite book of the series so far. My favorite characters in the first book were Miles and Hen so I really enjoyed them in this book. I felt that Eloise and Colins story broke in at the right places to keep you reading. This is a great fun read!
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable read--better than the first book!
    • 3/5
      I finished the first one in one day. It took me almost ten to finish this one. This book wasn't bad, per se, but it certainly wasn't up to the caliber of the first. I found the romance a little cliched and although the characters were incredibly engaging, it was full of contradictions. The whole "in love with my best friend's little sister" idea has been done to death, and for two people who are supposedly as good friends as Miles and Henrietta are, the lack of honesty about anything truly important certainly makes me doubt the sincerity of that friendship.ALso, while it wasn't obvious who the Pink Carnation was in the first book, the identity of the Black Tulip was obvious from the first word about the character, if only from the genre of the book.The romance-within-a-romance -- ie, Eloise and Colin -- was much more interesting this time around, if a bit rushed. Simply because so many loose threads are left -- the shattered friendship of Miles and Richard, the strange behavior of Colin -- there's definately a third book coming. I bought the first one as a paperback, and took this one out of the library as a hardcover. Will I buy it eventually? Yes, but only in paperback. Will I buy the third? Yes, with the same proviso.