The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla

This...is a bit of an odd duck of a book, series-wise. It happens after Book 10 (Purple Plumeria), which had something incredible happen in it, and the consequences of which OUGHT to have been handled in the book immediately following it. But no: we get this book, which goes on a tangent largely unrelated to the momentous events in Purple Plumeria. I don???t know if it was the author???s decision to do this, but I highly suspect that it was the publisher???s decision, so the entire series could be finished with a round twelve books, as opposed to an awkward eleven.

But putting aside that one little irritation (and it IS just little, in the grand scheme of things), there???s another thing about this book that kind of bothers me that I hadn???t really noticed when I first read this book: the unknowns regarding Lucien???s mother, specifically if she was mixed race. It???s easy to assume that she???s white because she???s described as pale, but she???s also described as having dark hair and very dark eyes, which is a color combination that white people can certainly have, but to my mind, hints that she could have been mixed race but white passing. If this was the case, I wish it had been made clearer if she was in fact mixed race, especially because she???s described as having abolitionist leanings and may have been involved in supporting the slave uprisings in Martinique. It would be even more impactful for Lucien???s characterization, because he???s described as having inherited his mother???s coloring (pale skin, dark hair, dark eyes), and it would have been fantastic to have an outright mixed race male lead in this novel. 

(Honestly I suspect the author of trying to dodge around the thorny history of slavery and colonization that occurred in the Caribbean and of course in North America, given that she herself is a white person and is writing about white people. That???s just me though, and not necessarily something the author should be condemned for. Something to look at them askance for, maybe, since they also kind of did this in Blood Lily, dodging around European and specifically British colonization of India.)

With that being said: the actual story isn???t half-bad! I???m not much into the language of tropes, but I think this would be considered a Grumpy-Sunshine romance? Certainly feels that way, given that Lucien???s all dark and broody and Sally is the most aggressive ball of sunshine to have ever existed in this series. Actually there???s not much else I could possibly say about the romance, really: it???s pretty entertaining, and ends much as one might expect it to. Not sure what else can be said.

Oh, another thing I took away from this: how the most popular books of any given period - the ones people think are going to be surefire classics - can potentially descend into obscurity as time goes by, their early status as ???classics??? dissolving into so much dust as they disappear into the murk of time. Even though The Convent of Orsino is a fictional book, its disappearance from literary history as time went on is something that happens all the time - and will likely happen again. While in some ways this is kind of sad, I find this rather heartening, given the reputation of a certain series about a boy wizard.

Anyway: I???M IN THE HOME STRETCH BAYBEE! After this book it won???t be a reread anymore, but a first time read of the final novel of the series. I can finally put this series to bed for good and move on to something else - which...I???m going to have to decide pretty soon.