The Orchid Affair

So first off, just to get this off my chest: I dislike the cover design for this series that started with this particular novel. I liked the previous painterly covers, so this shift to photographs of people is something I???m not happy with.

Anyway, disgruntlement over the cover aside, the plot of this book is very much in keeping with the increased stakes as laid down in Blood Lily, even though the central plot point is about royalists looking to unseat Bonaparte. It???s not as much of a departure from the Bonaparte-focused plots of previous books: there really were plots by royalists to unseat Bonaparte and restore the House of Bourbon. But the focus on the royalists opens up a focus on something that was glossed over during Pink Carnation: the republican ideals that led up to the French Revolution, and the dissolution of those dreams as the Revolution devolved into the Terror. It???s a look (albeit briefly) at how revolutions founded on the best of ideals can fall apart if extremists get their hands on power and begin running the show. Definitely something to think about given all the things that are happening IRL right now.

As for the romance, I really appreciated how Laura was on the older side of things compared to the previous female protagonists. As someone who???s already a full decade out of her twenties, it was nice to read about someone a bit closer to my age find romance, even under such dangerous circumstances as the one that Laura was in. I also liked how Andre was characterized as a widower with two young children in this one: aligns with the idea of him and Laura being protagonists who have seen more of the world, and therefore deal with it differently compared to the younger protagonists of the previous novels - except for Lord Vaughn, but Vaughn is characterized specifically as an older rake, without the same kinds of concerns and responsibilities as Andre.

This book also goes back to the two-timelines structure that was left out of Book 7 (Mischief of the Mistletoe), and to avoid giving out spoilers, I will say that things have gotten a mite more interesting after Eloise got together with Colin in Book 5 (Temptation of the Night Jasmine) and there???s family drama going on in Selwick???s family after the things that happen in this book. It???s still not as interesting as the romance happening in the 1800s, but at least it???s picked up some.

Overall, this was a pretty good inclusion to the series - though I admit I???m feeling a bit fatigued and may read something else now just to break things up a bit.