The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

By: Lauren Willig

Narrated by: Kate Reading

The heroines of Lauren Willig's best-selling Pink Carnation series have engaged in espionage all over 19th-century Europe. In the sixth stand-alone volume, our fair English heroine travels to India, where she finds freedom - and risk - more exciting than she ever imagined.

Everyone warned Miss Penelope Deveraux that her unruly behavior would land her in disgrace someday. She never imagined she's be whisked off to India to give the scandal of her hasty marriage time to die down. As Lady Frederick Staines, Penelope plunges into the treacherous waters of the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, where no one is quite what they seem - even her husband.

In a strange country, where elaborate court dress masks even more elaborate intrigues and a dangerous spy called the Marigold leaves venomous cobras as his calling card, there is only one person Penelope can trust.

Captain Alex Reid has better things to do than play nursemaid to a pair of aristocrats. Or so he thinks - until Lady Frederick Staines out-shoots, out-rides, and out-swims every man in the camp. She also has an uncanny ability to draw out the deadly plans of the Marigold and put herself in harm's way. With danger looming from local warlords, treacherous court officials, and French spies, Alex realizes that an alliance with Lady Staines just might be the only thing standing in the way of a plot designed to rock the very foundations of the British Empire.

©2010 Lauren Willig (P)2010 Penguin

Not quite up to par with the rest of the series

First of all I LOVE love LOVE this series. I was so excited when I began, but was quickly disapointed. Much too dime paperback like. I just could not adapt to or empathize with the plight of the main character Penelope. she was unlike the character by the same name in the previous novel. Her husband, lord Staines is barely perceptble, outrageously abrasive and all around a huge drag. Predictable plot direction. Even the "uncovering" of the conspirators was a snooze. this book is missing the humor, character likebility and general supporting cast of the previous books. if you have read the rest, well of course you have to find out for yourself- but if you have never heard or listened to only a couple of the books in this series please read the rest first. don't let this one turn you off what is otherwise a witty and smart series.

Not best in the series

I loved this series overall, but this was the weakest link. A series that is very focused in England and France suddenly zips over to India, and with a character its hard to like. I could listen to Kate Reading read classifieds, so it wasn't a total disappointment. If you are stingy with your credits, I'd skip this one.

An Overall Good Read

Firstly, I have enjoyed all the books in this series and, unlike some of the other reviewers, I enjoyed this one too. Ironically, there was a huge part of me that didn't want to like the book. The heroine is definitely a bad girl her contemporaries' standards. And, I just didn't want to like a love story wherein a couple starts to fall in love and have a relationship while one of them was still married. But, you know what? I did! So, here's the run down. Penelope isn't the most likeable character, but Willig does a good job of helping you understand why she is the way she is. In order to make this plot work, Willig had to make Penelope's husband, Frederick Staines, thoroughly unlikeable and she is successful in that endeavor. The most likeable main character was Captain Alex Reid. He was your classic dark, brooding, yet thoughtful and sensitive male lead.

P.S. If you haven't listened to any of the books in this series, this isn't the one to start with. I recommend starting with books 1-5, or 8.

P.P.S. It was nice to have Kate Reading back as the narrator :)

loved it

I loved the story line. I loved how it was different from all the other ones being placed in India. and I love the resolution of the story

Another good book in a fantastic series.

Good Read, though I expect nothing less from L Willig. You should definitely give the series a try.

Loved It!!!

I like Lauren Willig books to start with, but this was just fun. Having a book story line in India was a nice change from the other books that were based in France and England, This book being about a forced marriage was also different from the others in the series witch were about falling in love with there men and then getting married, Unlike this one where she was miserable with the match, I liked the sarcasm of the main character, I must say I first reacted to the story line of one falling in love with another man that is not your husband even if it was a slow falling...and even if her Husband was a bad apple..
But over all I liked the book a lot and would by it again..
Heather

Different

Would you listen to The Betrayal of the Blood Lily again? Why?

I have listened to this book twice. I loved the different storyline from the others in the series. Though it didn't have great parallels to the present day storyline, I still liked the plot development in the historical setting.

What did you like best about this story?

That Kate Reading returnd as narrator.

Any additional comments?

Though this is not my favorite book in the series, and I can't agree with some of the choises the charactors made, I do love the way Willig explains their reasoning precesses. This whole series for me is a wonderful learning process in to the human mind and why some folks think the way they do. It doesn't matter what historical age you are in, Human is human.

Slow start but she got me in the end

Took me a while to warm up to Penelope as the heroine but by the end I related to her more than I ever expected. Not my favorite in the series but overall an enjoyable experience!

Hero wonderful, Heroine...not so much

I loved the plot of this story. Plenty of intrigue and twists and turns. And the hero Alex Reid is someone you really root for and want to see happy. But the heroine Penelope is so unsympathetic throughout the entire book that you just feel that Alex deserves better. Yes I know, the author is trying to write a flawed character that shows growth throughout the book. And that is achieved. But Penelope still isn't likeable in my opinion and I can't figure out why after waiting so long Alex fixed on her. I guess some guys just like the mean girls! :-)

Spirited!!

What a great heroine! I am SO glad that I didn't listen to the other reviews and went ahead and listened to this book. I think Pen is probably my FAVORITE main character. Very well written-my breath actually physically caught in my throat a couple of times when Pen was so very hurt! But she perseveres despite all of the difficult situations that she has been in. She is a strong young woman who has had to become very independent. I am so happy that that she found the love she so desperatly craved.