The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

Temptation of the Night Jasmine- Lauren Willig

Synopsis:

After 12 years in India, Robert, Duke of Dovedale, returns to his estates in England with a mission in mind-- to infiltrate the infamous Hellfire club to unmask the man who murdered his mentor at the Battle of Assaye. Intent on revenge, Robert never anticipates that an even more difficult challenge awaits him, in the person of one Lady Charlotte Lansdowne.

Throughout her secluded youth, Robert was Lady Charlotte’s favorite knight in shining armor, the focus of all her adolescent daydreams. The intervening years have only served to render him more dashing. But, unbeknownst to Charlotte, Robert has an ulterior motive of his own for returning to England, a motive that has nothing to do with taking up the ducal mantle. As Charlotte returns to London to take up her post as Maid of Honor to Queen Charlotte, echoes from Robert’s past endanger not only their relationship but the very throne itself.

Review:

This fifth installment of the Pink Carnation series is a good book in the series but not as good as the Crimson Rose or any of the others before it. I liked the banter between Charlotte and Robert (the main characters of the Historical Fiction portion of the story) and I loved the character development of said characters and it was very nice to have Hen and Miles join the book but while Jasmine had the mystery, the history and the drama what it lacked was some actual romantic scenes. At times it felt like I was reading a Gothic Romance (which is funny because Charlotte was reading Evelina in the beginning of the book) without as much innuendo.

I have to say, this book felt truer to the Scarlet Pimpernel story than the others and again, I wholeheartedly loved Charlotte and Robert and the ending was completely satisfying.

Now, onto the modern Chick-Lit portion.

As usual, the historical fiction aspect of the books does take over and make for a better, fulfilling reading experience the story of Colin & Eloise. I think that's because there's only about five or six chapters dedicated to them and they are spread out. It's hard to actually get too involved because of that, however, I like their characters and I do like them together. In fact, of all the couples I've come across in this series, Colin & Eloise remind me the most of Robert & Charlotte.

However, there was a lack of romantic scenes (minus the beginning chapter) and while I loved the movie-watching scene, I was hoping for a descriptive paragraph on kissing and/or fondling. I mean, I waited how long for Eloise and Colin? I couldn't get just a small smidgen of toe-curling description?

I'm hoping that Ms. Willig delivers more of the description in the next book and I certainly can't wait for the next installment.