Description (from cover):'In the final Pink Carnation novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla, Napoleon has occupied Lisbon, and Jane Wooliston, aka the Pink Carnation, teams up with a rogue agent to protect the escaped Queen of Portugal.
Portugal, December 1807. Jack Reid, the British agent known as the Moonflower (formerly the French agent known as the Moonflower), has been stationed in Portugal and is awaiting his new contact. He does not expect to be paired with a woman--especially not the legendary Pink Carnation.
All of Portugal believes that the royal family departed for Brazil just before the French troops marched into Lisbon. Only the English government knows that mad seventy-three-year-old Queen Maria was spirited away by a group of loyalists determined to rally a resistance. But as the French garrison scours the countryside, it's only a matter of time before she's found and taken.
It's up to Jane to find her first and ensure her safety. But she has no knowledge of Portugal or the language. Though she is loath to admit it, she needs the Moonflower. Operating alone has taught her to respect her own limitations. But she knows better than to show weakness around the Moonflower--an agent with a reputation for brilliance, a tendency towards insubordination, and a history of going rogue.'
My thoughts:
I absolutely hate it when a great series has to come to an end. This is one of those series. I loved this series from the very first book until the very last. This book did justice to the series and was a great conclusion to a phenomenal series that really impacted my love of historical fiction. I just hate knowing that there won't be another book released in this series. It was a series that I always looked forward to reading and waiting for new installments to be released each year. This writer is a charm to read and I always have known that she will deliver and that I will love the newest story. I think I am depressed now.
In this last installment of the Pink Carnation series, we get to see Jane at her best. She has lost a lot due to her spying for England. She hasn't had the same chance of love and life that her friends and family have been able to have. She has always put her loyalty to her country and her spying organization first and she feels that she might have missed out on life a little. When she is forced to leave Paris, she heads to Portugal to meet rogue agent Jack Reid, the Moonflower, to help locate the missing Queen of Portugal who many believe has left Portugal en route to Brazil to escape the French army. Intelligence suggests that the Queen of Portugal is still in the country and it is up to Jane to discover her whereabouts before the mad queen becomes a pawn in Napoleon's quest for conquering all of Europe. But can Jane trust the Moonflower who has been known to switch sides depending on whatever suits him at the time?
This book was a great end to a series that I have come to love over the years. I am glad to see how things worked out for the characters and the series was wrapped up nicely. I had a hard time reading this book because I didn't want to put it down, but I also didn't want it to end either. I am truly sad that such a great series is ending, but it did end on a good note before the series got stale if that is even possible. I will always think fondly of this series which helped propel me into a love of historical fiction.
Overall Rating: 5+
Title: The Lure of the Moonflower
Author: Lauren Willig
Series: Pink Carnation #12
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Pages: 528
Genre: Historical Fiction
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was purchased by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
