The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig

The Deception of the Emerald Ring is the third installment in the Pink Carnation series.  This is a fun series that follows Eloise Kelly, Harvard doctoral student, as she follows the elusive Pink Carnation through the 19th century. In the spirit of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Carnation foils the French during their bloody revolution and, most recently, quashes an Irish rebellion.

This book is my favorite so far in the series.  I'm not sure if it's because the author is simply getting better, or if it's because I just particularly enjoyed the story of Lord Pinchingdale and Letty, or if it's because there was significantly less of the "his pants suddenly felt too tight" scenarios in this one, (in the past two books, these kinds of scenes were far too frequent).  Although this book is not entirely without them.  In fact, in a couple of scenes where the protagonists find themselves in fairly dire situations, the above mentioned Lord can't help finding himself getting aroused.  This seems silly and not to mention unlikely, BUT all the same, I obviously enjoy the series or I would not be on the third book and eagerly anticipating getting around to the fourth.  Fortunately for me, my library seems to have every book in the series.

This book was just what I needed after the beautiful, tear-jerker which was The Invisible Bridge.