Villains to Love

I recently read the fourth book of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series, THE SEDUCTION OF THE CRIMSON ROSE. I have been following the series since the first book came out a few years ago. However, I had this book for a year before I finally read it this month. Part of the delay was because of the characters this book followed.

Each Pink Carnation novel follows two characters that fall in love in the course of some kind of espionage during the Napoleonic era. This one featured two characters that were not presented as especially sympathetic in previous books. Lord Vaughan is a sneaky, mysterious man with a wicked way with words and some dubious connections to people who have a habit of winding up dead. Mary Alsworthy is a clever, scheming woman looking for a man with a title or money, and she will do whatever it takes to get one. They are a great match, being equally jaded and selfish.

What's impressive about this book is that these are not characters I would normally fall in love with. They are not especially likeable, but they are interesting. Ms. Willig does a great job of making me care about these two and even rooting for things to work out with them. It takes a skillful writer to take two borderline-nasty people and involve them in a compelling love story.

This brings to mind other books that have some not-so-sympathetic characters who capture my attention. Jenna Black's Morgan Kingsley books feature Adam, a sadistic man who nonetheless manages to not be portrayed as completely evil. Maya Rodale's THE ROGUE AND THE RIVAL is centered on a man who is presented in a previous book as no better than a worthless reprobate, but who eventually redeems himself.

No one likes to read a book with characters that are completely unredeemable. But it takes a special skill to take characters who seem unlikeable and make them people to care about. It's easy enough to make a sweet character likeable, but it's an author with true talent to make a reader care about someone with dire faults. I should never have doubted Ms. Willig's skill and I won't hesitate to read any of her other books!

Nicole