Teaser Tuesday - Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

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Matthew and Diana seem to have settled down in London.  Matthew keeps busy with his spy duties, and Diana has finally found someone to teach her to control her magic.  Everything appears to be going well, until the unthinkable happens, and the Queen of England summons them both to court.

The Tease:

 "Henry tells me you are expected at court this afternoon.  You have nothing to wear."  With an imperious finger, Mary directed still more of her crew in the direction of our bedchamber.
"I was going to wear the gown I was married in," I protested.
"But it is French!" Mary said, aghast. "You cannot wear that!"

 -Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

What's your Tease?

What I've Been Reading: The Pink Carnation Series

The Pink Carnation Series, by Lauren Willig
1. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, 07.30.08
2. The Masque of the Black Tulip, 07.09.08
3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, 08.01.08
4. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, 08.04.08
5. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, 07.19.09
6. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, (To Be Read)
7. The Mischief of the Mistletoe, Pub. Date 10.28.2010

Eloise Kelly, a young American graduate student, is in London working on her history dissertation.  She is desperate to prove the identity of that most elusive of the "flower" spies of the Napoleonic wars, The Pink Carnation.  The Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian were unmasked by the French, but no one has ever proven who the Pink Carnation was, or if he even actually existed at all.

After having searched through all the old museums and libraries with no results, Eloise hits the jackpot when she stumbles onto a treasure trove of old papers, journals, diaries, and letters owned by the Selwick family. Diving headlong into the story of the Pink Carnation, Eloise discovers how this enigmatic and obscure character foiled the Emperor's plan to invade England, avenged a father's wrongful death, and saved the Purple Gentian from discovery by the French police.

As the series continues, Eloise continues to search the family's old papers for more clues and stories regarding the rather active spy business between France and England, and a romance slowly blossoms between Eloise and the handsome Colin Selwick.  These "stories within a story" are fun and light-hearted, and give a fascinating glimpse into English high society during the Napoleonic wars, and while the author takes some historical liberties, at the end of each novel she includes a short afterword that lists what she tinkered with.  If you are a fan of historical romance thrillers, then you should definitely check out this series!

Do you have a good recommendation of a great historical romance/thriller?  Leave a comment and tell me about it!