• The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

  • By: Lauren Willig
  • Narrated by: Kate Reading
  • Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (403 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily  By  cover art

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

By: Lauren Willig
Narrated by: Kate Reading
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.50

Buy for $22.50

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The heroines of Lauren Willig's best-selling Pink Carnation series have engaged in espionage all over 19th-century Europe. In the sixth stand-alone volume, our fair English heroine travels to India, where she finds freedom - and risk - more exciting than she ever imagined.

Everyone warned Miss Penelope Deveraux that her unruly behavior would land her in disgrace someday. She never imagined she's be whisked off to India to give the scandal of her hasty marriage time to die down. As Lady Frederick Staines, Penelope plunges into the treacherous waters of the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, where no one is quite what they seem - even her husband.

In a strange country, where elaborate court dress masks even more elaborate intrigues and a dangerous spy called the Marigold leaves venomous cobras as his calling card, there is only one person Penelope can trust.

Captain Alex Reid has better things to do than play nursemaid to a pair of aristocrats. Or so he thinks - until Lady Frederick Staines out-shoots, out-rides, and out-swims every man in the camp. She also has an uncanny ability to draw out the deadly plans of the Marigold and put herself in harm's way. With danger looming from local warlords, treacherous court officials, and French spies, Alex realizes that an alliance with Lady Staines just might be the only thing standing in the way of a plot designed to rock the very foundations of the British Empire.

©2010 Lauren Willig (P)2010 Penguin

What listeners say about The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    197
  • 4 Stars
    134
  • 3 Stars
    47
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    183
  • 4 Stars
    69
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    137
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Nothing But a Mean Girl

I finished this audiobook reluctantly. The mystery/espionage plot is pretty much non-existent. For 3/4 of the book we just get the tale of the "heroine", Penelope. Rarely have I encountered such a totally unattractive character. Penelope's back-story doesn't justify her lack of development and growth or make her at all sympathetic. She is petulant, childish, selfish, egocentric, mean spirited and altogether a nasty girl. Frankly, I don't know why the hero bothers. It appears the author thinks we should admire this woman because of her bravado and impetuousness or feel sorry for her because she had a difficult childhood and dislikes herself. Frankly, I just wanted to kick Penelope and tell her to go grow up. That really doesn't happen, even during the predictable self-excoriation that Penelope inflicts on herself after her husband's death -- which is still all about her. I suppose one would say that the book is well written, since the lead character is certainly vividly drawn. But why should we care? Most of the book is spent regaling us with way this woman ignores the feelings and concerns of everyone around her. This is frankly boring and irritating. The mystery that Penelope and Alex are supposedly trying to unravel is secondary. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily is a real disappointment in light of Lauren Willig's previous work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Unsympathetic Main Character

Like other reviewers, I loved Willig's first three books. It's a bit of a mystery why in this book she lavishes so much energy on a main character who is so lacking in redeeming qualities. Willig has been producing books at a suspiciously rapid rate over the past several years, but the problem with this book doesn't seem to be haste or laziness on her part. It's more like she's forgotten what attracts readers to books: great characters who we care care about having larger-than-life adventures.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Another Disappointment

I LOVED the first three books in this series. The reader of the last book was just awful and I couldn't even listen to it. I was so looking forward to this one because Kate Reading was back. But the Penelope character was so unlikeable, and there was something off about the setting in India. I hope Lauren Willig considers a new series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved It!!!

I like Lauren Willig books to start with, but this was just fun. Having a book story line in India was a nice change from the other books that were based in France and England, This book being about a forced marriage was also different from the others in the series witch were about falling in love with there men and then getting married, Unlike this one where she was miserable with the match, I liked the sarcasm of the main character, I must say I first reacted to the story line of one falling in love with another man that is not your husband even if it was a slow falling...and even if her Husband was a bad apple..
But over all I liked the book a lot and would by it again..
Heather

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not quite up to par with the rest of the series

First of all I LOVE love LOVE this series. I was so excited when I began, but was quickly disapointed. Much too dime paperback like. I just could not adapt to or empathize with the plight of the main character Penelope. she was unlike the character by the same name in the previous novel. Her husband, lord Staines is barely perceptble, outrageously abrasive and all around a huge drag. Predictable plot direction. Even the "uncovering" of the conspirators was a snooze. this book is missing the humor, character likebility and general supporting cast of the previous books. if you have read the rest, well of course you have to find out for yourself- but if you have never heard or listened to only a couple of the books in this series please read the rest first. don't let this one turn you off what is otherwise a witty and smart series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I've enjoyed the "flower" series and was eagerly looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to the others. There were inconsistencies in the plot, and way too much verbiage - as though the author had too little plot. And the "heroine" was a spoiled, irritating, and selfish woman, who didn't deserve the rather dull hero. Even Kate Reading - a fantastic narrator - was unable to save it. I did finish the book, and was very pleased that I actually got through it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slow start but she got me in the end

Took me a while to warm up to Penelope as the heroine but by the end I related to her more than I ever expected. Not my favorite in the series but overall an enjoyable experience!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

An Overall Good Read

Firstly, I have enjoyed all the books in this series and, unlike some of the other reviewers, I enjoyed this one too. Ironically, there was a huge part of me that didn't want to like the book. The heroine is definitely a bad girl her contemporaries' standards. And, I just didn't want to like a love story wherein a couple starts to fall in love and have a relationship while one of them was still married. But, you know what? I did! So, here's the run down. Penelope isn't the most likeable character, but Willig does a good job of helping you understand why she is the way she is. In order to make this plot work, Willig had to make Penelope's husband, Frederick Staines, thoroughly unlikeable and she is successful in that endeavor. The most likeable main character was Captain Alex Reid. He was your classic dark, brooding, yet thoughtful and sensitive male lead.

P.S. If you haven't listened to any of the books in this series, this isn't the one to start with. I recommend starting with books 1-5, or 8.

P.P.S. It was nice to have Kate Reading back as the narrator :)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I'm glad I purchased it.

I went ahead and picked this title up -- in spite of some of the negative reviews -- and it ended up being one of my favorites of the series. I found the heroine to be refreshing, and enjoyed the story line immensely. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love this series

A happy shift for this series to leave the continent and go to India. Excellent writing and reader.

Two shifts. The story of Eloise seems to be diminishing, maybe because life with Colin is running out of plot. Both Freddy and Pen cheat on their marriage. For some that may be upsetting; for me it was more of a message of how India was treated as a world apart.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!