Check out The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
 A modern day chick-lit heroine, graduate student Eloise travels to London in an attempt to forget her ex-boyfriend back in America. Through her thesis research, she pursues the true romantic hero of her imagination – The Pink Carnation – a secret spy who saved England from invasion by Napoleon. Her research depends on finding descendants of historical figures, and hopefully discovering documents to unmask the spy and gain academic acclaim. After a particularly rude rejection from Colin Selwick, a descendant of the Purple Gentian, Eloise finds a warm welcome from his aunt.
At the apartment of Mrs. Selwick-Alderly, she is privy to a collection of early 19th century letters that reveal a secret romance between Amy Balcourt and the mysterious and handsome spy, the Purple Gentian.  As Eloise reads the correspondence, we are swept into the stories of the Purple Gentian, who himself was a protégé of the Scarlet Pimpernel.  The romantic story unfolds with adventures at Paris parties, Napoleon’s study and midnight assignations. Strong allegiances to England lead to the emergence of the Pink Carnation as both a protégé and foe of the Purple Gentian.
The present day storyline of a frustrated graduate student in London is similar to many other current novels, but Eloise’s historical research comes alive as historical romance. Harvard Book Store summarized the author’s background: “When twenty-six-year old Harvard University graduate student Lauren Willig informed her advisor that the purpose of her History PhD was to write historically accurate fiction, he thought she was joking.”  This unique historical romance combines great fiction writing with an appreciation of research and original sources.  Lauren Willig’s second Pink Carnation novel, The Masque of the Black Tulip was published in December 2005.
Reviewed by Lissa Staley