The Orchid Affair

On a trip to the library this summer, I stumbled upon a book called The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig. Just by the title, I picked up the book not knowing anything its about nor knowing that it was a part of a series. I picked it up not knowing what it was about nor that it was a part of a larger series. Not knowing any of this, I took it out of this gigantic pile of library books I have in my room to bring on a trip to Carmel. I started reading it on the air plane and fell in love. The book takes place in both modern times and post revolution France. It starts off with Eloise and Colin, going to Paris for Colin's mothers birthday. It the switches back in time to Laura Grey, a governess and government spy. I am under the impression that Eloise and Colin's story goes through all of the books in the series, however their plot line seemed pretty superfluous reading The Orchid Affair as a stand alone novel. I would highly recommend this novel, but I'd recommend reading it in order with the rest of the series, because it does make sense as just a stand alone novel, it would be more enjoyable with the rest of the series backing it up.