Name: The Lotus Palace
ISBN: 9780373777730

Jeannie Lin

Concubine servant Yue-ying and aristocratic playboy Bai Huang throw off the shackles of their society's social structure as their love for one another grows. Original.

The Lotus Palace

Lover of Romance 

The Lotus Palace was such an solid romance and I am so glad that I finally took a chance on this author. I have had this book and this author on my watchlist for almost a decade, but when I saw some book friends really enjoy it recently, I became in a mood for this one. I am glad that I finally picked this one up though, I have loved seeing the covers from this authors books, the publishers do so well with it. I love that this was set in historical tang dynasty of China. I feel like this is a setting we rarely see. (although my high school had some historical fiction romances set in China which was neat) 

The Lotus Palace is a mystery romance and has a bit of a forbidden taste to it as well. The heroine, is a servant to her sister who is a concubine. But she falls for an Aristocrat's son and there relationship is forbidden where marriage is concerned. This is historical China, and we get quite a bit of historical culture and references which will be tough for some to see. But I am happy that this author chose this type of dynamic and to see this portion of the culture of the Tang Dynasty culture. It was so vividly portrayed. 

The romance was very beautifully done and I was very intrigued by the mystery that they solve together. I was intrigued to see where the author was taking this one and how our pair would find a way to their HEA but yeah she made it work in a believable way. Now this one didn't quite make it to a five star read for me, to be honest I couldn't quite connect with the romance fully. I am not sure if it was a "me" thing or an element ot the writing style. I will read more of this authors work and maybe try it in audiobook to see what her other works are like. 

Overall I fell deeply entrenched into this beautiful read and eager for more from this author!

Becky A

I really enjoyed this and loved the characters. The plot was pretty thin, though -- the mystery they were trying to solve was never really built up or given any tension or suspense. Which is fine, since it clearly wasn't the point, and the characters were lovely to spend time with.