The hero, Bai Huang, is one of Mingyu's admirers, a young scholar-wannabe from a wealthy, influential family. Yue-ying is maidservant to one of the city's reigning beauties, the legendary and much-pursued courtesan Mingyu. That's where our heroine, Yue-ying, lives, in the famous Lotus Palace. The action takes place in the pleasure district of Pingkang Li, which as far as I can tell is in the ancient city of Chang'an, now Xi'an, in Shaanxi province. The Lotus Palace is set in China during the Tang Dynasty (I'll save you the googling: that's between 618 and 907 AD). Lin's books have a very unique setting in romance. I got distracted by the shiny new one, though, so those are still in my TBR. I've heard loads of good things about Jeannie Lin's books and have picked up a few over the years. Yet Bai Huang's position means that all she could ever be to him is his concubine-will she sacrifice her pride to follow her heart? Street-smart and practical, she's content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress-until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.īai Huang lives in a privileged world Yue-ying can barely imagine, yet alone share, but as they are thrown together in an attempt to solve a deadly mystery, they both start to dream of a different life. Maidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties. At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China.

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang Li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans.

The lotus palace jeannie lin