A Lady Never Lies [Mass Market Paperback]

Juliana Gray (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 7, 2012

Lady Alexandra Morley, an alluring widow, is desperate to devise a plan to reverse her fortunes. When fate lands her in the arms of  Phineas "Finn" Burke, an attractive inventor, she despairs of ever getting what she needs...until they kiss.

Finn has always been impervious to the charms of the female species, intent only on perfecting his "horseless carriage" engine. He never dreamed he'd meet a woman like Alexandra, who is as stubborn as she is comely. Despite the brewing scandal, Finn longs to make Alexandra his wife, but he must first convince the maddening lady that their love is the only thing that matters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Charming, passionate, and thrilling...sets a new mark for historical romance."—New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Holt

"A dazzling debut...the best new book of the year!"—National bestselling author Lauren Willig

"A delightful confection of prose and desire that leaps off the page."—New York Times bestselling author Julia London

"Fresh, delicious, witty, and devastatingly romantic."—New York Times bestselling author Meredith Duran

"Clever and supremely witty. A true delight."—New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Enoch

About the Author

Juliana Gray began writing as a child to relieve the tedium of being sentenced to her room, and later turned to romance to relieve the tedium of unsatisfactory suitors. Sadly, despite five years' residence in the most exclusive areas of London, she never met a single duke, though she once shared a taxi with a future baron.

Juliana's debut romance trilogy, including A Lady Never Lies, A Gentleman Never Tells, and A Duke Never Yields, was largely written when she should have been sleeping. She enjoys dark chocolate, champagne and dinner parties, and despises all forms of exercise except one.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042525092X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425250921
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars (4.5 stars) A surprisingly good new HR author to welcome! August 12, 2012

By Old Latin teacher TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Lately the well-established HR writers I used to admire are putting out rather lackluster and mediocre books, so it's great to find this excellent book by debut author Juliana Gray. This is the first of a trilogy featuring 3 gentlemen, the Duke of Wallingford, his younger brother Lord Roland Penhallow, and their commoner friend, scientist Phineas Burke, and 3 women, widowed Lady Alexandra Morley, her sister Abigail and their cousin Lady Somerton.

The 3 women have traveled to Italy, Lady Morley to avoid creditors and Lady Somerton to avoid an abusive husband. The 3 men are also in Italy, mainly because Burke wants an isolated place to perfect the design of his electric motorcar but also for the 2 noble brothers to take a break from their rather rakish, dissolute ways.

Coincidentally, all six know or know of each other and, in addition, have accidentally leased the same castle in Italy for their rustication. They make the best of a bad situation and split the use of the castle, one wing for the women and another for the men, while sharing the dining hall.

Naturally, because this is romance, we have the makings for 3 romantic pairs to be formed while conveniently living together. This first book has Lady Morley and Phineas Burke antagonistic to each other at first and then, of course, you know what that will lead to. The major roadblocks to their love are 1)that Burke is not a peer and is illegitimate to boot and 2)there may be a conflict of interest with regard to motorcars since scientist Burke is perfecting his battery-powered car and Lady Morley is a major stockholder in a steam-powered motorcar company. Can they give in to their attraction and can they trust each other?

The plot with the motorcars and the 1890 time period make this a relatively unique romance. What makes it a very special romance is the writing ability of Juliana Gray. IMO, she's equal to Meredith Duran or Cecilia Grant. This particular book is not angsty and is more light-hearted than the latest Grant and Duran HRs, but Gray's writing skill is at the same level. You'll find some fun moments as the characters adjust to their stay in Tuscany and the castle, and you'll find some lovely romantic scenes between the H and h.

The next two books in this series should be entertaining and all 3 have a slight twist in that they take place simultaneously, each one from the viewpoint of a different pair of lovers and revolving around that pair's interactions at the castle. In this first book we concentrate on Burke and Alexandra and only rarely have much to do with the other 4 characters, and this only to pique our curiosity about them and whet our appetites for the next books.

So be on the lookout for Book 2, A Gentleman Never Tells in November 2012, the love story of Lord Roland and Lady Somerton and Book 3, A Duke Never Yields in February 2013, the story of the Duke of Wallingford and Abigail. These will fill in the gaps in information of Book 1 about these 4 characters.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome new author / series December 14, 2012

By Queen Mary

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Reading this book made me happy to discover another author with the style that I enjoy the most in historical romance: well-constructed primary and secondary characters, wit, good writing, decent plot and just the right amount of sex scenes.

The characters are all well defined and none of them fall into any overdone stereotype. If you are looking for a 19 year-old, virgin heroine, don't buy. I find myself appreciative of slightly older lead women who have confidence and quirkiness. While the lady in question is not a bluestocking - she is smart, witty, proper and not wide-eyed-innocent at all. I like that a lot. If you are looking for a dark Duke who is afraid to love, don't buy. The lead man is strong, intelligent and self-aware (but a mere Mr.). I like that a lot too.

Her writing is good and tight- you don't have to worry about bad writing or cringe-worthy anachronistic lingo.

The plot is sort of unconventional but falls overall in the bucket of 'unlikely bed mates'. It is a really nice change from the usual rake-bluestocking choke. There are no balls, country parties or huge mansions. Well, wait, there is a huge mansion. And a car.

As for sex ... thankfully it's not "sweet" with chaste kisses. Not erotica level intense either. The sex is hot and at the right places. To those of you who care about this: the sex scenes are not silly and written with a good shade of maturity.

I am looking forward to the next in this series; but I do think Juilana Grey is capable of a better creation than this one. I'll keep an eye out for her.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books of the Year!!! August 7, 2012

By Book Nerd

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a Charming and an Exquisite story, truly it is one of the best debuts of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed the story it was funny, witty and yet sensual all at the same time. I highly recommend this book. It was a wonder reading it and I could not put it down all through the book. The writing was impeccable the author did a great job in conveying emotion, characterization, and the development of the story was very interesting.

Our story involves three English ladies, three gentleman an Italian castle in the secluded country side and some eccentric circumstances which brought our hero and heroine together in this amazing novel. Our heroine Alexandra was so charming witty and interesting. I absolutely loved, her. It is so hard to find likable heroines in romances, but the author did a great job with Alexandra. She is a widow forced to flee her troubles at home she meets our hero Finn with his traveling companions in an inn. During dinner a wager is struck to see who shall outlast whom. However, there is a huge complication an undeniable attraction between Finn and Alexandra, that escalates into a great love affair and a daring adventure through Rome.

I really enjoyed the main characters, in fact all characters where tolerable and it was definitely a fresh breeze. The setting was quite better then old and dreary England, and the fact that they were stuck in the castle filled with secrets made all more intriguing. In fact we are introduced to the love matches of their companions, whom I presume will be the main characters in the upcoming authors books. Alexandra was witty smart, charming, yet she was a lady she had a great balance. She was not ignorant yet she was still feminine. I really loved that about her. Finn was very masculine and a great hero, he had the looks and he had the brains. The tension between the hero and the heroine is beautifully written. Their love was pure and true because you could really tell they loved one another in a sense that both were very giving when it came to each other. And the sensuality is well described by the author. Definitely there was more sensuality then expected. I highly recommend this book.

Yellow Rose Reviews