Customer Reviews

Never Deceive a Duke

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gareth Lloyd was never meant to be a duke. He was brutally removed from that life years ago and has raised himself up to become part owner in a successful shipping company (Neville shipping). As a child, Gareth survived horrors that no one should and put up emotional walls around himself that no one could penetrate. Until now. Now he is the new Duke of Warneham. But he doesn't need the money and he certainly doesn't want a title.

They say Antonia, the twice widowed Duchess of Warneham, is as mad as she is beautiful. Often she closes herself and her mind off to the outside world. Deep wounds lay beneath her fragile exterior. She is finished with being caged body and soul to any man.

But what happens when Gareth is forced to due his duty and visits his ducal estate? There he stumbles onto unanswered questions about the previous dukes death. He's captivated by the mysterious and regal duchess. But is he willing to expose himself and his heart to heal this woman who may possibly be a murderess?

A very good book in my opinion. Its not necessary to read the prequel 'Never Lie to a Lady', but I recommend it. Gareth is a interesting hero and not because of his abusive childhood (there are several disturbing flashbacks -so beware), but because of his heritage, he's half Jewish. Very surprising! I enjoyed Carlyle's (author) flashbacks of Gareth's grandparents which explored his roots and thought she handled the antisemitism well. Antonia on the other hand is a very sad and fragile heroine. I thought she is a bit melodramatic at times and wallows a bit to much in pity -a major downer. Of course Gareth comes in and they help heal each other emotionally. -and physically (with several hot love scenes).

But why I really recommend this book is for the character of Mr. Kemble. He completely stole the show for me. A jack-of-all-trades if you will. He is why you should really read the prequel. An excellent character who is really an enigma. Who is this man who knows everything about everybody, can fight as well as any of the hero's, knows about art, clothing (he was once a valet), decor etc. etc. Something bizarre about this character that I can put my finger on. Hopefully Carlyle will explore him further in the sequel Never Romance a Rake.

This isn't romantic fluff and may turn off some with the heavy melodrama. Not my fav H/H. The duke being part Jewish was an interesting twist, as was the murder investigation's outcome. If pushed, I'd lean toward taking this one out of the library. Good but not great.

When her second husband, the Duke of Warneham, dies under suspicious circumstances, the emotionally fragile Antonia, Duchess of Warneham, is surrounded by a cloud of suspicion. Although she is determined never to marry again, the twice-widowed Antonia finds her future precarious. Once again, her fate is to be determined by a man, the new Duke of Warneham.

The new Duke of Warneham, Gareth Lloyd, has no desire for the title. Gareth is happy in his role as a partner in the very successful business, Neville Shipping. As the only living heir to the dukedom, however, Gareth is forced to accept the role of nobleman and all the responsibilities his new title entails, including his duty to protect the tantalizing Antonia.

Wow! When I finished reading Liz Carlyle's Never Deceive a Duke, all I could say was, 'wow'! The heartbreak, suffering and cruelty the hero and heroine suffered before finding one another is very affecting. One cannot help but want them to know nothing but joy in their future.

Never Deceive a Duke addresses difficult subject matter such as anti-Semitism, rape, and depression with a main theme of a happily ever after romance. This isn't your average historical romance! Liz Carlyle has written a thoughtful, deeply moving and emotional historical romance in Never Deceive a Duke.


Annmarie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

If anything, Liz Carlyle can certainly write. Even when the story she tells isn't quite as well put together, her prose sweeps you up and places you right in the minds of her characters. Never Deceive a Duke picks up right after Never Lie to a Lady, after Gareth Lloyd's unrequited love, Xanthia Neville, heroine of NLL, has been married off to Lord Nash. Gareth isn't too pleased, and things just keep getting worse when he finds out he's inherited a dukedom upon the death of his cousin. There's bad blood between Gareth and the former duke, which comprises a twisted family history of murder(s), anti-Semitism, betrayal, and abuse. Gareth has tried to put all that behind him, embracing his life as a shipping magnate and unofficially adopted brother to Xanthia and her brother - they're all three of them joint owners of Neville Shipping. Gareth's tortured past comes rushing painfully back to him once he's forced to very reluctantly join the unwelcoming aristocracy and assume responsibility for his estate. This includes meeting and deciding what to do about the dowager duchess, the former duke's widow, Antonia. She happens to have a whole boatload of baggage of her own, which makes them quite a depressed/depressing pair.

Never Deceive a Duke is a pretty good read. Its pacing falters at times, but not too badly. There's a murder mystery, which develops into several murder mysteries, actually, and this aspect of the plot seemed well constructed. Though things did a little complicated near the end, when it seemed like everyone and their mother had been murdered at some point. The ubiquitous George Kemble makes an appearance here. He's called in to do all the dirty work and get to the bottom of the former duke's death. There have been nasty rumors that Antonia did him in for her own gain, and Gareth, having instantly taken a shine to her, wants her name cleared. I love George Kemble. He's hilarious, but still chillingly dangerous, and steals the show every time.

As for the romance, it was unbalanced at best. Gareth I really liked. He's a very tortured guy. The flashbacks prefacing each chapter provide powerful, moving vignettes of his childhood, the difficulties of being raised between two worlds, neither fully Jewish, nor accepted into the English aristocracy. I've never come across a Jewish hero before, and I think that through the flashbacks this aspect of his character was well drawn. He's a unique character. The extent and depth of his pain, what he's suffered, isn't readily apparent. The way in which his character is thus layered and gradually explored was skillfully handled, and my favorite part of the book. Gareth quietly suffers throughout, never wallowing in self pity. He's a very strong, very appealing hero.

Antonia, while equally tortured, is more pathetic than noble in her suffering. She's basically a depressed, shattered, shadow of her former self, having undergone a nervous breakdown and been committed to an insane asylum. This was before her marriage to the former duke, which took place barely a year after her first husband's death, which had precipitated her mental collapse. She's also exiled from society because of all the nasty murder rumors. I thought it was really interesting to have a heroine purported to be mad, after coming across so many supposedly mad heroes. Maybe madness is sexier in men or something... who knows. Either way, Antonia fits into the woman in white role perfectly - fragile, not quite all there, sad, weak, and broken. Unfortunately, the romance suffers for her overriding weakness, because Gareth has to take care of her the whole time, despite her protestations that she's getting stronger and starting to know her own mind. Their conversations sound like therapy sessions as Gareth dispenses pearls of wisdom and tries to piece Antonia back together. (I have to mention, even though it's nitpicking, that their conversations bugged the hell out of me though because Gareth kept saying Antonia's name over and over again. Every sentence it was, "Well, Antonia..." "Did you know, Antonia..." "I think, Antonia...) Anyway, his protectiveness towards her, the way he lays himself completely at her feet and becomes her white knight of sorts really is romantic and noble, but also sad - both for her and for him. She doesn't develop enough as a character - she stays pretty weak throughout, which means that, even though she grows to depend upon Gareth, he can't do the same with her, and so he has no one to heal him in turn. Never Deceive a Duke was very readable, (despite my complaint about the obsessive repetition of Antonia's name,) with a great hero, and an interesting mystery. The romance though, was a bit of a disappointment.

I had ordered this book, Never Deceive a Duke prior to my read of Never Lie to a Lady. Upon reading Lady, I worried a bit that I may be disappointed with Duke as I felt Lady was a little drawn out (although still enjoyable). But this book does not disappoint for a minute! What I love most is the unique characters. These are not the types I have come across in the dozens of other "Regency Era" romances. I would say they are outside of the box of typically leads. The story is the 2nd in the series and revolves around Gareth Lloyd, part owner of Neville Shipping, who suddenly learns he is the last heir to the title of duke of Warneham. Also left to his care is the young widow, Antonia, of his much older cousin - the former Duke of Warneham. As you read through this story, you learn about the deep, tortured pasts of Gareth and Antonia, as they struggle through their own growing fondness for each other. Offsetting the often painful and serious traumas they both experienced is Kemble, the flamboyant but clever informant/investigator introduced in Never Lie to a Lady. He is trying to solve the mystery of the death of Gareth's cousin as Antonia is gossiped to may have a part in it. The plot twists and turns between the restrained yet passionate romance, the unraveling painful past histories, and the detective work of Kemble. A real page turner with great depth you'll enjoy through and through.

I loved this book. The Characters were wonderful and the chemistry between them was sizzling. Both Gareth and Antonia had horrible things happen to them in their past that left them kind of damaged, and it was nice to see them find true happiness and love in each other. I liked the previous book in the series, but I loved this one. With Never Lie to a Lady, I bought the book and regretted it because the chances of me rereading it were low. With this novel I got it through the library as a precaution, but now that I've finished I think that I will buy it and add it to my permanent collection.

Liz Carlyle is a fabulous writer who seems to continually push the envelope in terms of trauma her characters have experienced. I think on some level she is warning her audience not to get too complacent.

--Spoiler--
Each chapter begins with a memory or flashback in which we learn about the hero's past. Thanks to plenty of foreshadowing I knew what was comming: that the hero as a captured cabin boy, would be raped and abused, "prostituting" himself to survive before he escapes. However, nothing could really prepare me for how difficult it was to read about it.

Ironically, prostitution, childhood abuse and also rape are almost standard fare in romance novels. It's not where you are but how far you've come. But the horrific combination in this book were much much more difficult for me to absorb.

I appreciate everything Liz Carlyle writes, and even though this is not her best book, I still recommend it. However, this wouldn't be my choice if one were looking to "escape".

Herein lies the problem with a series. An otherwise well-written book is spoiled if you read Never Lie to a Lady in which Gareth is in love with someone else. Desperately in love. Now he's struck by moonlight madness and he becomes a different person. It takes a very talented writer to establish a character in one book and then change his stripes in another. This author didn't quite pull it off.

Two lost and damaged souls - Gareth and Antonia - find and heal each other in this second book of Liz Carlyle's 'Never' series. Ms. Carlyle is to be commended for the marvelous character development in this book.

Antonia is twice-widowed, and the trauma in her past has made her so emotionally damaged that she lives within herself. Just when we think she may have over-reacted to events (many women of that time had to deal with their husbands' mistresses, after all - and fathers were known to use their daughters as bargaining tools), we discover the full extent of the trauma that caused her to emotionally leave the world. Gareth is a reluctant duke, and we gradually find out why. I especially liked how, at the beginning of each chapter, the story of Gareth's brutal past slowly unfolds, instead of the author just telling us all at once.

I found the timing and circumstances of the first sexual encounter (I can't call that one love-making) disappointing and not really in tune with the emotional development of the characters, especially Antonia, but I nevertheless gave this book the full 5 stars because of the beauty of the rest of the story, and because I loved the character of George Kemble...

Kemble has really been an essential part of each story. Ms. Carlyle continues and expands his role in each book (No True Gentleman, Never Lie to a Lady), and he is a true joy to experience. He says that he is 'just a simple shopkeeper in the Strand', but he is lethal in a fight and he knows something about everything...or almost everything. I loved the scene where Kemble asks Mrs. Waters about "female things. I mean female, er, functions; possibly the only subject about which I know nothing." I agree with the reviewer who calls him an enigma. He is sure to appear in Kieran's story, and I look forward to what witty, fastidious Kemble will do there.

I am a huge fan of Liz Carlyle, but I have to admit that I did not enjoy her last series ("Three..."). I really enjoy her tortured heros and heroines and he witty dialogue. She is definitely not a cookie cut romance author. So I was really looking forward to her series that starts with "Never Lie to a Lady". I finished the first two books in the series, Xanthia's story and Gareth's story, this week. While I enjoyed Xanthia's story, I loved Gareth's story. So much tragedy! I won't go into the ploy except to warn those with a faint heart that there is some difficult subject matter discussed. This is definitely an "R" rated novel!

OK, Liz Carlyle has moved to my exclusive auto-buy list. NEVER DECEIVE A DUKE is a great read. Portions are humorous, portions are sensual, portions are a little "Sherlock Holmes-ish," but every portion is . . . well written. It may not be perfect, but it is a great read! The summer of 2008 will see the release of NEVER ROMANCE A RAKE, and this Carlyle fan can hardly wait.

MaryGrace Meloche