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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good, satisfying story, July 31, 2000
As this story opens, the arrogant and lecherous sixth Marquis of Mercer, Henry Rowland, meets his Maker in an unexpected and untimely fashion. Months later, his embattled young widow Jonet, suspected but never proven to have murdered him, is desperate. Unexpected accidents befall herself and her two young sons, and she has surrounded herself with as many trustworthy servants from her native Scotland as she can find. However, she must resume their education and some semblance of normalcy - she cannot put this off any longer - and she undertakes to hire a tutor. Her co-guardian, who is unfortunately also her late husband's brother, would like nothing more than to prove her an unfit mother, and he endeavors to place his nephew, Captain Cole Amherst, into her household as both tutor and informant, to bolster his plans to seek sole custody of the boys. The Captain, who knows all too well what the boys would face if left to his uncle's rearing, agrees only to the role of tutor. For much of the first part of the book, he struggles with his ambivalent attraction to the widow Jonet, as well, until it becomes clear to all that her fears for her children are well-founded. Both Jonet and Cole flounder in a sea of dark uneasiness and sexual tension, not knowing where to focus their suspicions and neither sure of the other's affections. An unexpected but well-written household catastrophe finally galvanizes Cole to action, and and in the process, forces he and Jonet to deal with their feelings for one another. Secrets spill out fast and furious, mysteries and minds unravel, and the reader is left with the sensation of having read a solid, satisfying story. LC's plot contained just the right amount of suspense for me, keeping me a little impatient and stringing me along to find out more. Every time I thought I had a character figured out, she'd also write a little twist that would throw me off. The characters are also prone to introspection, and Cole comes off as more likable than Jonet, but I have to say that she never stepped out of character - a lady toughened and made cynical by a loveless match to a man twice her age, she is something of a contrast to Cole, the scholar and cleric who found something unexpected in himself when he became a soldier. I delighted in LC's literary technique of introducing each chapter with a synopsis statement, as if we were watching a play unfold. It's nice to read a work of this genre in which as much attention is paid to the prose, as is to the sex. There are some very erotic and explicit scenes later in the book as Cole and Jonet's relationship deepens, although the tension is offset by some unexpected humor. If you are offended by them, skip them. Overall, this is a book I'd gladly recommend to others, and I look forward to reading more of LC's work.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Reader Well Pleased, October 25, 2001
I was most certainly not disappointed with Liz Carlyle's second novel. How refreshing to find an author who does not assume her readers are either immature or ill-informed. I appreciate that Liz Carlyle does meticulous research and makes every effort to ensure the peripheral details in her work are spot on. I was well entertained although I had figured out "whodunit" well before the denoument of the book. What draws me to LC's work are her well-drawn characters whom she lets play out a story in fully believable settings. Without patronising her readers, she sketches out men and women who are troubled, driven, passionate and emotional. The psychological implications are there for the scrupulous reader to pick up and consider. I won't go over the plot - others have done this very well. I won't "defend" the S&M scene to those who found it offensive. I have seen a lot of discussion about it here and elsewhere. However, I thought it fit into the story, fit into the mood, fit into the profile of the characters she had built. Cole Amherst is riven by internal conflict - the drive towards good (and he is an inherently good man) and the pull towards straying from his chosen path really are what the book is about. Therefore, that particular scene, which I thought was very exciting and well written, only add to his internal conflict as he "acts out" some of this with Jonet who loves him enough to allow this within the context of their loving relationship. Jonet is a strong woman; some of the readers who did not like her perhaps miss the point that she was srong as a result of her insidious and deeply rooted fears. A woman who has been used, particularly as she was by her father, may react in a different way from one who has been lovingly cherished by her parents. The other sex scenes were, in my view, excellent without detracting from the story line and I thought they were beautifully written. All in all, a tour de force. This is not an easy novel to read; it requires that the reader grow along with the characters and experience the torment they must endure to grow together. You feel, at the conclusion of the novel, that this couple fully deserve the ecstatic happiness they appear to have found together. I look forward to reading Beauty Like the Night and A Woman of Virtue.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best hero I've seen for awhile..., June 16, 2004
This is only the second Carlyle book that I have read but I think that I might have stumbled across another must-read author. Her characters are richly portrayed, unique, dramatic, troubled, and highly interesting. I found that her story plot was well formed even though the 'villian' is easy to spot. I really enjoyed that the two main characters were so well matched for eachother. Despite their sizzling dislike which is used to mask how much they really are drawn to eachother they still managed to trust and show genuine concern for the other. I enjoyed that the characters remained uniquely themselves despite the rough past and the sterotypes that they had lived through. The children were an added bonus - fun, sweet, and entertaining. I would have liked to understand more of their emotions, fears, concerns etc. after they became a couple. It seemed as if the transition between enemies and lovers was too abrupt. I was not even for sure that they trusted eachother and then they were spouting off I love you. It felt a little rushed and not very fulfilling. This is my only complaint to a truly worthwhile read. About the light bondage scene, even though I'm sure that scene portrayed is too mild to even call it that. It was enjoyable for both parties, it was fun, they laughed, teased, and giggled through the whole thing not at all violent, harsh, or cruel for either party. Very in-step for their relationship progression. Does not take away from the book at all in my opinion. Overall a wonderful story with a great mix of romance and mystery. Dramatic but not too heavy. Highly recommended - where can I find the other books by this author?
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