A Woman Scorned (Sonnet Books) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Liz Carlyle (Author) "London's spring weather was at its most seasonable, which merely meant it was both wet and chilly, when Captain Cole Amherst rolled up the collar..." (more)
Key Phrases: breakfast parlor, little roughly, Lady Mercer, Captain Amherst, Miss Cameron (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The latest from Carlyle (My False Heart) offers up a charming yet erotic Regency that entertains despite a few flaws. Jonet Cameron, the Marchioness of Mercer, is a femme fatale shunned by the ton because of her independent ways, her alleged affairs and the rumors that she killed her husband. Nonetheless, Captain Cole Amherst, a distant cousin by marriage, is persuaded to join her household to tutor her two young sons. From her reputation, Cole knew Jonet would be beautiful, but he is not prepared for the immediate attraction between them--or for her hostile temper. The two are at odds on everything except the safety of the boys, whom they fear may be harmed by the same person who killed Jonet's husband. At first, Jonet believes Cole is a spy for her obnoxious brother-in-law, but the captain soon becomes her family's champion. When attempts are made on the boys' lives, Jonet and Cole join forces to protect them; it doesn't take long before Jonet realizes that she loves Cole. She boldly propositions him, and he tries, without success, to resist. Unfortunately, the lovers cannot plan a future together until they catch a killer. Though the novel contains a jarring moment of S&M, Carlyle delivers great suspense and several sensual love scenes. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

From its opening scene to its breath-catching climax, Liz Carlyle's newest novel is a vividly etched portrait of passion and intrigue. When a woman consumed by sinister secrets opens the door to a strikingly handsome stranger, a powerful desire rushes in -- and a love she could not have imagined.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Jonet Rowland is surely that. But she is also lovely, rich, and -- it is rumored -- an unrepentant adulteress. When her philandering husband, the marquis of Mercer, is murdered in his own bed, it's whispered that Jonet is a femme fatale in more ways than one. Shunned by society, the daring widow steels herself to fight for what truly matters -- her children.

When his scheming uncle begs him to investigate the death of his brother, Lord Mercer, Captain Cole Amherst refuses. But it is soon apparent that treachery stalks two innocent boys, and Cole plunges into the viper's pit that is Jonet Rowland's life. Nothing could have prepared Cole for the lust Jonet inspires. But as danger swirls about them, he is tortured by doubt. Can an honorable soldier open his shuttered heart and let a wicked widow teach him how to truly love?

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671038265
• ISBN-13: 978-0671038267
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good, satisfying story, July 31, 2000

By	ladybug10 "ladybug10" (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

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.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reader Well Pleased, October 25, 2001

By	Susan Smith (A small rural village in the English Midlands) - See all my reviews

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carlyle's second book sizzles, July 6, 2000

By A Customer

You've got to love a heroine who knows what she wants and goes for it. In the case of Jonet, A WOMAN SCORNED's heroine, it's Capt. Cole Amherst she wants. Despite the fact that he seems to have been sent by her worst enemy to spy on her following the mysterious circumstances surrounding her husband's death, and despite the fact that the pair couldn't be more different, Jonet realizes that she needs Cole. She needs his decency, she needs his friendship, she needs the security she feels with him...and, oh yes, it doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous! Liz Carlyle turns the usual romance plot upside down by having the heroine doing the pursuing. Cole is a fascinating hero -- orphaned at 12, he was raised by a manipulative uncle. Destined to be a vicar, Cole abandoned that ambition to join the Army, in part to escape from a loveless marriage. In Jonet, he finds passion and real love. That she has two wonderful sons he was sent to tutor, but soon comes to care for deeply just makes Jonet's attraction that much harder to ignore. There's a nifty mystery in this book as well. While seasoned mystery readers may identify the culprit early on, I did not, and greatly appreciated the building tension, sexual and otherwise! Fans of MY FALSE HEART will be happy to learn that Ms. Carlyle is not a "one hit wonder." If you like your romances sweet, A WOMAN SCORNED is probably not for you. If you like them hot, then this novel is right up your alley.