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Title: No True Gentleman by Liz Carlyle ISBN: 0-7434-3784-5 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2002 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.44 (18 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great read!!!
Comment: Serious and determined characters, thoughtful plot and interesting reading. I have yet to read one of Ms. Carlyle's books and be disappointed. I have always favored deep plots and deep characters. Both are present in this book and although this is loosely part of a series of books, it stands perfectly well on its own. Catherine, our heroine, is honest and down to earth in her outlook, as are most of Ms. Carlyle's heroines. She was happily married and then widowed and memories force her to a change of scenery. She loved her husband, but it was time to move on. Practical, and what I would consider realistic in her thinking, Catherine really doesn't want to get married, but if an interesting lover should happen to fall at her feet, she wouldn't be adverse to that either.
Max, whom the reader would have met in Ms. Carlyle's other books is a truly interesting and multi-faceted hero. Many times in romance books, I find that the hero is lacking in depth because the (usually) female author can't seem to get into their psyche. Not so with Max. He comes from wealth and even some nobility in his background, but forever considers himself No True Gentleman and lives life simply. He is a police officer (well, that is how he sees himself, though Catherine and others might differ). This is probably the only sticking point for me and why I only gave the book 4 stars. He is so sure that he is outside of society and thus no good for Catherine that after a while I got bored with that excuse. If she didn't care, than what difference did it make? Besides the fact, he DID have a title in his own right, it was just French.
In any event, I enjoyed the plot and the characterizations. Where I usually find strong heroines an anomaly (a 20th century woman placed in the 19th century), Catherine felt true to her time. A little unconventional, since she was willing to go outside the rules and probably be shunned, but realistic. She realizes what her "limits" are and would decide to break them or not. Enjoy this one!
Rating: 5
Summary: Finally, a historical romance about real adults!!!
Comment: This was my first novel by Ms. Carlyle, and I will definitely read more of her works. I had grown oh so tired with historical romances, because they inevitably involve immature, hand-wringing (yet supposedly admirable) heroines, and chest-thumping, ridiculously macho heros. Therefore, reading No True Gentleman was such a breath of fresh air. I loved the fact that both Catherine and Max had some life experience, and therefore approached each other from a more mature perspective. Even though the main characters were grappling with the expected insecurities that come with new-found physical attraction, the author didn't resort to the typical stupid misunderstandings, or incomprehensibly meanspirited behavior that is too-often used to keep the plot moving. I also loved that Catherine was mature and so very honest with Max and herself about her growing attraction to him. Now that's a real woman!! Although I suppose some may have thought that too much time was given to the mystery, and not enough to the romance, I actually liked the fact that the mystery was interesting, and progressed in a believable, logical fashion. Too often in romance/mysteries, the mystery seems thrown in as an afterthought. Perhaps a little more time could have been devoted to Catherine's and Max's romantic relationship, but I thought it progressed in a believable fashion. This one was definitely worth the money.
Rating: 3
Summary: Mystery takes over the romance
Comment: The hero Max is a formidable and interesting character, though no always consistent. His eccentric relatives are a bit of a pain, and the Tarot card used to foreshadow what will happen in the rest of the book is an all too predictable plot device.
She is so in heat when she meets him that them going to bed together is simply a forgone conclusion, so overall the mystery overshadows the romance. I never really think they truly fall in love.
The mystery aspects are inconsistent, and not deliberately so, making that muddled as well. Read it for Max, but nothing else.
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Title: The Devil You Know by Liz Carlyle ISBN: 074343787X Publisher: Pocket Star Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Beauty Like The Night by Liz Carlyle ISBN: 0743410548 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 31 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: A Woman of Virtue by Liz Carlyle ISBN: 0743410556 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: A Woman Scorned by Liz Carlyle ISBN: 0671038265 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: My False Heart by Liz Carlyle ISBN: 0671040545 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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