Rating: 
Summary: Not Her Best Work.....
Review: Lady Catherine Wodeway, who is lonely since the loss of her husband almost two years prior, leaves her country home for London to spend time with her aunt. Her difficulties sleeping lead her to take early morning rides in Hyde Park where she runs into Maximilian de Rohan, a darkly arresting Italian magistrate investigating police corruption and the recent murder of a countess. Once they become involved, she helps with the investigation and ends up in the clutches of the murderer.First, on the positive side, Ms. Carlyle is an excellent storyteller. Her writing is smooth and seamless and this book shows that talent. I liked the well-developed characters of Catherine and Max, as well as his crafty, Tarot card reading grandmother, Signora Castelli. Overall, I liked the murder mystery which will leave you guessing almost until the end. (I had an idea on the culprit, but certainly didn't figure out the whole story.) The love scenes were intensely erotic. Now for the negative. The book was too long - 447 pages. That's a good 100 pages more than the usual. There are a lot of characters in this book, and it felt like they were all introduced in the first couple of chapters. This left me confused initially, although I did eventually sort them all out. Catherine and Max weren't together all that much in the first half of the book, which left me wondering how they had managed to fall in love. There seemed to be more focus on the murder mystery, rather than the love story, and I had to force myself not to skip ahead. Apparently this is one book in a series about the Rutledge family. I have already read, "The Devil You Know", which was written after this one. It focuses on Catherine's bad boy brother, Bentley, and is one of my all time favorite romance novels. As for this one, I agree with a previous reviewer. If you predominantly like mysteries with romance as secondary, read it, otherwise I'd skip it to read "The Devil You Know".
Rating: 
Summary: No True Gentleman brings a hot and earnest romance
Review: Maximilian de Rohan is no true gentleman. It doesn't matter when widow Lady Catherine Wodeway is no true lady either. Liz Carlyle's latest historical romance captivates for its sheer audacity of the two protagonists who cataclyzes the passion and chemistry to a saturation point in this regency-era intrigue. Set in 1826 London, Westminister magistrate Max de Rohan gets unwittingly embroiled in a murder case. His friend, Lady Delacourt has enlisted his assistance to unearth the culprit behind her sister-in-law Lady Sands's death. A sapphire heirloom is stolen - and shadows of paranoia begin to surface when potential felons in the form of a cuckolded Harry Markham-Sands and her clandestine paramours are under investigation. Max finds himself dealing not only with internal affairs but affairs of the heart when he meets Lady Catherine Wodeway. The desire and chemistry between them is spontaneous and threatens his sanity. He considers himself inferior for the noblewoman and clutches Lord Chesterfield's Fine Gentleman's Etiquette as a bible. Yet Catherine's refreshing honesty and passion will penetrate his darkest secret and hopefully summon his love - before the killer gets to her first. No True Gentleman sees Ms. Carlyle at the peak of her craft and characterization. Judiciously using Max's grandmother tarot-card play as a dread-inducing prologue, she blends in delicious red herrings to intensify the mystery-murder drama. Yet all is secondary to the top-notch romance between the darkly brooding Max and the impassioned Catherine that burns the page up with sizzling passion and searing poignancy. She develops Max with vulnerability and desire to be accepted despite his flawed past. True - Max may be no true gentleman, but he may take pride in the fact that he clinches my choice as this year's true romance hero.
Rating:
Summary: Not quiet as good...
Review: Maybe I was expecting too much, but since her first four novels bowled me over, I was absolutely delighted to see another Carlyle novel in the bookstore...
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found the heroine a bit of a twit, the plot a little light...and I did not like Max's manipulative grandmother.
However, as always, Carlyle's heroes are strong without without being overbearing and she definately knows how to write very steamy love scenes.
I also was delighted by the use of Italian phrases (including the helpful and non-intrusive translations). It made Max more "real".
I especially like the feeling of continuity from one novel to another, especially with the usage of the very amusing Kemble...however, I do hope that instead of focusing on Bentley for the next novel...how about the very intriguing Major Matt Winthrop from My False Heart? (that is the novel where Kemble was 1st introduced...) Carlyle definately left a huge question mark concerning the Major...
Basically, No True Gentleman is a good book and it's worth the read...but right now, I can't see it as a great one. But it's also worth keeping to try again later.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice balance of romance and mystery - great leads
Review: My first book by this author was a very enjoyable read - 4 1/2 stars. Great mystery and lead characters in Catherine and Max. I liked her a lot - country widow newly arrived in London for that change of scenery she needs to start living again. She's curious, spunky and just slightly more polished and conventional than Max, though he refuses to see it. For she is a lady and he, well . . . Maximilian De Rohan is of Italian, Spanish and Alsace blood and came to England as a 16 year old refugee from the Napoleonic wars. His home destroyed, his father murdered and suffering survivor's guilt, he makes a life for himself in London as a runner and then a river policeman and now as a magistrate for the Home Office. While working a police corruption case, he covertly observes Catherine on her morning ride in Hyde Park and admires her from afar. But when she unwittingly gets too close to his quarry, he pulls her into a kiss so that neither will be identified. And with that kiss, a romance is begun that she is all too willing to pursue, but that he fights. The last thing he wants is to be used to warm some rich widow's bed - he's been down that road before. But a murder investigation involving mutual friends brings them together and though Max is wary of Catherine and her motives, he is also falling fast under her spell. When his meddling, tarot card-reading grandmother meets Catherine, she is sure that she is "the one", but Max bluntly tells her to butt out (and of course she ignores him!). While Catherine is uncomfortable and a bit disturbed by what the cards revealed, she is determine to prove to Max that she cares for him and that his station in life means little to her. As Max slowly lets his guard down and starts to trust Catherine, she becomes more involved in the investigation and ultimately stumbles onto a key piece of evidence and into serious danger. Can Max save her? Will they have a future together? Read this book and find out! Lots of great secondary characters - Constable Sisk, the fastidious and witty George Kemble, Max's grandmother, Catherine's aunt, street urchin Nate (not to mention Max's dog Lucifer) all added to the story. They all serve to show Max that a man who engenders such loyalty from such disparate people could also deserve the love of a wonderful woman - no matter what anyone else thinks!
Rating:
Summary: Nice balance of romance and mystery - great leads
Review: My first book by this author was a very enjoyable read - 4 1/2 stars. Great mystery and lead characters in Catherine and Max. I liked her a lot - country widow newly arrived in London for that change of scenery she needs to start living again. She's curious, spunky and just slightly more polished and conventional than Max, though he refuses to see it. For she is a lady and he, well . . . Maximilian De Rohan is of Italian, Spanish and Alsace blood and came to England as a 16 year old refugee from the Napoleonic wars. His home destroyed, his father murdered and suffering survivor's guilt, he makes a life for himself in London as a runner and then a river policeman and now as a magistrate for the Home Office. While working a police corruption case, he covertly observes Catherine on her morning ride in Hyde Park and admires her from afar. But when she unwittingly gets too close to his quarry, he pulls her into a kiss so that neither will be identified. And with that kiss, a romance is begun that she is all too willing to pursue, but that he fights. The last thing he wants is to be used to warm some rich widow's bed - he's been down that road before. But a murder investigation involving mutual friends brings them together and though Max is wary of Catherine and her motives, he is also falling fast under her spell. When his meddling, tarot card-reading grandmother meets Catherine, she is sure that she is "the one", but Max bluntly tells her to butt out (and of course she ignores him!). While Catherine is uncomfortable and a bit disturbed by what the cards revealed, she is determine to prove to Max that she cares for him and that his station in life means little to her. As Max slowly lets his guard down and starts to trust Catherine, she becomes more involved in the investigation and ultimately stumbles onto a key piece of evidence and into serious danger. Can Max save her? Will they have a future together? Read this book and find out! Lots of great secondary characters - Constable Sisk, the fastidious and witty George Kemble, Max's grandmother, Catherine's aunt, street urchin Nate (not to mention Max's dog Lucifer) all added to the story. They all serve to show Max that a man who engenders such loyalty from such disparate people could also deserve the love of a wonderful woman - no matter what anyone else thinks!
Rating:
Summary: Great read!!!
Review: 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:
Summary: Mystery takes over the romance
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding - Nothing Less than 5* Will Do
Review: This book can definitely stand alone, but if you have read some of her previous novels - and shame on you if you haven't - you are reintroduced to Maximillian de Rohan, bow street runner, who has now been promoted to the home office, along with some of the other very colorful characters from previous stories. While shadowing some nefarious people in the act of questionable activities, Max keeps running into this very beautiful early morning rider, whose habit of riding seems always to be intefering with his job. He would rather not run into her every morning but is intrigued. The widow Lady Catherine Wodeway, has decided that her mourning period is over and has been consdering a lover but definitely, she is not going to fall in love. Both of these arrogant, independent people just keep running into one another, (literally) and the sparks they do fly! Again, in this Carlyle novel - you have the very humourous and witty dialog, between Catherine and Max and some very HOT sexual encounters! - Oh, and did I neglect to add that sandwiched in between - you are going to meet an interfering - not to be trifled with Italian grandmama looking for some grandbabies? Funny as well as an exciting mystery! Great reading - a real keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Mystery, romance, and discovery
Review: This delightful historical romance looks at the clash between social expectation, family expectation, and individual goals. It plays with the separation between a recognized lady and a gentleman who is fighting for his ideals in the disreputable realm of the policeman. And it also takes a look at the life of a second-generation foreigner, working for a spot among people and traditions that are not his own. It is 1826 in London. Maximilian de Rohan is the expatriate, working to stop corruption for the Home Office, both feared and respected by the police and a man who avoids society like the plague. He is plagued by a society lady who rides and walks too early and alone in the park he is staking out; and he is drawn unwillingly into society affairs in his efforts to solve the murder of a friend's wife. Lady Catherine Wodeway is the widow who keeps passing Max in the park and a friend of the family who have suffered the murder. Catherine has come to town to decide what to do with her life; her husband has been dead for long enough that she is not sure she remembers what he looked like. She does not want to be alone for the rest of her life, but on the other hand she fears that she is barren. Catherine and Max continue their turbulent courtship through encounters with Max's imperious Tarot-reading Italian grandmother, with criminals, various riff and raff, members of society, Catherine's dissolute brother, and the actual murderer. You will come to love many of the characters, especially Max and Catherine, as they struggle with tangible and intangible problems between them. No True Gentleman makes its way to its conclusion at a quick and even pace (and in more than four hundred pages, it's good to read a book that doesn't lag), and it maintains a realistic historical feel throughout. Add in the wonderful characters, the reasonable murder plot, and the timeless emotional problem of self-discovery, and this is a gem.
Rating:
Summary: slow out of the gate
Review: This was my first Liz Carlyle novel and I was a little disappointed. The book was a slow start for people who were not familiar with her characters from previous novels. I felt like I needed some kind of program to remind me who everyone was and their relationship to each other. Perhaps I would have been more enthralled if I read her books sequentially. If you are a Liz Carlyle fan this would be a nice treat, for new readers of this author I suggest perhaps reading her other books first.
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