Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a historical romance about real adults!!!
Review: 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:
Summary: Finally, a historical romance about real adults!!!
Review: 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:
Summary: the best book i have read this year!
Review: what else can i say? the hero in this book is tremendous. he and
the heroine are fully fleshed out people. the relationship is
fascinating and unexpected. the plot involving a murder is very
very good. for once you don't know who did the deed until the
very end (at least i didn't!) 'mysteries' in romances tend to be very throw away. this one definitely isn't! the sexual tension
is sizzling and the love scenes HOT. this is a keeper and one
i definitely will be reading again. bravo ms caryle. i look
forward to reading many many more of your books!
Rating: 
Summary: I am sorry to say that...
Review: while Mrs. Carlyle's writing abilities are flawless this book was just an average read for me and I will explain why.
This is the story of police inspector Max de Rohan (from A Woman of Virtue) and Catherine Wodeway. Max meets Catherine when she rides into the middle of an investigation he is conducting. To throw the suspects off he grabs Catherine and proceeds to give her one of those toe curling kisses that she will never forget. Afterwards, of course Max must act like a heel and insult Catherine for which he earns a well deserved slap. After this promising beginning, the story becomes predictable and dare I say it? a bit dull. Maybe it is just that I am so burned out on these murder/suspense regencies. It seems that nowadays someone must always die and our hero/heroine must go chasing the baddie that did the killing all over jolly ol' London. Whatever happened to those character-driven stories, where we got to know the hero and heroine and got to watch them get to know one another and fall in love? This is precisely my problem with this book. Not enough time is devoted to the relationship between Max and Catherine before they jump into bed. I am sure if you have read this kind of regency before you know that the baddie eventually gets killed (in this case by the hero) after he commits some nefarious act agaisnt one of the main characters (here it would be Catherine). Then quite suddenly the lovers realize that they are head over heels in love and voila.. they live happily ever after. So we are supposed to believe that in between making hot sweaty love and chasing after a bad guy they have found the time to get to know one another well enough to fall in love. Right. Well, I quite enjoyed Carlyle's My False Heart so it is with great regret that I give this book three stars. If you enjoy the suspense murder plot then I highly recommend this book. If you don't then avoid it. :)
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