Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely wonderful and deserves more than 5 stars!!!
Review: I just finished the book and I don't want it to end. Like all of Liz Carlyle's books, A Woman of Virtue is an absolutely wonderful book to read!!! The story of Lord David Delacourt and Lady Cecila Markham-Sands will tug at your heartstrings. It is a story of love lost and love found. Six years ago, David almost ruined Cecilia by almost compromising her. He offers her marriage, but our feisty heroine declines his offer. David, good looking, titled, rich but has been living a life of a dissolute rake could not fathom the idea that a woman like Cecilia would throw his offer back at his face. Now six years later they meet again, for David has lost a wager to his brother-in-law Cole (hero of Liz's previous book A Woman Scorned) and must work at his mission for 3 months while he is away in the country with his wife Jonet. To David's surprise he comes face to face with the now widowed Cecilia who also works at the mission. Still wildly attracted to each other, they try to work side by side, while trying to solve a mystery concerning a murder of one of the women who stays in the mission. Of course, the mystery in this book does not overshadow their romance. A Woman of Virtue does not have a big misunderstanding. The characters are open and very adult about their feelings for each other. David is a wonderful hero, though very tortured about his past. Cecilia is a feisty heroine who is not ashamed to share her feelings, sensual or not with David. Great secondary characters support our h/h. Hilarious Kemble, the valet, (meet him in My False Heart), Etta the lady's maid, Max de Rohan the chief inspector and of course characters from Liz Carlyle's previous books. The love scenes in this book are truly hot, but written so sensually it will warm your insides and make your toes curl with pleasure. The prose is heaven, for only Liz Carlyle can write a book and virtually transports you back in time. With her vivid descriptions she can make you feel like you are there yourself. All your five senses will be working when you read a book written by Liz Carlyle and A Woman of Virtue is definitely a book worth reading and enjoying. You will be able to feel the characters joy, sorrows and love. You will be able to see and smell the places, taste the food and wine, and hear the music playing. Don't walk to the bookstore but run for A Woman of Virtue will not disappoint, it will only leave you wanting more books written by Liz Carlyle. And like me, you will not be able to wait for her next book to come out called Lady Catherine's Fortune. Go! Buy A Woman of Virtue and read it! NOW!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Nice story, but repetitive
Review: I liked David Delacourt most of the time, but he could be overbearing and pompus, and the love scenes were so repetitive it was like the author cut and paste them from one section of the book to the next. I noticed this because of the rather gross and callous detail, which was not really sensual at all, more reminscient of an electrician who gets the shock of his life if you take my meaning.
De Rohan also threatens to overshadow David at times, and he is so lividly jealous of Betham Rutledge that I am amazed he does not go wild over Max being with his beloved.
The mystery element was ok, but anyone could have guessed who it would be from the clues she gave. The whole lurid melodramatic scene in the brothel was also a bit of a let down.
People who had not read the previous books might have had some trouble figuring out who all these people were, and why we should care. Cole Amherst as cheating vicar is probably my least favorite character after having read A Woman Scorned and this book. He too threatens to overshadow David and the family secret is overplayed. Still I liked both characters. A good way to wile away the time, and better than all the other books in the series, thoguh Max's is pretty good too.(No True Gentleman)
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!!
Review: I must confess that my first book by Liz Carlyle was A WOMAN SCORNED and that when I bought it I did it more than anything because I was intrigued by the tittle. After reading it I added a name to my list of favorite authors, because I simply loved it! Now, after reading my second book by LC I must say she just keeps getting better!! Her characters are not only real, but they come alive in the pages of her books in a way that simply makes them unforgettable. David and Cecile met at a time in which they were simply not ready to handle the possibility of what they felt for one another. He had been deeply affected by his past, and she is simply too young and imature to deal with what happened between them. She feels she must punish him, not realizing that he had inflicted enough punishment upon himself for what he had donne, and in the process they let the chance at something wonderful pass them by. After mistakes and misunderstandings, we see them mature and overcome their differences. I think what I love the most about her characters is that though to a point they may fight what they are feeling, they truly love eachother and that is the basis for the choices they make. The love scenes are lovely, the mystery is just right, and the book progresses in such a way that by the time they confess their feelings for oneanother it is exactly the perfect timing. I am definitely getting Beauty Like the Night, I am anxious to see what she can do for Hell-Bent and fo this new group of characters. After reading A Woman Scorned, I wasn't sure she could do better, I though that would be my favorite... After A Woman of Virtue, I know it would be hard to top such an excellent book, but I'm sure that if anyone can do it Liz Carlyle will!!! She really does not dissapoint.
Rating:
Summary: A STELLAR STORY
Review: Liz Carlyle gets better and better. Before this book, Beauty Like the Night was my favorite, but this one delivers more. Humor (thank you LC), mystery, a strong female lead (but not too strong), a hero to salivate over (of course), a great love story with a little seduction on the side (again, thank you LC - I love the seduction) and hot love scenes. But more than that, LC makes her secondary characters so interesting you want to know more about them. Kemble is a hoot! Where did he come from and how did he pick up so many talents? Max de Rohan (and his dog) is so interesting, you wonder where he goes and what he does after each leave taking. It's easy to spin a story around two characters and draw you into their lives, but when an author fully and lovingly developes minor characters too. . .well, you're in for a treat. Still waiting for Bentsen's (from Beauty Like the Night) story, LC!
Rating:
Summary: Carlyle is hot!
Review: Liz Carlyle's talent builds; each novel is better than the last. A WOMAN OF VIRTUE is one of the best romance novels that I've read in the last year, and Carlyle's other novels rank among those best. Unlike many romance writers, Carlyle has a mature writing style as well as well as well-developed characters and plots. All the necessary romance elements - chemical attraction between two well-drawn protagonists, a simple, but fast-moving plot, and a story line connected to previous novels - are here. Her major characters are likeable; her sex scenes are sensual. Hey, I'd give her six stars if I could!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but love scenes are terrible
Review: The main characters are likeable and though I didn't know the prequel I had no troubles getting into the plot. The story is compelling but not overly original, there are some very trite story elements in it which might annoy some readers (widowed heroine's past for example which was rather romance-stereotypical and felt very contrived). However I even liked the contrived elements in this story, it was written in a way that I could still enjoy it a lot. The couple was clearly very much in love with each other and not afraid of showing it which I always find nice. But amazon's sensuality rating of 8 and the allegedly heated love scenes, oh well, that's another rant altogether! I would have given the book a four stars review if those "love scenes" hadn't been in that book. I'm a sucker for a well-written erotic romance but that one was definitely one of the most unerotic ones I have read for quite a while. Reviewer CBDB's description of David's love-making as that of an electrician under shock is very apt indeed Outch. And there were no variations. That one really rough and almost brutal quickie where the heroine's poor head continually banged against something (just to give one aspect of David's clumsiness and callousness) occurred again and again and grated mightily on my nerves. It was the hero's only technique, obviously and he was very lucky to have such an undemanding, inexperienced partner. David seemed more to be like a pubescent, sex-starved school boy who never had a woman before in his whole life. Tenderness? Preparations? Seduction? What's that? And that man was supposed to be a rake and a skilled, famous lover? Give me a break! He must obviously have spent the six years he was separated from the heroine on a very deserted island....for a truly sensual and sexy romance try Kleypas. You won't be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: tired formlua
Review: This was my first Liz Caryle book and was not disappointed. I really enjoyed the characters. They were smart and funny. This was a really good read.
Rating: 
Summary: New author I'll be reading more of
Review: This was my first Liz Caryle book and was not disappointed. I really enjoyed the characters. They were smart and funny. This was a really good read.
Rating:
Summary: Don't stop!
Review: Wow, can Liz Carlyle write "a kiss" - three pages, and I didn't want it to stop! A Woman of Virtue and My False Heart are both robust stories, about richly textured and complex people. A wonderful story - even the subplots were interesting! Definitely don't miss.
Rating:
Summary: Don't stop!
Review: Wow, can Liz Carlyle write "a kiss" - three pages, and I didn't want it to stop! A Woman of Virtue and My False Heart are both robust stories, about richly textured and complex people. A wonderful story - even the subplots were interesting! Definitely don't miss.
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