Pacto Con El Diablo

Lorimer Family & Clan Cameron #4

by Liz Carlyle

Aubrey Montford llega al castillo de Cardow con unas refe­rencias falsificadas y un niño a su cargo. El único inquilino del castillo es el viejo e irascible comandante Lorimer, un cas­carrabias alcohólico al que nadie del servicio aguanta. Con la llegada de la señora Montford como ama de llaves la situación cambia, ya que logra ganarse el afecto del coman­dante y transformar el abandonado castillo en una finca rentable.
Sin embargo, un día el comadante aparece asesinado y todas las sospechas recaen sobre Aubrey. Tras el asesinato, el joven y apuesto conde de Walrafen, sobrino del comandante, regre­sa tras largos años de ausencia al hogar de su infancia que tanto odia. Se inicia una investigación para desenmascarar al asesino y, al mismo tiempo, el joven conde descubre una intensa atracción por la extraña y reservada señora Montford. Mientras las investigaciones apuntan a Aubrey como princi­pal sospechosa, él se siente arrastrado hacia ella con una especie de pasión feroz que nunca antes había experimentado.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Fiction, British Literature

302 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2004

About the author

Dear Readers,

The awful truth about novelists is that we are mostly dull, introverted homebodies who only write in order to live our fantasies vicariously. I came to writing rather late in life, and I’m still amazed I can get paid for doing something I love, and that I get to stay home while I do it.

My favorite comedian Steve Martin once said, "I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art. But if you set out to make art, you’re an idiot." I have never tried to create art, but I do try to tell one heck of a good story. Yes, I try to write with a hot iron, while the heat of the story is in me. And I try, always, to entertain my readers.

Regards,

Liz

Reviews

[Jultri · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5
The mysterious Mrs Aubrey Montford arrived at the neglected estate of the Earl of Walrafen to apply for the position of housekeeper. She was reluctantly hired by his cranky cirrhotic uncle, in the absence of Giles Walrafen. Aubrey took on the job with great competence and confidence. She certainly was very forthcoming on estate matters and her opinions of such in her regular spirited letters to the absent Lord Walrafen. However, she was less than forthcoming with details of her past and her bountiful secrets included her young son, whom she neglected to mention during her initial application. Giles finally returned to his family's estate 3 years later after the sudden loss of his uncle under abrupt and suspicious circumstances and the aloof Aubrey became the prime suspect.

I love the instantaneous awareness they have for another, not just in the lustful physical sense like in so many other books, but on a spiritual level as well. Giles is a good man, in perfect tune with his emotions, who fought a valiant but losing battle against his sense of decency and propriety, which recognised that he was in danger of abusing his position of power by initiating a relationship with his employee. The author did a great job in showing us their internal struggles against their inevitable physical union, in fact,I wonder why it has taken me so long to read another book of hers, when I have enjoyed her other books in the past.

This book is a cut above the others however, with an absolutely captivating storyline and characters who are easy to empathise with. Giles especially is a terrific male lead, who saw things quickly for what they were and did not take long to recognise what is in his heart and who was unfailingly faithful in his belief in her, even when her multitude of deceptions and other emerging facts were threatening to undermine her innocence. He singlehandedly shows that an alpha male does not have to be one who takes and possesses but one who gives unquestionable love and stands by his lady's side as her champion and solid support when others have taken flight.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread. I'm rereading the series pretty much in order after a few years, and I'm enjoying it all even more this time around.

This one focusses on Giles, Lord Walrafen. On the surface, a cool, clever and committed politician, but in this book we get to see beneath the surface - to see some of his inner vulnerabilities. I never really warmed to him in his brief comings and goings through the earlier books, but here, he really comes into his own.

The MFC is Aubrey, a Scottish Lady who has a shady past and is now living in hiding under a false name, with her young 'son' Iain. Aubrey is housekeeper at Giles' draughty old ancestral castle in Somerset. She is a capable and competent housekeeper, and is in the process of making sure the castle is restored to something of its past glory. And when Giles visits his castle, they slowly fall in love, despite all of the secrets and barriers between them.

There are dark deeds that take place. There is the Gothic castle, mystery, murder, a missing gold watch, a building collapse, false imprisonment and more. Giles calls on his old friends Maximilian de Rohan (from No True Gentleman), and the ubiquitous George Kemble, for help. Max is a very serious policeman, whose book I also liked. Kem, who has appeared in several of the books, is his usual humorous, outrageous self, and he delivers some very funny lines.

The mystery is eventually untangled and right is restored. I'm not always good at picking up clues in these kinds of books, and as usual I didn't know who committed the crime till the writer revealed it. Other readers probably worked it out from the start LOL, but that's fine. I enjoyed the story anyway. Another very worthwhile read from this talented author.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 2 out of 5]

❌ Zero chemistry between the hero and heroine

❌ A half-baked murder plot

❌ A hero who's initially pleasantly ruthless in his pursuit of the heroine, despite her being his employee (I love the 'good boy turned bad by desire' trope) but who quickly sinks into blandness

❌ A heroine who never left blandness to begin with

And so it goes.

[Pikolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gusta esta autora ...

[OLT · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) I like this book and I hope that's not just nostalgia talking. This was the first Carlyle HR I ever read and I read it in the year it was released, so that's much more than a decade ago. After reading it, I went on to her backlist, since her first book (MY FALSE HEART) was released in 1999 and there were perhaps four other books after that one and before this.

I'll be the first to admit that the hero here is annoying at times. He's a whiner, he's self-absorbed, he feels entitled. For some reason, I didn't notice these things about him in my first read but they're pretty glaring on my reread. But I still like the story. Perhaps that's because of the heroine, although even she annoys with her failure to divulge secrets to the hero even after sleeping with him and falling in love with him. Oops. Soon I'll be talking myself into not liking this story at all. I'd better not overthink this.

But no. Carlyle writes well. There's good atmosphere and plot to her books. There's lots of chemistry between her Hs and hs. She has interesting characters and most of her HRs have a mystery involved. For a big lover of both historical romance and historical mystery, she has always been a good choice. (That is until IT happened. That is to say the year 2010 when she got into paranormal and just plain weird. Nothing past 2008 is really worth the read, IMO, and her Golden Age of HRs is 1999-2005.) And since she no longer writes, we're now into her Age of Silence, I guess.

This particular story has heroine Aubrey Montford and her son Iain living in rundown Cadrow Castle. She had been hired as housekeeper by Major Lorimer, who lives there and is an aging, emotionally-troubled war veteran and the uncle of our hero, the Earl of Walrafen. Walrafen himself has not set foot in the castle for many year, since it holds bad memories for him. He's in London, devoting himself to politics and pretending Cadrow doesn't exist. But it's difficult to put the castle completely out of his mind when that dadblasted interfering housekeeper keeps sending him nagging letters about estate matters that need attending to.

When Walrafen's uncle is mysteriously murdered, it's time for him to face his past and he shows up at Cadrow Castle. Now the story takes off, with sparks flying between H and h, frustrating secrets the h keeps to herself, and suspicions that fall upon her as the prime suspect in the murder of the H's uncle.

If you're familiar with Carlyle's early books, you'll meet up with many familiar characters. If you're not, that's not a problem. They'll just be interesting secondaries in this particular story. I was amazed at how many I was still familiar with after all these years and the story still held my interest this second time around. Its flaws hit me harder this second time and the rather long sex scenes bored me rather than titillated so I skipped over most of them, but this was a fun trip down memory lane. (And it certainly didn't hurt that it's a bargain price at the moment.)

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed for THC Reviews
I'm not sure why I haven't picked up a Liz Carlyle romance in a while, probably just because I've been too busy with review books and other novels that caught my attention. She has never yet failed to give me a great read, and A Deal with the Devil was no exception. It was a pleasure to see Giles, a character I'd really liked in A Woman of Virtue, finally get his HEA. Even though it had been a long time since I'd read one of Liz Carlyle's books, I managed to almost instantly fall right back into step with her complex character web, and really enjoyed visiting with some of the characters from her previous novels.

When the story opens, Giles is obviously still holding a tendre for his former stepmother, Cecilia, a woman who he had pursued in A Woman of Virtue and the heroine of that book. Giles does grudgingly like and respect her husband, David, but he simply never quite got over loosing Cecilia to his father, her first husband. He also holds some strong unpleasant memories associated with his father and the castle that is his family seat. When Aubrey takes over as housekeeper of Cardow and begins plaguing him with letters regarding problems at the castle, Giles tries to dismiss them as nothing but nagging, but they clearly have a deeper effect on him. The reader can almost see him beginning to fall in love with her before he's ever met her. Giles can be a bit blustery when he's upset or annoyed, but he has a very sensitive, caring side too. I really liked that he was an involved politician who truly wanted to make a difference in the lives of his fellow countrymen. Once Giles meets Aubrey, he can scarce stay away from her even though he feels rather guilty for becoming involved with his employee. What I loved and admired most about Giles was the way he always believed in Aubrey and his incredible patience in waiting for her to be ready to tell him the truth. Even when the evidence started stacking up against her and everyone else thought her guilty of murder and even when some of her lies were exposed, he never wavered in his conviction that she was innocent and had good reasons for not telling him the whole story. For me, an immutable trust like that is a very romantic thing. On top of that, he was even willing to marry Aubrey before she had told him everything, just to quell any potential gossip, in spite of what it might have done to his career and social status.

Aubrey was a very strong woman who had been through experiences so horrifying it made her desperate enough to want to work as a mere servant in a dreary old castle for a temperamental codger like Elias. She showed her intelligence by calling upon Elias to fulfill an old debt to her father, asking him to take her on as housekeeper without asking questions and wouldn't take no for an answer. Then she immediately set about remaking the castle into a place where Giles was eventually able to start feeling at home again even after so many years away and so many painful memories. Aubrey wasn't afraid to go toe to toe with Elias and then with Giles too when he arrives. She is a very caring mother to Iain, always protecting him and looking out for his welfare above all. Underneath her stoic facade though, Aubrey holds many deep, dark secrets which make her feel as if the weight of the world is upon her shoulders. When she begins to connect with Giles, Aubrey is like a sponge, soaking up all his passion and affection like a woman starving, and in an emotional way, she was. I became a tad frustrated with her unwillingness to fully trust Giles with her story or to marry him, especially when Giles proved over and over how much he believed in her and trusted her implicitly. I sort of felt like she should be giving back to him in kind, but eventually, I realized that the ordeal she had been through was so terrifying, she didn't feel like she could trust anyone but herself, and she was also trying to protect Giles from the scandal of being involved with someone like her.

Giles and Aubrey have a really beautiful relationship. I loved all of the quiet, little, getting to know you moments they shared, like in the stable during the rainstorm. When they first met, this couple had a pretty contentious relationship which made the sparks fly every time they tried to talk about almost anything, but I completely understood why each of them harbored some ill feelings toward the other. It was also an obvious sign of their underlying attraction. When they finally gave in to that attraction, their first love scene admittedly wasn't quite perfect. There were a couple of bumps in the road, but it was still one of the most beautiful love scenes I've ever read. Liz Carlyle is incredibly talented at writing hot, sexy scenes that really make the pages sizzle.

As I mentioned before, I very much enjoyed revisiting some past characters. Cecilia and David (A Woman of Virtue) were there to support Giles in his time of grief. Lady Isabel Kirton, a secondary character throughout Liz Carlyle's books was mentioned early and then popped in for a cameo during the epilogue. Max (No True Gentleman) came at Giles request and put his sleuthing skills to work investigating Elias' mysterious death. He was accompanied by the scene-stealing George “Kem” Kemble, another long-time secondary character. As always, Kem was hilarious with his fussiness, and the way he can slickly get information out of almost anyone is pure genius. No wonder they want him along on investigations.:-)

A Deal with the Devil pretty much had it all: a wonderful hero and heroine, a fabulous supporting cast, some mystery and intrigue, heart-stopping romance, and a passionate love affair. Everything simply came together to make this another great read from Liz Carlyle's fertile imagination. I can't wait to continue reading her books, so I'll have to try harder to not set her aside for so long next time.

Note: Ms. Carlyle's didn't used to officially consider her books as series, but recently she began grouping them together on her website. A Deal with the Devil is now listed as book #4 in the Lorimer Family & Clan Cameron series. However, I would advise readers that Ms. Carlyle's character web is very complex, with past and future characters popping up throughout all of her books. With this in mind, it is my opinion that the reading experience would be greatly enhanced by beginning with Ms. Carlyle's first book, My False Heart, and continuing to read them in their publication order. The entire backlist, in order, can be found on her website.

[fleurette · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason, till now, I have only read one book by Liz Carlyle which is strange because I remember I really liked it and promise myself to read other books by this author. I did it now after five years and decided upon A Deal With the Devil. My previous book The Devil to Pay was a part of completely different series.

Unfortunately, A Deal With the Devil disappointed me a bit. As much as I liked the characters, I couldn't find any real feelings between them. I mean they were talking about love but I found that strange and not so obvious. Their relationship seem somehow passionless to me, even though there were many sex scenes in the book.

I wasn't also impressed with the suspense part which was minor in fact. The answer to the question about the death of the major Lorimer was really disenchanting. And the mystery of Aubrey's past was not fully developed and introduced.

Although A Deal With the Devil was not as great as I hoped, I will definitely read other books by Liz Carlyle.

[Cbackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with this book, really, is that it wasn't written by Mary Balogh or Courtney Milan. Regency romance is a genre that's beset with class problems - in the real world, not all of those dukes and marquesses and margraves and vicomtes were champions of the working class best defined by their sense of noblesse oblige. Most authors ignore them. A few - like Balogh and Milan - tackle them head one. Carlyle, to her credit, has tried to do the latter, but the attempt comes far short.

The plot's paper-thin: Aubrey, a woman on the run with her son forges a character reference in order to get a job as a housekeeper for a crotchety but good-hearted old man at a tumbledown castle. Tragedy strikes and the ever-absent - and of course, smokin' hot, socially liberal - lord of the manor, Giles, has to return home. There's a murder investigation, which proceeds along painfully obvious lines, and a villain who never appears on the page.

In fact, oddly, this is a book without an antagonist at all. The only obstacle to the hero and heroine's happy ending, is the matter of class, and this is where the book goes quite seriously off the rails.

Our hero, upon meeting our heroine, behaves like a right ass. He's dismissive, cold, and disrespectful, because for all of her youth, beauty, and obvious skill at her work, she's a servant. Quite quickly, however, he's panting after her, and she - of course - returns his affections, and well, by then, of course, the reader has figured out how the class difference between them will be resolved, and things get tedious.

Both hero and heroine, internally and to one another, admit that as her employer and a nobleman, Giles holds immense power over Aubrey. In fact, because of Aubrey's secrets and her responsibility for her son, that power is even greater than Giles knows. Aubrey can't lose her job - and she admits to herself that she'll do whatever it takes to keep it, even if she has to sleep with him. Giles, meanwhile, alternates between guilt that he's essentially coerced his housekeeper into bed and anger if she alludes to the fact that he has done so. In fact, at one point, he wants to slap her for pointing it out.

And that, you see, is when this book was done for me. Not literally - I finished it - but I really hoped that some additional stonework would collapse, crack Giles over the head, and leave Aubrey free to marry someone (anyone, really) else. Because the truth is that yes, Giles' power over Aubrey is vast. If she says no, he can fire her (and does threaten to do so at one point), and she and her child will be homeless. Or in the alternative, if she says no, he can rape her. And who would come to her aid, particularly given her past? For a painful, but far more realistic look at how this would actually have gone down, I'd point you to Courtney Milan's novella "The Governess Affair," in which a raped and impregnated governess, fired by her employers for the sin of being victimized by a visiting noble, battles her legally and socially untouchable rapist to win financial protection for her unborn child.

We're supposed to think that this is okay, because Aubrey really does want to sleep with Giles, deep down. This is a common romance trope, and one that Courtney Milan quite neatly explodes in yet another of her novellas, "This Wicked Gift". The hero, having blackmailed the heroine into sex, is shocked to realize after the fact that she actually wanted him. As the heroine points out, however, the hero didn't dishonor her, but he believed that he did, "and so dishonored [him]self."

The hero's sin is not in the sex - which the heroine wanted - but in the fact that he manipulated her into sleeping with him, knowing that she couldn't say no, and knowing that she was, as he puts it, "reluctant." Her secret consent doesn't absolve him - if we weren't privy to her POV, this would look a like a bullying rich man abusing a servant. The fact that we *are* privy to his - and therefore, to his anger at her for mentioning the class difference, his desire to strike her, and the fact that he considers not just manipulating her into bed, but ordering her there - only makes it worse.

[_inbetween_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

As mentioned in previous reviews, I will change the stars later in some cases to reflect on other books read. I just couldn't say "I liked it", so currently it stays at the 1 star, since it was as unpleasant a read for me as most her writing now.

The story starts as a mix of her earlier "Woman Scorned" (unfairly maligned woman protects small boy child) and Beverley's "Dragon's Bride" (beautiful young housekeeper in remote castle he inherits), which all in all was ok. But when employer Walraven forces heroine into sexual relations, I was sickened, not just by the tame lines "Open your mouth" and other parts; there is much worse in most other romance, where "possession" is wildly popular; there is no comparison to Devereux or Hunter, this is no rape, but the very "goodness" of the hero and eventual arousal of her made the smug coercion worse for me, hypocritical hero and hypocritical author.

Since the woman is "unexpectedly" - of course - a virgin, he then suddenly thinks he has to marry her, but that was pretty much already the end of the book, because for the other half of it they just drag along with her not telling him the truth, which necessitates recurring guest-stars Max and Kemble to travel to Scottland, and as fun as a line or two were, Carlyle really sunk to Mills and Boon with the little boy and her martyrdom though.

See my review for "No True Gentleman" for the schizophrenic veering between sexual extermes to satisfy - readers? The sex here is still that herontop,toughingherself thing Carlyle uses each time now, but only described once, then more frequent ,but offstage, though told of all the more flowery, incl. idiocies that unwed innocent Aubrey knows better than most how precious talking afterwards is; but at least the proper politician hero doesn't keep thinking how good and honourable she is all the time (just the usual I-have-to-be-inside-you-now).

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liz Carlyle brings us Giles' story who we met in A Woman of Virtue. He is a very lonely man with a heart that has been broken, mostly by his father. He is a lord and politician residing in London as he has nothing but tormented memories of his isolated castle estate. His war veteran Uncle resides there and has hired a new housekeeper, Aubrey Montford along with her young son.
When he gets a message that his uncle has been murdered, he goes to the family estate and meets Aubrey. The sparks soon fly between them, but Aubrey is not who she seems to be and she is also suspected of the uncles murder. Lots of twists and turns with a fabulous romance!! I was not disappointed!!

[EmpK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to 3.5 than 4.

This is a really well written book about a housekeeper harboring a secret (aren't they always?) and the master of the house, Earl of Walrafen. He's a liberal Tory and obsessive politician who returns to his much hated Castle Cardow, because his uncle has died (or was he... MURDERED?!)

Anyway, the murder mystery is well paced; if you've read the other books you'll recognize the investigators who come help to solve it (including Kemble, who is so smart and hilarious).

I'm not sure how I feel about Walrafen. On the one hand, he's a good man, and supposedly a great politician. However, what we see mostly in this book is the guy obsessed with bedding and (wedding!) his housekeeper.

Aubrey's secrets and what she does to harbor them made sense to me by the end, and I completely understood why she does what she does. Still-- I find her mouthiness to Walrafen early in the book to be ridiculous, considering she's at his mercy to live in that house. Also this constant "I MUST KEEP THIS SECRET" struck me as exhausting. That was all we had to keep the plot moving.

A good 40% of the book is him trying to get her to marry him/reveal her secrets, her saying no, and them having sex. It sort of makes sense (head versus heart, wanting someone even as you don't fully trust him/her).. and frankly only in Romancelandia does this type of issue resolve itself. But even so, a lot of what makes him attractive in the first half, dissipated a bit for me in the second. And Aubrey on the whole-- eh. She's good at her job, she has to keep her secrets, she likes sleeping with him. I wonder if this book would have benefited from a longer epilogue. Somehow it felt abrupt to me.

[Ladiibbug · Rating 5 out of 5]

#2 Devil trilogy - Historical Romance

Giles, Lord Walrafen & Aubrey Montford

Aubrey, a widowed housekeeper with a young son -- or so she claims -- finds a position at an isolated estate. Her employer is a difficult and reclusive elderly man, who wants only to drink himself to death in peace, thus leaving Aubrey to manage the Castle and estate holdings. With so many secrets, this arrangement fits Aubrey quite well.

When Giles, the nephew, returns from London, however, her anonymous and neatly ordered world is endangered. Giles is an important politician, and cannot overlook a murder which occurs on the estate. The investigation threatens Aubrey's carefully constructed cover story and exposes a few of her lies ...

Liz Carlyle delights me with the continual high quality of her writing ... the more of her I read, the more of her I WANT to read
:-). Talk about a Desert Island author -- Liz would top my list!

[Shabby Girl ~ aka Lady Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this book, starting out with the letters the heroine wrote to the hero. Cracked me up a beauty! I loved the romance which was hot and the mystery kept me interested. To be honest quite often mysteries in my romance annoy me, but I liked this mystery and the outcome very much. My fave Liz Carlyle book so far...still got a few to go!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed seeing Walrafen again, and I was happy with the heroine and the setting. But the real star of the show, as always, was George Kemble -- I wonder if we'll ever be progressive enough as a society that we'll get a book with Kemble as the hero?

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favs. Giles was a prig for way too long and Aubrey kept her distrust of Giles too long. Some parts of the books left a bad taste in my mouth and just didn't work for me.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aubrey Montford and Lord Walrafen. Pub March 2004.

[Virginpat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitigée entre 3 et 4 mais plutôt 3

[Cruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author: Liz Carlyle
First published: 2004
Length: 375 pages
Setting: Regency, Somerset.
Sex: Frequent and very explicit. Somewhat aggressive. Questionable consent given the power imbalance and her fears.
Heroine: on the run. Was imprisoned and whipped for a crime she did not commit. Leaves her fearful.
Hero: Parents were distant, father controlling. Needs to be loved.
Trigger: Suicide. Hero's mother may have killed herself (she was despondent). Death of uncle.

An interesting story with a strong romance which struggles with the power imbalance. Giles uses his higher power to "force" Aubrey into his bed - and it really isn't that honourable.

I believe in their love. I know they'll get a HEA.

I just feel they jumped the gun and it wasn't right.

On top of that, Giles and Max were really bad investigators. You know she has a Bible which contains personal letters. Surely, given all you've already done, you might take a little peek to avoid a month long trek through a wintery countryside? I know it's wrong. I know Giles wants to have faith in her. But really. It would have saved lots of time and angst.

It's an interesting, unusual story that could have been better.

The Rutledge Family:
Beauty Like the Night - Cam Rutledge & Helene de Severs
No True Gentleman - Catherine & Max de Rohan
The Devil You Know - Bentley & Frederica d’Avillez
The Bride Wore Scarlet - Anaïs de Rohan & Geoff Archard, Lord Bessett

The Lorimer Family and Friends
My False Heart - Elliot Armstrong, Lord Rannoch & Evangeline Stone
A Woman Scorned - Jonet Cameron, Lady Mercer & Cole Amherst
A Woman of Virtue - Cecilia Lorimer & David, Lord Delacourt
A Deal With the Devil - Giles, Lord Walrafen & Aubrey Montford
Wicked All Day - Zoe Armstrong & Stuart, Lord Mercer

References:
Author's website: http://www.lizcarlyle.com/books_dealw...

(ISBN 0-7434-8877-6)

-CR-

[Oleta Blaylock · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this story we finally get to read about Giles Lorimer's, Earl of Walrafen, happily ever after. I have been hoping for this book for some time. Giles has seemed so sad and lonely since Cecilia married David Branthwaite, Viscount Delacourt. There was no indication of where Lord Walrafen’s home estate was since there has been no mention of it in the earlier books. I learned why in this story. I guess with the sad and angry memories that Giles has of the place I wouldn’t want to go there either. It is hard to read parts of this story because of the things we humans will do for power, greed and obsession. Giles is an honorable man that wants to make things better for the lower classes. He knows that if something isn't done then there will be revolution (that is never spelled out in the story but it is hinted at). While I wasn’t happy with the way that Giles neglected his home estate he does come around to liking much more when seeing through Aubrey’s eyes.

Aubrey Farquharson a/k/a Aubrey Montford as she is known throughout most of the story is quite the unusual woman. She has done what she must to save her nephew. She hides away in a remote estate in England hoping to get sometime for her nephew, Iain, to grow and be able to claim his title. Aubrey is very intelligent and hardworking. She is also a perfectionist with all that she does. She is also scared of anyone finding out who she is and sending her home where she and her nephew would be in grave danger. I was glad that she finally trusted Giles with her secret.

We get to see Lord and Lady Delacourt, Max de Rohan or Lord Vendenheim as he is referred to now and George Kemble. I had a good laugh at some of the scenes with George and Max as they travel north in search of Aubrey true identity. There are also some very sad moments when Giles is saying good bye to his beloved uncle. I was very glad that Ms. Carlyle was so sympathetic toward soldiers and what they sacrifice in the execution of their duty to keep us free. While I will probably always enjoy her books this book has solidified her on my must buy list for words Aubrey says to Giles about soldiers. As always Ms. Carlyle’s talent for character and plot line development shine throughout this story giving us the readers a fast paced and enjoyable book.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Widow on the run with young child finds job in a country house doing for crabby old drunk with a heart of gold. Old guy dies a suspicious death and handsome, brooding nephew shows up to investigate. Housekeeper is prime, but prime what? Steamy.

But how these series books usally work is that there is a romantic couple in the first book but we are also introduced to the bride's sisters or the groom's battle buddies. Then in the second book one of the characters we've been introduced to as a minor character in the first book, gets to be a major character in the next book. I like Kemble a lot but how does he fit into this pattern?

[adoree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce livre, c'est le livre que je relis régulièrement. Je découvre ou redécouvre cette histoire à chaque lecture. Mais qu'a-t-il donc de spécial? Une belle trame. Une intrigue qui se tient et que ne prend pas trop de place. j'aime l'attraction entre les héros. Je suis ce type de lectrice a qui une seule phrase, un seul moment suffit à faire aimer un livre. J'aime comment débute le récit. J'aime les imperfections du héros. Le caractère dur de l'héroïne. J'ai adoré les personnes secondaires. Vraiment les acolytes du comte valent le détour.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. Heroine has escaped hanging for a crime she didn’t do, stolen a child to protect him and hidden out as a housekeeper for the Earl of Walrafen at the family seat he never visits. She looks after his uncle there, but when the uncle dies, the earl must finally go home and deal with the funeral and the accusation that the heroine may have murdered his kinsman. Very good story, up to Carlyle’s usual standards.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une romance très réussie, donc j'avais encore rien lu de cette auteure mais je compte bien changer cela. Une très belle plume, une intrigue passionnante qui prend une grande place avec presque une petite touche de roman gothique. L'histoire d'amour est très belle avec beaucoup de passion et de sentiments. Seul petit bémol, je n'ai pas trop aimé la façon dont les héros se rapprochent, pas assez romantique pour moi. Sinon ce livre aurait eu 5/5.

[Mary Vilarino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book a three star rating because I really liked the heroine especially in the first part of the book. The hero I found annoying and not very likeable. For a man who was proud of his integrity his early treatment of Aubrey left something to be desired.

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

FINALLY FINISHED. I hated Giles in the beginning. I know some people like the demanding character that he was, but that makes me uncomfortable. And Aubrey keeping all these secrets - like guuurl, you're in a deep puddle.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The men from the home office series

[Kindaangelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love love love Liz Carlyle!....she writes a great book and keeps you interested thru out.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

was pretty good. this was a re-read for me.

[Frances · Rating 1 out of 5]

A deal.....

I had a real problem with the seduction descriptions in this book. Some of it crossed the line into rape. The plot was over thought. The hero was an ass.

[Dawn]

I really liked the story-line in this novel