Liz Carlyle, Two Little Lies

Two Little Lies

Liz Carlyle

Pocket, Dec 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0743496117

Because his pal Sir Alasdair MacLachan cuckolded a blacksmith (see ONE LITTLE SIN), Quin Hewitt finds himself fleeing along with his friend and his buddy's brother Merrick. They duck into a fortune teller's tent. The Gypsy informs the three hell raisers that their wicked past is catching up to them. Only Quin seems shaken by the prognostication as he thinks of his former mistress Viviana Alessandri, whom he once desired but rejected as being beneath his station as he is the heir to an earldom.

His carefree days end when his father suddenly dies leaving Quin responsible for the family estate and a weeping mother, who is driving him crazy. He decides he needs a spouse, a sensible logical woman who can take care of his mother and the servants. Suddenly his mother has stopped the crying binge becoming euphoric with the prospect of grandchildren so she throws a bash. Opera star Contessa Viviana Bergonzi di Vicenza, his former lover, attends. He still desires her and she has never stopped loving him nor has she forgiving him. However she remains beneath what he requires of a wife while she has children to care for; love does not seem to matter.

The second "Little" historical romance is an amusing tale that stars two wonderful lead characters who love each other, but he rejects her twice as being unsuitable for marriage. Quin is a rogue struggling with becoming Mr. Dependable while the reappearance of his Vivie makes that role even that much more difficult as he still desires her even as he wonders who sired the oldest of her children. Fans will enjoy this fine 1830 tale while waiting for Merrick to get his comeuppance as the third "little: hedonist.

Harriet Klausner