Liz Carlyle, Never Deceive a Duke

Never Deceive a Duke

Liz Carlyle

Pocket, Aug 2007, $7.50

ISBN 9781416527152

With the Napoleonic Wars part of the history books, shipping has returned somewhat to normal. Thus part owner of Neville Shipping, Gareth Lloyd, is doing quite well. However, he soon learns he has inherited the ducal estate that has driven him to succeed in obtaining wealth. Gareth deems it acrimoniously ironic that he is now the Duke of Warneham as the previous recipient of the title, his grandfather, exiled Gareth when he was the child Gabriel to a harsh life.

He considers ignoring the title, but reluctantly visits his new country estate, Selsdon Court. There he meets his predecessor's young widow, Antonia, who some suspect poisoned her elderly husband. They are attracted to one another, but both suffer from demons and besides neither trust the other as he considers whether she is a black widow and she wonders why his family disowned him. Meanwhile she still grieves the death of her daughter while he faces the same anti-Jewish bias that sent him away as a child.

The second "Never" a fabulous late regency romance that stars two likable individuals who hide their soft interior with an acerbic armor as both learned early in life to trust no one although Xanthia and Kieran (see NEVER LIE TO A LADY) has pierced Gareth's shield as they treat him like an adored brother. The story line is fast-paced with the changing relationship between Antonia and Gabriel, as only she calls him, being the prime plot supported by an investigation into the death of the previous duke and enhanced by the religious prejudice suffered by Jews. Liz Carlyle provides a fresh historical that showcases why she is consistently one of the sub-genre's best.

Harriet Klausner