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Never Lie to a Lady by Liz Carlyle
Jul. 7th, 2009 10:45 amEngaging characters, confusing messages, not-quite-thrilling plot.
Xanthia Neville and her brother, Kieran, have recently returned to England from the West Indies, where they were raised. Kieran is committed to debauching himself to death and pretty much only hasn’t because it would make Xanthia sad. Xanthia runs their successful shipping business alongside their childhood friend-and her former lover-Gareth Lloyd. Stefan, the Marquess of Nash, is your fairly normal romance novel rake, with the added benefit of having been raised in Russia by his mother. When they meet at a ball, Nash thinks Xanthia is trying to trap him into marriage when she accidentally follows him outside for fresh air, only to decide he likes her when she forcibly corrects him. (This leads to a rather amusing scene where he asks a very drunk Kieran for permission to court her.)
Meanwhile, due to his background, Nash is suspected of treason, and Kieran and Xanthia are approached by government agents to try to see if they can get him to invite him into his smuggling ring. Or something. As “ZOMG! Lead suspected of being a spy!” plots go, this one actually didn’t work that well for me. They agree, but Xanthia (having met him several times by that point) is fairly certain Nash is innocent, and later convinced of it. The somewhat annoying spy plot is saved by Xanthia never thinking the person she was falling for was a criminal who she was trying to help hang, and for Kieran not reacting too badly when the truth comes out.
Xanthia and Nash are fairly common archetypes, but done very engagingly. And unlike most “ennui ridden rake and independent spinster” types of pairings in romance novels, Carlyle plays off their similarities and what they have in common, particularly their families and shared outsider status, instead of going for “opposites attract.” In addition, with the exception of Gareth (who’s book, it seems, is the second in the trilogy) most of the supporting characters are also very endearing. I’m especially fond of the two government agents (who seem to be carryovers from previous books, despite this being billed as the first book in a series) and Nash’s sisters.
Carlyle does give me a bit of whiplash in certain areas, though. Due to their shared history, Gareth tends to be very possessive of Xanthia, in the “your mine and if you won’t have me then you shouldn’t have anyone else” way. On one hand, Xanthia tells him to stuff it on multiple occasions. On the other, the text seems to hold this up as something that makes him oh-so sympathetic, as he’s getting shunned by the woman he loves. Then there’s things like his reacting badly to Xanthia’s relationship with Nash and Xanthia scathingly pointing out that, according to Gareth a physical relationship with him makes her property regardless of what she has to say on the matter, but a physical relationship with Nash apparently makes her a slut. But then there’s a later comment about how “strong women” want to be subjugated at least a little bit. See? Whiplash.
Xanthia Neville and her brother, Kieran, have recently returned to England from the West Indies, where they were raised. Kieran is committed to debauching himself to death and pretty much only hasn’t because it would make Xanthia sad. Xanthia runs their successful shipping business alongside their childhood friend-and her former lover-Gareth Lloyd. Stefan, the Marquess of Nash, is your fairly normal romance novel rake, with the added benefit of having been raised in Russia by his mother. When they meet at a ball, Nash thinks Xanthia is trying to trap him into marriage when she accidentally follows him outside for fresh air, only to decide he likes her when she forcibly corrects him. (This leads to a rather amusing scene where he asks a very drunk Kieran for permission to court her.)
Meanwhile, due to his background, Nash is suspected of treason, and Kieran and Xanthia are approached by government agents to try to see if they can get him to invite him into his smuggling ring. Or something. As “ZOMG! Lead suspected of being a spy!” plots go, this one actually didn’t work that well for me. They agree, but Xanthia (having met him several times by that point) is fairly certain Nash is innocent, and later convinced of it. The somewhat annoying spy plot is saved by Xanthia never thinking the person she was falling for was a criminal who she was trying to help hang, and for Kieran not reacting too badly when the truth comes out.
Xanthia and Nash are fairly common archetypes, but done very engagingly. And unlike most “ennui ridden rake and independent spinster” types of pairings in romance novels, Carlyle plays off their similarities and what they have in common, particularly their families and shared outsider status, instead of going for “opposites attract.” In addition, with the exception of Gareth (who’s book, it seems, is the second in the trilogy) most of the supporting characters are also very endearing. I’m especially fond of the two government agents (who seem to be carryovers from previous books, despite this being billed as the first book in a series) and Nash’s sisters.
Carlyle does give me a bit of whiplash in certain areas, though. Due to their shared history, Gareth tends to be very possessive of Xanthia, in the “your mine and if you won’t have me then you shouldn’t have anyone else” way. On one hand, Xanthia tells him to stuff it on multiple occasions. On the other, the text seems to hold this up as something that makes him oh-so sympathetic, as he’s getting shunned by the woman he loves. Then there’s things like his reacting badly to Xanthia’s relationship with Nash and Xanthia scathingly pointing out that, according to Gareth a physical relationship with him makes her property regardless of what she has to say on the matter, but a physical relationship with Nash apparently makes her a slut. But then there’s a later comment about how “strong women” want to be subjugated at least a little bit. See? Whiplash.
