Liviania’s review of Never Deceive a Duke (Neville Family Trilogy, Book Two) by Liz Carlyle
Historical romance released by Pocket Star 24 Jul 07
In Never Lie to a Lady, Gareth acted the runner-up. He loved the heroine and offered her a good marriage, but Xanthia just didn’t feel for him like she did Lord Nash. Liz Carlyle guides him from being second best to the hero quite well. She starts by making him a Duke, through an inconvenient death of a man who lacked children. Of course, he didn’t lack a young and beautiful wife. Carlyle endears herself to me by not making Antonia a twice-married virgin.
For Antonia was married before the Duke of Warenham. Her first marriage traumatized her, leaving her with the urge to sleepwalk and a few mental problems. Instead of therapy her father married her to a tyrant. She’s got every right to be depressed and scarred by her past, and her emotions feel very real when she discusses her pain. Unfortunately, she’s a bit boring. I can tell you she’s beautiful and needy due to her awful past, but very little else. It stands out compared to the fullness of Gareth’s characterization.
Gareth was Gabriel, a half-Jewish bastard and despised by his English family. He was first raised in the Jewish community to know the traditions but still be an outsider. Then he came to live with his father’s family were he was treated horribly, then thrown out after a terrible accident. At this point he ended up on a pirate ship. We all know what happens to pretty boys at sea, even if Antonia doesn’t. Still, he manages to reinvent himself as Gareth with the help of the Nevilles. Inheriting the dukedom forces him to reconcile the two identities.
Meanwhile, someone wants to kill Antonia and it’s looking like the former Duke’s death was no mistake. My favorite character, George Kemble, comes to the rescue. While he and Baron Rothwell entertain me, they take over the story. In a series of humorous scenes, Kemble questions the servants who all realize what he’s up too. Humorous, entertaining . . . completely unlike Antonia and Gareth’s angst fest. They save the book by pulling the focus of the bland romance.
Overall, I enjoyed the novel. The mystery managed some surprising twists, and the characters never acted too dumb in their search for the culprit. (They did make some silly mistakes, but not enough to be bothersome.) My favorite minor characters made lengthy appearances and the hero got a nice character arc. But while the tragedy was there for Antonia and Gareth, their romantic happiness was hard to buy.
Never Decieve a Duke is the weakest in the trilogy, but still worth reading. If you’re looking for a romance that remains light while dealing with some darker issues, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
Grade: C
Summary:
They call her the porcelain princess…
With her fragile beauty and regal bearing, the Duchess of Warneham knows how to keep her admirers at a distance. Twice wed and twice widowed, Antonia has vowed never again to marry; never again to surrender her freedom. But when her husband’s death is deemed suspicious, and his long-lost heir returns to seize control of the dukedom, she finds that fate has placed her future in yet another man’s hands—but not just any man.
They call him a cold-hearted bastard . . .
Deep in London’s docklands, Gareth Lloyd runs Neville Shipping with an iron fist. Unrecognizable as the starving orphan who was abandoned by his family and sent an ocean away from home, Gareth has put his troubled past behind him. That is, until the Duke of Warneham is found dead, and Gareth turns out to be the dynasty’s last living heir. Wrenched from his solitude, Gareth neither wants nor needs the honors and obligations of nobility—especially the Duke’s all-too-tempting widow… Or does he?
Read an excerpt here.
