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tsenko2's review
2.0
Once I was a fan of Liz Carlyle, but re-reading this book I didn’t like the tempermental, shrewish, nutcase of a heroine. And I didn’t like the priggish, holier than thou, stick up his butt hero. The love scenes were so bad they were almost laughable. This book hasn’t aged well. However, there are secondary characters like Delacourt and Rutledge that were more interesting than the primaries.
abbythompson's review
4.0
A great sophomore novel from Liz Carlyle! Again, she flips the traditional emotions and roles of the romance novel hero and heroines. Jonet Rowland, Marchioness of Mercer, is a feisty, temperamental, passionate woman who finds her perfect foil in the most unexpected place: the cool, studious and serious Captain Cole Amherst. Great secondary characters rounded out this book. It was gratifying to have small children in the book who weren't cloyingly cute or obnoxiously precocious. They read like real kids: the type you might babysit on a random Thursday evening.
The only flaw in this novel, as I read it, was the villain was a little too obvious. Carlyle threw a few red herrings, but not enough to throw me of the scent.
The only flaw in this novel, as I read it, was the villain was a little too obvious. Carlyle threw a few red herrings, but not enough to throw me of the scent.
chiaroscuro's review
5.0
THIS IS SO GOOD I NEED CAPS LOCK TO CONVEY HOW MUCH I LOVED IT. LIZ CARLYLE IS A GENIUS AND WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE THIS BOOK IN THE WORLD.
Where do I even start?? OK well there's the hero, Cole Amherst, oh my GOD. He's the rational, intelligent, principled man I've always wanted. He was almost a theology scholar before he became a captain in the army and quit that, ending up as a vicar. At one point he says he spends most of his free time at his club and Jonet asks which one (expecting something cool like White's or Brooks's) and Cole, the love of my life, my darling, goes, "The United Service Club and the MCC. I also belong to the London Society of Theologians, and the Philosophos Society." And Jonet! She's eminently likeable despite all the drama of being a scandalous woman, because Carlyle paints a portrait of a woman hardened but not damaged by the feather cuts of the haute ton, who loves her sons and who is suffering frankly quite terrible mental anguish — but maintains a fierce determination to live life. There's none of this "I'm scared to tell him how I feel because he might not love me back" — she just bloody does it.
Cole and Jonet's first meeting is hands down the greatest first meeting I have ever read in any romance novel ever. The attraction! The tiny fluctuations in mood and tone as they try to figure each other out! The advances and recoils as they dance around the simmering sexual tension! And then time chips away at their feelings towards each other until what is left is LOVE.
Sometimes in reviews I monologue about the nature of the central relationship to sell it as a great romance, but for [b:A Woman Scorned|36648444|Woman Scorned|Shannon Heuston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511454736i/36648444._SY75_.jpg|58420011] I don't need to because Jonet does it herself.
And also, the mystery — excellent! I like a villain with poignancy, which is exactly what this one had, and also I had a sense in my stomach of who it was, which made me feel really smart.
One tiny thing: sideline characters think of Jonet as a master seductress, and certainly she's sexually confident when she goes about winning Cole. But she never mentions actually having lovers, only receiving offers to have them. So did she or did she not? Because the geography of the novel is so small (most of it is set in one house) there's plenty of opportunity to understand the internal lives of the characters, and this works well for a romance that is built on an emotional connection rather than things in common. But the sense of who these people are in the outside world, in society, is difficult to grasp at — because they hardly venture into society.
Still, that isn't enough to stop me from whacking a great big FIVE STAR rating onto this. I'm so excited that Cole and Jonet will feature in future books because if it wasn't already clear, I LOVE THEM. The theologian and the marchioness! The bespectacled vicar and the scandalous lady! I live and die for a tale of opposites, and I was so into this one. Five stars, without a doubt. Oh my God. Tell anyone who talks shit about romance novels to read this.
Where do I even start?? OK well there's the hero, Cole Amherst, oh my GOD. He's the rational, intelligent, principled man I've always wanted. He was almost a theology scholar before he became a captain in the army and quit that, ending up as a vicar. At one point he says he spends most of his free time at his club and Jonet asks which one (expecting something cool like White's or Brooks's) and Cole, the love of my life, my darling, goes, "The United Service Club and the MCC. I also belong to the London Society of Theologians, and the Philosophos Society." And Jonet! She's eminently likeable despite all the drama of being a scandalous woman, because Carlyle paints a portrait of a woman hardened but not damaged by the feather cuts of the haute ton, who loves her sons and who is suffering frankly quite terrible mental anguish — but maintains a fierce determination to live life. There's none of this "I'm scared to tell him how I feel because he might not love me back" — she just bloody does it.
Cole and Jonet's first meeting is hands down the greatest first meeting I have ever read in any romance novel ever. The attraction! The tiny fluctuations in mood and tone as they try to figure each other out! The advances and recoils as they dance around the simmering sexual tension! And then time chips away at their feelings towards each other until what is left is LOVE.
Sometimes in reviews I monologue about the nature of the central relationship to sell it as a great romance, but for [b:A Woman Scorned|36648444|Woman Scorned|Shannon Heuston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511454736i/36648444._SY75_.jpg|58420011] I don't need to because Jonet does it herself.
He made her a better person, and returned to the some small part of the innocent girl she longed to be again. And she had dragged him from the shadows, to make him feel passion and anger and yes — love again. Oh, they were complete opposites in almost every way, but they made one another whole. Did he not feel that metaphysical symmetry — that bone-deep sense of emotional completion — as much as she did?Metaphysical symmetry! I'm going to think about that phrase every time I read a romance now.
And also, the mystery — excellent! I like a villain with poignancy, which is exactly what this one had, and also I had a sense in my stomach of who it was, which made me feel really smart.
One tiny thing: sideline characters think of Jonet as a master seductress, and certainly she's sexually confident when she goes about winning Cole. But she never mentions actually having lovers, only receiving offers to have them. So did she or did she not? Because the geography of the novel is so small (most of it is set in one house) there's plenty of opportunity to understand the internal lives of the characters, and this works well for a romance that is built on an emotional connection rather than things in common. But the sense of who these people are in the outside world, in society, is difficult to grasp at — because they hardly venture into society.
Still, that isn't enough to stop me from whacking a great big FIVE STAR rating onto this. I'm so excited that Cole and Jonet will feature in future books because if it wasn't already clear, I LOVE THEM. The theologian and the marchioness! The bespectacled vicar and the scandalous lady! I live and die for a tale of opposites, and I was so into this one. Five stars, without a doubt. Oh my God. Tell anyone who talks shit about romance novels to read this.
romancelibrary's review
4.0
"Jonet, you are a sharp-tongued shrew. But you are my shrew, and I mean to keep you safe. Long may I live to regret it."Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Jonet Rowland is a scorned woman through and through. After her husband is found murdered in their home, Jonet acquires the reputation of a femme fatale and a murderess. What society doesn't know is that behind Jonet's odd behaviour lies a woman who is angry and bent on protecting her two sons from a mysterious enemy.
Captain Cole Amherst is a religious scholar turned solider. Cole and Jonet briefly met years ago at Jonet's wedding and when they meet again years later, their interaction is positively explosive, potent with lust and mistrust. The minute he steps foot in Jonet's house, Cole knows that something evil and mysterious is afoot. His curiosity and his attachment to her sons forces him to take residence in Jonet's home as the boys' live-in tutor. But Jonet doesn't trust Cole because he is the nephew of her odious brother-in-law.
A Woman Scorned is my first Liz Carlyle book and it certainly won't be my last. Her writing is lush and elegant and it flows smoothly. Her prose is so elegant that I was absolutely shocked at how steamy the romance ended up being. Carlyle really gives you the best of both worlds: beautiful prose AND steaminess. The characterization is solid and the pairing of Cole and Jonet together is perfect. Their dynamic is so hot: she's a sharp-tongued shrew with him and he's all "you're not getting away with this kind of attitude." The pacing suffers a bit, especially in the beginning which is a bit slow-paced. The characters are also very introspective, which again affects the pacing, but luckily it's not repetitive. Keep in mind that this is a very long book for a historical romance; it is almost 450 pages long. So yea, it can be slow moving, but it has depth and a sort of intensity between the hero and heroine that really pushed me to keep reading.
As for the mystery, it was painfully predictable, but did not lessen my enjoyment of the story and the romance. The side characters, especially Lord Delacourt, are also pretty interesting in their own right. And I loved the kids even though I generally don't like kids in books (or real life lmao). Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if I would recommend it to readers who are new to historical romance, but I'm sure that those who have been reading this genre for a long time will appreciate this book.
"Let those bold, brash men unbutton their breeches, whip out their cocks, and measure them against one another."
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