This book is one hell of a great read, I'll tell you. And it's all thanks to Liz Carlyle's imaginative story-telling and brilliant character development.I was hugely entertained by the sparring between the heroine Aubrey, the finicky and very particular housekeeper at Castle Cardow, and the hero, Giles, the Earl she works for, although he chooses to stay as far away from his ancestral pile of stone as possible, preferring to exchange correspondences with her on household matters from safe London.
As fate would have it, they were bound to meet and clash before finally falling for each other, but Aubrey has a secret that when revealed, could either drive them apart or …
I was quite intrigued reading the prologue … my curious self couldn't resist trying to guess her secret past. Sure enough, by the end of that prologue in which the heroine arrived at the Castle to meet with an irascible war hero, who's overseeing the castle on the Earl's behalf, I already suspected that she's not a widow, and that she's definitely nobility.
Carlyle had me reeled in by the time I was done with chapter three, after a mysterious death forced the confrontation between H/H. Sparks flew and tempers ignite as the battle line is drawn, and each try to resist succumbing to the strong attraction.
And although I had already guessed the circumstances of the death halfway through the book, and foresaw a few plot developments which would arrive at Giles proposing to Aubrey, I kept on reading for the chase, the sizzling tension and the final, very satisfactory conclusion. The making out scenes were hot and sensual, just as I remembered her from The Devil You Know. They are both stubborn people who enjoy being in control of their life and work, so it was rather amusing to see both of them behaving a little out of character fighting the pull of passion.
No wonder Kristie, Sybil and Tara have only praises for LC. This book has only spurred me on to unearth some of her earlier works. I think there was another one Sybil and Tara recommended — A Woman of Virture, which sounds interesting.
Oh well, I'll track them down after the two new ones I bought recently, not to mention the pile building up, then. Thanks, ladies!
