Truer words have seldom been uttered.
Liz Carlyle’s first book of the “Never” series (and the last one I read) is a good introduction to Carlyle so start here.
Here is the story (courtesy of Carlyle’s website with some editing):
“The notorious Marquis of Nash is a creature of the night; his wealth and his title provide but a tenuous entrée into polite society. But when Nash leaves his lair for a rare foray into the ton, and enjoys a moment of heated passion with a mysterious lady in the dark, he develops an obsession which will lead him into the hellish world of smugglers, spies, and political intrigue as the Continent edges nearer to war.
Xanthia Neville has arrived in London to expand her family’s most lucrative business holding—Neville Shipping. With her brother Rothewell all too happy to waste his life in debauchery, Xanthia opens up shop in London’s grimy Docklands…all the while flaunting the ton’s silly strictures about how a lady ought to behave. But London, she soon learns, is not Barbados. And when the British Government approaches Rothewell to ask the family’s help in exposing a dangerous arms dealer, Xanthia must enter society after all, only to find her loyalties torn. But can Xanthia’s subterfuge prove him a traitor to the Crown before her heart is broken?”
I really like the characters, although I wanted more Nash than was delivered…and I suppose Xanthia was a little undeveloped, too.
But, on the whole good scenes, good build up and great sex scenes! There was a definite twist on the usual hist-ro tumble, which I liked…only because it surprised me.
Regency Reader 