Liz Carlyle: A Woman of Virtue

Sonnet Books (Paperback), ISBN: 0-7434-1055-6

Meet Lord Delacourt, cynical wastrel, notorious womanizer and general all-round rake — until he loses at cards. Now he must take charge of a mission for fallen women and do so at his own peril.

Meet Cecilia Lorimer, a widowed innocent who until recently eked out her empty existence by volunteering at the shelter. But now, her period of mourning over, she returns to Regency society, and predators (attracted by her money, her beauty and her widowed state) circle around her.

The pair met previously when Delacourt, in his cups, tried to ravish Cecilia in a stable. Wanting to atone for his sin, Delacourt insisted that they marry. Cecilia’s family agreed to an engagement to be followed her jilting him. The subterfuge averted a scandal.

But that was then. The sequence of events lingers only in memory. It’s the now that bothers Cecilia and Delacourt. It bothers them a lot. The attraction between them grows, although neither wants to acknowledge it, and pretty soon they find themselves hot and very bothered indeed.

Meanwhile, the plot transcends Regency romance to become a Regency romantic suspense. The mystery lurks in London’s East End, and together Delacourt and Cecilia must track it to its source and see that it harms no one else.

Marvelously depicted, their ally on the Regency equivalent of the London police force and his amazing dog add to the cast of well-drawn, believable characters. The plot twists and turns like the dank alleys and hidden ways of the London slums and docks while producing a sensual love story between two very needy people.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White’s latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I’ve Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.