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    A Woman Scorned
    A Woman Scorned
    A Woman Scorned
    Ebook485 pages8 hours

    A Woman Scorned

    By Liz Carlyle

    4/5

    ()

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    • Family

    • Love

    • Trust

    • Betrayal

    • Love & Relationships

    • Forbidden Love

    • Secret Identity

    • Enemies to Lovers

    • Marriage of Convenience

    • Secret Heir

    • Love Triangle

    • Mysterious Death

    • Star-Crossed Lovers

    • Found Family

    • Redemption

    • Grief & Loss

    • Deception

    • Secrets

    • Class Differences

    • Loyalty

    About this ebook

    From its opening scene to its breath-catching climax, Liz Carlyle's charming Regency romance is a vividly etched portrait of passion and intrigue. When a woman consumed by sinister secrets opens the door to a strikingly handsome stranger, a powerful desire rushes in—and a love she could not have imagined.

    Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Jonet Rowland is surely that. But she is also lovely, rich, and—it is rumored—an unrepentant adulteress. When her philandering husband, the marquis of Mercer, is murdered in his own bed, it's whispered that Jonet is a femme fatale in more ways than one. Shunned by society, the daring widow steels herself to fight for what truly matters—her children.

    When his scheming uncle begs him to investigate the death of his brother, Lord Mercer, Captain Cole Amherst refuses. But it is soon apparent that treachery stalks two innocent boys, and Cole plunges into the viper's pit that is Jonet Rowland's life. Nothing could have prepared Cole for the lust Jonet inspires. But as danger swirls about them, he is tortured by doubt. Can an honorable soldier open his shuttered heart and let a wicked widow teach him how to truly love?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPocket Books
    Release dateMay 1, 2000
    ISBN9780743417785
    A Woman Scorned
    Author

    Liz Carlyle

    During her frequent travels through England, Liz Carlyle always packs her pearls, her dancing slippers, and her whalebone corset, confident in the belief that eventually she will receive an invitation to a ball or a rout. Alas, none has been forthcoming. While waiting, however, she has managed to learn where all the damp, dark alleys and low public houses can be found. Liz hopes she has brought just a little of the nineteenth century alive for the reader in her popular novels, which include the trilogy of One Little Sin, Two Little Lies, and Three Little Secrets, as well as The Devil You Know, A Deal With the Devil, and The Devil to Pay. Please visit her at LizCarlyle.com, especially if you're giving a ball.

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    Reviews for A Woman Scorned

    4/5

    136 ratings9 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a compelling and enjoyable read, with likeable characters and a compelling story. The book offers a mix of romance, suspense, and history, which appeals to a wide range of readers. While some reviewers found the plot predictable and felt that the book was too long, overall, readers found it to be a nice story that was worth reading. However, there were a few complaints about the skipping to the end, which left some readers annoyed.

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5

      Dec 27, 2018

      Nice story . Dragged a bit but ended up being nice enough
    • 5/5

      Feb 6, 2023

      I absolutely loved this book! The characters were likeable despite their flaws and the story was compelling to the end.
    • 4/5

      Oct 17, 2022

      I would like to be able to finish it but it skipped to the end and left me annoyed
    • 5/5

      Aug 1, 2020

      Great book has everything for readers including romance suspense and histury
    • 3/5

      Jun 9, 2020

      It was clear very early on who the ‘bad guy’ was. And the book was about a hundred pages too long. I did enjoy it though.
    • 5/5

      Mar 5, 2014

      I was a little surprised by who the villain was in this story. I read the story a number of years ago and I think I was surprised then as well. Ms. Carlyle does a good job of hiding the person’s identity until the very end of the book. This story also has the surprise in that there is a small mention of bondage and domination mixed in. I was very pleased to find that scene. This is a wonderful example of the complex writing style of Ms. Carlyle. She brings such life to her characters are the places that they inhabit. You want to know all about all the characters that are part of this story. In fact, I am left wondering why Lord Delacourt shows up at Cole’s house, in the Epilogue, needing a parson.

      Cole Amherst is a contradiction. He is a brilliant scholar and a first rate solider. He has taken orders to be a vicar but he decided to defend his country against Napoleon. Cole is honorable, compassionate, and stubborn. Cole is also a dominant in a much understated way. I liked Cole. I loved how he stood up to his “Uncle” when he wants to send Cole as a spy into Jonet Rowlands house. I also loved that Cole seems to be very good with children. He turns out to be the perfect person to protect Jonet and the children.

      Jonet Rowland has lived under the cloud of her husband’s death for months. She knows that everyone thinks that she killed her husband but she is more concerned for her sons than her reputation. I loved that Jonet was so fiercely protective of her children. I loved that she was smart and capable and brave. I also liked that she was willing to admit that she needed someone she could trust to help with protecting her children and herself. She can be a hellcat of the first order but that is mostly because of the strain she has been under. I also was very happy that Jonet isn't afraid to be a female with a very active carnal appetite as far as Cole is concerned.

      There are several things going in throughout this story and the throw the scent of the villain off on several different people. There are more than enough greedy arrogant people to fall into this category. I would love to find out what happens to Edmund Rowland. He is a vile, oily man that would probably sell his mother to keep his lifestyle. I would also love to find out what becomes of Lord Delacourt, as I mentioned above. Finally there are few love scenes in this book but what there is will burn up the pages. This is a great example of the historical fiction genre and those that love this genre will probably love this book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2009

      AWS was wonderful! The plot flowed smoothly and was deeply emotional. I have a tendency to skim when I'm bored but no skimming was done on this one. Jonet is not your typical widow. She has a very strong forceful personality and goes after what she wants and needs. Captain Cole Amherst is a soldier who is also a scholar and trained as a curate. A fascinating man. Their scenes together sizzle culminating in several very erotic love scenes. Jonet's children played only a minor part even though there was a mystery surrounding attempts on their lives. Jonet and Cole were a perfect match for each other. I'm glad AWS has been reprinted because I wouldn't mind having my own copy. (Grade: B+)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5

      Mar 9, 2010

      You won't find more well-developed characters anywhere. Liz's lush style captivated me from the beginning, and I adore her characters, especially the intelligent and strong-willed women.
    • 4/5

      Mar 6, 2008

      A Woman Scorned is yet another worthy effort from Liz Carlyle, but in my opinion, not the strongest of her novels that I have read to date. As with her other books, A Woman Scorned also contained an intriguing mystery element, this one involving the murder of the heroine's husband. The mystery was a bit more prominent in this story though, and consequently, I felt that it overshadowed the actual romance, in some ways. Aside from a strong physical attraction and mutual loneliness, I found few reasons for Cole and Jonet to fall in love. The author simply did not build the lovely friendship element or include the more swoon-worthy scenes that are often found in her other works. While their love became more evident toward the end of the story, I just did not find their feelings for one another earlier in the book to be entirely convincing. I believe that the time devoted to the mystery simply left limited space for good relationship development which was a bit disappointing, since these two characters had absolutely sparkled as secondary characters in other books. While I like a good mystery, this one did not hold my interest as much as it perhaps could have, due to the fact that I discerned the culprit very early on, though at least I was way off base on the character's motive and did not really figure that part out until the reveal. In all fairness though, I went into this book having read a later book that ties in with it, and therefore already knew that a couple of the characters who had been set up as suspects could be eliminated. Without that information, I doubt that I would have solved this part of the mystery so easily. All in all, for this only being Ms. Carlyle's second book, it was a still a good read.

      I thought that the characterizations of the hero and heroine were well-done and full of interesting complexities. Cole had held a variety of positions including that of scholar, tutor and military captain, in addition to being an ordained minister. He is filled with guilt and regret over the death of his first wife with which he must come to terms. On the surface, he seems very controlled and reserved, but inside he is seething with unfulfilled passion that just the right woman can unlock. Cole is highly intelligent, regularly engaging in battles of wit with Jonet. Although she could be very willful, he never let her get the best of him and always gave back as good as he got. This made for some highly charged and amusing banter between these two characters. Jonet was not a woman who was afraid to let her passions be know, but also carried a certain reserve due to fear over her sons' safety in the wake of their father's murder. I thought her devotion to her two sons as well as other characters in the story was highly commendable, and I also liked that she lived her life according to what she thought was right instead of what society dictated. Once she began to trust Cole, she was very bold in her pursuit of him, even though he was below her in social status. I found her boldness and directness to be admirable, as well as fun and sensuous, leading to a delightful, burning hot love scene near the end of the book that one might characterize as Cole's “taming of the shrew”. Also, both characters were very intuitive of the other's needs and feelings which I found quite endearing. Even though the actual romance between these two could have had a stronger foundation and they were near polar opposites, it became obvious by the end of the story that Cole and Jonet were made for each other. It was not difficult to imagine them living a long and happy life together with nary a dull moment, which is probably why they were such stand-out characters in future novels.

      While I do enjoy introspection, I felt that a bit too much of it became a partial contributor to some pacing issues in the narrative of A Woman Scorned. The other part I attributed to the lack of the spirited secondary characters that I so enjoyed in Ms. Carlyle's other books. There were no scene-stealers like Kem or Bentley, and the supporting characters who were present just didn't quite have the same lively quality as some that had appeared in other stories. Even if they were a bit more reserved, there were a few notables. David, Lord Delacourt was an enigma and I'm sure I would have enjoyed his presence in this story much more if I hadn't already know his secret from reading A Woman of Virtue in which he is the hero. He also put in an appearance in No True Gentleman. I found Stuart and Robert to be very charming children with opposite personalities, Stuart being rather shy and Robert being more outgoing. I thought that they were realistically rendered in that they often argued and misbehaved like young boys do, but yet they were never obnoxious. Stuart and Robert (though much more grown up) also appear in A Woman of Virtue and The Devil You Know. Edmund Rowland was a rather distasteful character who also pops up in A Woman of Virtue, as does Lady Delacourt, and Charlotte Branthwaite, David's mother and sister respectively. Just as she does in most of her books, Ms. Carlyle also uses a few animal characters to good effect, helping to set the tone for the human characters and overall story.

      As one might guess from the overlapping characters, A Woman of Virtue is the book most closely related to A Woman Scorned actually picking up the story precisely where this one left off. I personally, however, still recommend reading the books in chronological order to receive the full effect of all characters on the canvass, as I have come to the conclusion that Ms. Carlyle used her first three books, My False Heart, A Woman Scorned, and Beauty Like the Night to create three separate family groups who are then intermingled freely in subsequent books. Even though I didn't think it to be the author's best effort, I found A Woman Scorned to be a pleasant and enjoyable read. Ms. Carlyle remains one of my favorite authors and I look forward to continuing my exploration of her backlist.

      Note: While none of Ms. Carlyle's earlier books seem to be officially considered a series and each seems to stand well on it's own story-wise, I would caution that reading her later books first may give away spoilers to her earlier books. Such was the case when I skipped A Woman Scorned and was left wishing that I had read it first. My suggestion for readers like myself who don't like any spoilers would be to begin with Ms. Carlyle's first book, My False Heart, and continue reading them in the chronological order in which she wrote them. It is also my opinion that the reading experience would be greatly enhanced by doing this, because Ms. Carlyle's character web is so complex. The entire backlist, in order, can be found on her website.

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    A Woman Scorned - Liz Carlyle

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