A review by romancelibrary
A Woman Scorned by Liz Carlyle

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."