The Bride Wore Pearls
by Liz Carlyle
The Bride Wore Pearls is the third book in Liz Carlyle's "Fraternitas" series and we finally get a resolution to a murder mystery and a simmering romance.
Rance Welham is a charming ne'er-do-well - the worst kind. His steeped-in-vice lifestyle was responsible for him being imprisoned on murder charges. While he was cleared, a cloud remains over him and he is bent on revenge toward whoever set him up. He has no time for love with Anisha, his best friend's sister, and knows that he is not nearly good enough for her.
After the death of her husband, Lady Anisha, half-Indian daughter of a duke, arrives with her children to live with her brother in London. Rance meets her ship and it is lust at first sight. However, both try to be sensible, both have been warned by Anisha's brother that Rance is too wrapped up in his own darkness and revenge to build a life with someone and Rance and Anisha agree with him. They decide to eschew romance and be friends, but there is always an underlying tension in all their interactions.
I loved Rance and Anisha's relationship. Carlyle is so very good at ramping up the sexual tension without beating you over the head with it and the payoff, when it finally arrives, is fabulous. Pass me my hartshorn!
What did not work as well for me was the mystery of who framed Rance for murder. A local newspaper reporter is dogging Rance everywhere he goes and Rance knows Coldwater has vital information about it, but he goes about getting it all wrong. There are many fits and starts, conversations and encounters that are suddenly broken off to no purpose except to prolong the mystery. This was especially frustrating as I had Coldwater's role in this figured out fairly early but Rance was oblivious - not in keeping with his otherwise intelligent characterization.
So, a mixed review from me. Loved Rance and Anisha's relationship, the tension, the love scenes, was disappointed in the mystery.
Reviewed by Cheryl Sneed, July 27, 2012
“Sexual tension done right.”
August 2012, 432 pages
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 0061965774
Rance Welham, the Earl of Lazonby, has survived scandal and disgrace, even evading the Queen's justice at the end of a hangman's rope. Now he's about to gamble everything on something far more dangerous—desire.
An exotic and elegant beauty, Lady Anisha Stafford fled her native India to seek refuge within London's secretive St. James Society. But accepting protection from someone called a cold-hearted killer is a double-edged sword . . . especially when he's the most intriguing man Anisha has ever laid eyes upon.
In a world where treachery abounds, no one can be trusted—and no true passion can be denied. Together, these two tempestuous souls will risk their lives for a love that could redeem them . . . or destroy everything they hold dear.
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Other Books by Liz Carlyle
One Touch of Scandal
“Liz Carlyle enters the world of the paranormal with interesting results.”
– Cheryl Sneed
