Kiernan is a dark, tormented, self-destructive man and for good reason given his childhood abuse. He spends most of his time drinking to excess, smoking, and frequenting bawdy houses and gambling dens. His health is deteriorating badly and he fears his death is imminent and does nothing to alter his behavior. One thing I dislike about books about rakes is that they turn out to be "fake rakes". Well, Kiernan is a real rake deserving of the title.

Kiernan meets Camille Marchand one evening in a corrupt gambling hell when her depraved father, Comte de Valigny, wagers the right to marry her (and her large dowry) in a card game. Kiernan is shocked and thinks to put a stop to it but then realizes that Camille is not fighting it. But he cannot allow the lecherous slime at the table to have her so he makes sure he wins. Afterward he takes her aside tells her she doesn't have to marry him. But Camille insists upon the marriage AND a child in exchange for her dowry. She can only collect her grandfather's inheritance after she marries and produces a child. Camille is the illegitimate daughter of the Comte's and had a difficult and insecure childhood. Her father is now trying to use her to get at her huge inheritance.

Both Kiernan and Camille are deep multifaceted characters and their relationship development was a delight from their first meeting to eventually falling in love. The love scenes are steamy and Kiernan's redemption from rake to loving husband was wonderful. All the characters were well done especially Kemble. I believe he has appeared in several previous books by Carlyle.

Given these two superb characters and their relationship and Carlyle's usual excellent prose, I was completely enthralled. Kiernan's health issues and Camille's family issues (which I won't spoil) are resolved very satisfyingly. NRAR is another keeper from Carlyle. GRADE: A- ( )

Lord Rothewell is ill and expects to die soon. Camille needs a husband and, preferably a baby. Why shouldn't this work? Two damaged people have to find a way to happiness.

I don't normally like the kind of book that starts with a father betting his daughter in a card game, but it works here. ( )

I was looking forward to Never Romance a Rake because Kieran Neville intrigued me as the brother of the heroine in Never Lie to a Lady. Their relationship was really well done. You could see the strong bond between them, forged through the as yet undisclosed horrors they suffered together in the past – in this book we finally find out how terrible their childhood was on their uncle’s sugar plantation in Barbados. So while the love is there between Kieran, Xanthia, and Gareth (the latter a kind of adopted sibling in the Neville family) that shared pain also keeps them apart because, in part, of the way Kieran reacts to his tortured past. He’s very over the top in his grand passions of guilt and agony, isolating himself, shutting everyone out. But I still feel sympathy for him because his back story is compelling. It’s a twisted family story of betrayal and forbidden passion and all that juicy stuff.

Anyway, I think Kieran was, for the most part, ok in this book. Not only does he have his tortured past, but he is suffering from some bodily ailment as well. We don’t find out until later what exactly is wrong, but it’s clear his hard life of drinking and debauchery has caught up with him at last. In his depression though, he’s hardly inclined to do anything to prevent his decline or save himself. He’s given up.

Then, at a fateful card game, while he’s busy trying to drown his sorrows in drink and vice, the bad guy of the book wagers his daughter’s hand in marriage. Enter Camille. Kieran is instantly attracted, and to save her, or so he says to make himself feel better, from the lecherous pervert who is also playing, Kieran wins the game. It’s a fairly unoriginal, contrived way to bring our hero and heroine together. This premise kicks off an overly elaborate plot of hidden inheritances, secret parentages, and the evil pimp of a father.

The heroine is “feisty” and annoying – particularly her faux Frenchness. (She says “oui” a lot.) Nor is she particularly consistent as a character. She is also supposed to be cold and heartless, at least until Kieran gets to unlock her passions, of course and make her rethink her coldness. Her reasons for marrying involve the aforementioned tortuous plot of secret wills. She wants to thwart her father, who is mean and evil. But the grand scheme she cooks up is very stupid and she goes about it very stupidly. What would she have done if such a handsome fellow hadn’t come along to free her from his evil clutches? Then she makes a show of saying she just wants Kieran for his “seed” because all she wants in life is a baby. But then she starts whining when she gets exactly the kind of loveless marriage she asked for from the start. Nor is her sad past half as traumatic as Kieran’s, but she makes just as big a fuss about it. And Kieran gets annoying too, moping about, wondering if he can ever love or let anyone love him, despairing that he’ll never be truly intimate, truly one with anyone. None of these angst-ridden inner ramblings gelled very well for me. None of it stirred my interest or sympathy. Kieran on his own is interesting and sympathetic. But when it comes to his relationship with Camille, he and she both got on my nerves or bored me. They didn’t have much chemistry either. Their romance consisted of them each drifting about in their own little worlds, moping and sighing and declaiming the sadness of their blighted lives. The opening of Never Romance a Rake offers some lyrical, beautifully written prose, but the momentum swiftly waned after the first few pages. ( )

I don't know why I don't read more historical romances than I do. I enjoy a good Regency novel—with their embarrassing covers featuring half-clothed women on sumptuous beds—yet I hardly ever buy them. I suppose that will remain one of life's many mysteries. Never Romance a Rake was my introduction to Liz Carlyle's writing (thanks to thisbookforfree.com), and this book was no exception to my love of the social mores and breath of scandal of Regency romances.

The story begins with the rather brutal beating of a young boy in Barbados who is protecting his younger brother. It seems rather obvious that one of these boys will end up our hero, but which one?

Enter Baron Kieran Rothewell. He has a sexy name, so the book's already off to a good start. He smokes cheroots, which is a gross habit, but I think I have yet to read a book from this era where the hero didn't smoke so he is at least in good company. He is a large man (“almost disconcertingly large” if you know what I mean...I guess nobody wants to read about a hero with a small “manhood”) with dark hair and grey—or silvery—eyes.

We follow Rothewell on a rather mysterious quest to find a doctor. He has just returned to London from 30 years in the West Indies raised by a monster of an uncle, and we soon learn there is something very wrong with him. To compound the problem, if Rothewell begets no heir some “odious Neville cousins in Yorkshire” will inherit everything. So far the plot isn't exceedingly original but the writing has me turning pages.

Enter Camille Marchand: very beautiful, very French, very cold...or is she? Rothewell meets her under vastly inappropriate conditions and soon has to save her from the machinations of her vile father, the Comte de Valigny, and the perverse Lord Enders. Do I hear wedding bells? Indeed I do!

The book then follows what I'm sad to say is a fairly cookie-cutter plot of mishaps and misunderstandings. Theirs is a marriage of convenience, you see. Yet Rothewell does something romantic, and Camille pushes him away to protect herself. Then Rothewell decides he must keep his distance to protect his own heart and the cycle continues. It's a story I've read before, but Ms. Carlyle did write it in a fresh enough way to keep me reading toward a happy ending. Will Kieran and Camille be able to let go of their nightmarish pasts and build a future together? Does Kieran even have a future? Can they weather the potential storm of society gossip?

Overall, I give Never Romance a Rake a 4/5. The scoundrel-cum-hero storyline is one I enjoy, and there was enough character development to let me overlook the somewhat stale plot. ( )

What a grand conclusion to Liz Carlyle's 'Never' trilogy. "Never Romance a Rake" is a story of redemption. Two people, both lost souls, learn to find and feel worthy of happiness with their love.

Camille is a child of scandal. Her father is a titled French wastrel who has no use for her...until he finds a way to cash in on a forgotten inheritance--by wagering half that inheritance in a card game! Camille knows men. After growing up with her scandalous mother, she knows men are fickle and cannot be relied upon. But she needs a titled English husband and a child to receive her inheritance. And by God, she'll suffer what she must to get it and have the first security she's ever known.

Kieran is a dissolute Baron. His horrific childhood has left permanent physical and mental scars. But even he can't believe what he is seeing when Comte Valigny bets his daughter's hand in marriage. Granted, she's a vision. And the only other 'gentleman' in the room is a truly depraved lord...but he'd no intention of marrying. Especially not if what he belived about his health is true.

Ah Kieran. What a scoundrel. He's done some very bad things in his life and appears to be trying to kill himself in an effort to atone. Good thing his new wife turns out to be not so biddable as she's not about to let him give up!

I read the first two in this series (which, incidentally, touches lightly on the Abolition Movement in England) and enjoyed them quite a bit. Liz Carlyle's heroines are never weak women waiting for a man to save them. Her heroes are also a bit tarnished, but redeemable. She has a deft hand with love scenes and her couples always share a grand passion. Her novels definitely aren't 'your mother's Victorian romances'. While there's not much danger, there's still a bit of action, but most of the story is centered on the effects of the past. If you read the first two, you'll surely want to pick this one up. If you didn't, there shouldn't be any problems as everything is explained well enough that it works easily as a stand-alone story. But I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up buying the first two once you finish "Never Romance a Rake"! ( )