REVIEW: The Earl’s Mistress by Liz Carlyle

The Earl’s Mistress by Liz Carlyle: Anthony, the Earl of Hepplewood, is one of those mad, bad, and kinky men that are slinking into literature and have become a bit of a fixture. Isabella Aldridge is one of those beautiful, intelligent and very desperate widows that the mad, bad and kinky long to get their hands, as well as their riding crops, on. Isabella meets Anthony when she travels to his isolated northern estate to become his daughter’s governess. During the initial interview, Anthony, struck by her “fragile beauty” and pleased by the fire he sees inside her, decides he doesn’t want her as the governess but rather as his mistress. Isabella, shocked, slaps the Earl’s face, and leaves.

However, high moral ground does not pay the bill or feed children. Isabella has a creepy cousin Everett who wants to marry her, and she is the guardian of her two younger sisters, who are at school. Isabella has no money to speak of, and no job prospects, since women don’t like to hire young beautiful governesses. At wits end, Isabella returns to her former employer, the Marchioness of Petershaw, a woman famous for her conquests, to find her a “disgustingly rich” gentleman in search of a mistress. In less time than she thought, Isabella is off to meet with the mysterious Mr. Mowbrey, under the guise of cataloging his library. Much to her surprise, Mr. Mowbrey turns out to be Earl of Hepplewood, dressing fieldstone at a pretty, but remote, Georgian manor house. She is taken aback, and accuses him of deceit, but he reminds her that was looking for a protector, and then kisses her in a devastating manner.

Isabella had been kissed, but she’d known nothing like this. It was raw and vulgar and wonderfully knee-weakening; a rush of hot desire that threatened to swamp her. His fingers, she dimly realized, no longer held her arm but hand instead plunged into the hair at her nape, forcing her to hold still. His left hand was cupped beneath her hip, lifting her slightly against his groin as her will went weak with a longing that frightened her.

Anthony desperately wants her, and has been haunted by her amethyst eyes since he opportuned her when they first met. Although he believes that once he has been with Isabella for a while he will be over her, deep inside he fears that this will not be the case.

The possibility of having within his grasp the woman whose eyes had begun to haunt his nights kindled in him a level of rapaciousness he would have been loathe to confess. It should have worried him. It did worry him, a little.

However, Anthony has quite specific needs also: to be in control and to dominate, especially in the bedroom. Because Isabella is desperate, but also because she is highly attracted to Anthony despite herself, she agrees. And at this point, their relationship really begins. And it’s a steamy one.

The characters in this novel seem stereotypical, and are yet subtly different. Anthony is a dark, brooding, damaged and troubled womanizer; Isabella, despite her disappointing marriage, is innocent, beautiful, and responsible, but very lonely. Isabella also knows how to stand on her own two feet, and do what is necessary to make her and her sisters’ lives worthwhile. However, despite the somewhat standard cast, the plot is a refreshing change with a woman who wants to be a mistress as means of independence, and a man who is desperate for her, and not really ashamed to admit it.

I was torn by this book. In general, I enjoyed the characters, and their emotional growth that takes place. The secondary characters, especially the children, are beautiful drawn, and the setting and descriptions are lovely. Despite all that I liked, I was taken aback by the BDSM elements and the very graphic nature of the bedroom scenes. I know that nowadays the line between ‘erotica’ and ‘romance’ is getting thinner and thinner, and I felt that this novel was very close to crossing the line. That doesn’t make it a bad book; in fact, it well written with an excellent story as books by Liz Carlyle have historically been, but I do feel that readers need to be aware that the heat level in this book is definitely elevated.

Book Info:

Published August 26th 2014 by Avon

Women rarely refuse the wicked Earl of Hepplewood, whose daring exploits are only whispered about. But when his new governess answers his proposition with a slap, then stalks out, references in hand, Hepplewood finds more than his face is burning.

Isabella Aldridge has brains, bravado, and beauty—but the latter is no use to a servant. Her circumstances are desperate, and with Hepplewood’s words ringing in her ears, Isabella realizes she must barter her most marketable asset . . . her body.

But when fate sends Isabella back into Hepplewood’s arms, the earl must make an impossible choice—draw Isabella down into his sensual darkness, or behave with honor for the first time in his life.