One Touch of Scandal by Liz Carlyle

One Touch of Scandal (2010) (Avon)
Liz Carlyle
Grade: B-
Genre: historical romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own
Fraternitas Aureae Crucis: (1) One Touch of Scandal

Romance RBC 2014: A book with a number in the title 

After her father died and Grace Gauthier came to England to make a new life for herself, all she wanted was security. Forced to take up a position as a governess, Grace’s life seems to be taking a turn for the better until she finds her employer dead in his own home. Suddenly, Grace is the prime suspect and she has no one else to turn to but the mysterious and dangerous Lord Ruthveyn. He’s a secretive man, burdened by gifts that reveal terrible omens about the people around him. He’s determined to exonerate Grace and track down the real killer at the risk of revealing his secrets to the world …

Another of my Thailand buys, I practically devoured this in a day on the beach whilst getting very tanned. This was one of those books that are just great for getting stuck into and before you know it, you’ve turned the last page. From what I’ve already read, Liz Carlyle has been a bit of a hit-and-miss author in the past. Fortunately, this was a good one and I’m intrigued by the promise of the rest of the series.

Grace Gauthier is a victim of unfortunate circumstances. When she finds herself in a difficult position, she heads in search of an old family friend to collect on a debt owed to her. Instead, she finds the enigmatic Lord Ruthveyn who is unexpectedly on her side and the first person to believe that she’s innocent of all wrongdoing. To the surprise of all parties involved, Ruthveyn puts Grace under his protection by inviting her into his home, under the guise of looking after his two young and energetic nephews. This invites even more scandal but Lord Ruthveyn isn’t one for caring what other people think. Grace is the first woman to intrigue Ruthveyn like she has and to his surprise, wants to learn more about him. He’s constantly caught in an emotional tug-of-war and without realising it, is opening himself up to Grace with every day.

Not a bad effort from Liz Carlyle. All the history about Ruthveyn’s lineage and abilities bored me after a while, and so if the other books are just as heavy on the powers-that-be, I’d be more reluctant to read them. (Historical) romance and the supernatural/paranormal/magic/mystical has never sat well with me and while it was a good book otherwise, One Touch of Scandal didn’t persuade me otherwise. This was a great beach read but if I’m brutally honest, not something I’ll read again.

Image courtesy of Fantastic Fiction.