I have heard wonderful things about Liz Carlyle. It has been said that her Regencies are wonderful and romantic and that she makes you feel the time period. So, I gave No True Gentleman a whirl first because the plot seemed interesting and because I liked the pretty white, gold and lavender cover. The year is 1826. Lady Catherine Wodeway is a young widow staying in London with her aunt Lady Kirby. Her aunt wants her to stay for the season and meet someone new to marry. Catherine sets her eyes on Maximilian de Rohan, a tall, dark and handsome former Bow Street runner and policeman now working in the home office. Max has always been irresistible to married women and daring widows because of his job, but Max has gotten tired of being their boy toy. Which is why he tries to resist Catherine as much as possible. He knows he is no gentleman in the eyes of the nobles and that he isn't good enough for her. But when her life is threatened by the person who had murdered a noblewoman, a man Max has been searching among the ton, he will do anything to protect her. But will he be able to resist her? Would she accept someone who is beneath her station? There are some twists throughout the novel.

Liz Carlyle does a wonderful job with the descriptions and language in the novel. She does make you feel the time period quite well. I also like Carlyle's references to Sir Robert Peel and his efforts to improve and begin stronger police force in the 1820s. And I like Max de Rohan as a magistrate helping the London police. He makes a good sleuth. The mystery aspect of the novel is also quite entertaining. Even though I was able to guess who the actual murderer was, I wondered about the person's motives. The characters are quite interesting as well. This is part of a series (not the first installment) and this is Max's spinoff. I think the one that follows this one is Catherine's brother Bentley's story. Despite all of these good points, I felt no connection with Catherine and Max as a couple. To me, they have no chemistry and I wondered why Max found Catherine so fascinating and vice versa since they hardly spent time together. Their love scenes are steamy, but that alone does not romance make. For the first half of the book, we are too much in Max's mind, reading again and again about his brooding and raving about the gentry, and this goes on for a large portion of the book. And Carlyle doesn't create a good balance between the two genres featured here. I agree with the reviewers who wrote that the mystery plot overshadowed the romance. I felt the same way. The romance's pacing is rather slow and continues to lag throughout the novel. Also, this lacks the passion and pulling of the heart strings that I enjoy in this genre. No True Gentleman would have been a great read had this been a mystery series with Max de Rohan as the leading sleuth. I'm afraid it falls short as a Regency romance though. I do like Carlyle's writing style and I will give her a second chance. I have The Devil You Know lined up and I hope that one will be better.

Finally, I hit the jackpot with a GREAT story! This is the third book by LC that I read recently. I also read "The Devil You Know" and "One Little Sin". I unfortunately couldn't give better than 3 stars to either book and that was being kind. I would consider both average as they had lots of potential but, got lost in the details and the characters just never came together well. Neither book was loaded from beginning to middle to end with everything that a good love story should contain - things like passion, intensity, attraction, appeal, intrigue, mystery, friendship and finally...a warm and burning love that is heartbreakingly memorable. "No True Gentleman" finally offered all these things - and done well I might add!

I so enjoyed both of our characters this time. In many books recently, I either like the hero or the heroine but, often not both. Authors just seem to find a way to make one or both of them have some serious flaws/issues that work against them and even if they redeem themselves by the books end, it's still a struggle to enjoy them along the way and keep them in good reference. I didn't find that at all with Catherine and Max in this book. They were likeable from beginning to end and every quality they exuded ended up being believable, warm, real and affectionate. I especially liked that they each had deep and meaningful lives before they ever met up - Catherine being married for many years and living in the country with family/friends and going about life in a comfortable and serene manner. She left for the city to find more and did she ever! Max who left his home country of Italy in turmoil along with grandmother Nonna and starting a new life in England as a police detective. He was wordly but, not a womanizer, drinker, gambler or scoundrel(for once!) - rather a man of wits which was very appealing. Together they brought experience, events and actions from their past lives when they meet up anew and it's a wonderful merging of two interesting people from the start.

The book had a great plot line that brought the two together. It was realistic that Max would meet up with Catherine in the park as she was often out riding her horse in the morning and he was out doing some detective work incognito. They end up meeting after seeing each other a few mornings and he has to kiss her when some bad guys he is watching think the two of them might be eavesdropping. So...Max wisely kisses Catherine to mask his identity and make them look like they are on a lovers trist. Max of course is kissing her more out of attraction than purely police requirements. Catherine kisses back as she has been him and finds him equally appealing. But...she is no dummy and realizes that he is avoiding the men in the park who he was clearly spying upon. And from there...the story and their love blooms.

The backdrop of who killed a certain lady in the city takes many twists and turns as Max has to try and find out if the killer is a friend of his, or perhaps Catherine's brother or someone altogether different. He is dedicated to his work as it gives him something to keep his mind and body involved and exhausted (sometimes so he won't face the real world) and won't give up until he solves the crime. A few readers felt the murder mystery took up too much of the book and sometimes made other issues get lost. I agree in some ways this could have been reduced down a bit and the editing a little stronger to keep all the pieces and suspects and people together but, that's really such a minor detail to the rest of this story line. The small negative barely registers really.

Catherine winds her way into Max's heart by being helpful and intelligent and inquisitive in the case. Max finds he has to keep her at a distance as he was hurt before in a police/civilian relationship that went too far and he doesn't want that to happen again. Fortunately...Max's grandmother Nonna knows better than him that the heart does as it chooses - regardless of how long it takes the head to catch up! So...Max works the case, he allows Catherine to get involved and from there...it's a wild ride.

The secondary characters in this story were great - Max's Grandmother Nonna (quite the little firecracker herself), Catherine's many brothers, Max's friends the doctor, inspector and antiques dealer Kem, Max's monstrous dog Lucifer and even little Nate...a street urchin who takes a liking to Max and vice versa. They were all interesting additions rather than detractions to the story and pleasing ones at that.

On a final note...who could close a review without mentioning the wonderful love scenes of attraction, emotion and intensity found between Max and Catherine. Their smoldering passion and burning desires drove them together over and over and over. This author has the correct talent of ANTICIPATION. She allowed them to kiss and move on, then kiss later and touch and move on and then eventually...viola - completion! I think a few readers wanted more complete intimacy. Like me, I feel the vast majority agreed there was good foreplay long before they ever came together and when it finally did happen, what came before made the coupling all the better once it did. Fortunately, the author placed the love scenes in appropriate places, with sizzling dialogue and descriptions and never went over-board with too much of a good thing. She added enough spice to keep a reader wanting more and always leaving you happy with what you got. She never made the intimacy so frequent that it became boring or porn like. She made it intense and emotional and so appealing it drew the reader in time and time again. Very sexy...Very good.

Catherine was always an admirable heroine in that she recognized her feelings for Max early, worked toward creating a real bonding between the two, never gave up on him and never had any regrets with what she did. She had the appealing confidence, courage and strength that all woman should have. She was at peace with herself and the addition of Max simply completed an already amazing woman. Max in turn had some doubts off and on but, more about himself than with Catherine. He did try to fight past demons now and then and pulled back sometimes but, couldn't help himself and often came back as he knew he was fighting the inevitable when it came to her. Their love and relationship was simply meant to be and it was a beautiful thing. Especially Max's revelations at the end after Catherine gets shot and hurt. His emotional outpouring was really heart felt and very lovely to see. You knew once he caved, he was hers for life. Sigh....smile.

If you haven't selected this author yet...I would start with this book for sure. I will search and see if I can find some other books by this author I found as interesting as this one. I was getting ready to give up on her after two so-so attempts (including The Devil You Know which is Catherine's brother Bentleys story but, NOT nearly as good as this one). I'm glad I hung in there and found a real gem in the rough with this one she did in 2002. LC is talented, detailed and interesting as an author and I'm so PLEASED she finally let her craft come full circle in this story. I pray it's not her only work this good.
You can't help but, fall in love with "No True Gentleman". This is a reader's choice for sure! Happy reading!

Wow, this was a refreshing change from the typical run of the mill romance novels! It is great to see a hero who is not a womanizer, a rake, or belong to some stuffy English noble family. That is not to say that Max was boring in any way...he was just perfect! And I loved Catherine too. She, also, did not fit the virginal, naive stereotype of most romance novel heroines. I just loved this book...my favorite Liz Carlyle by far. It's a keeper!