Beauty Like the Night

This one is not your same old romance novel. It first struck me like what you would find on a PBS series. Well written and well paced. The characters are real. The visuals you see in your minds eye are wounderful and realistic. You can feel the tension between the characters. The sexuality is smoldering. The story is intense and keepts you turning from page to page. This ones a keeper.

LC hooks the reader within the first few pages of her story. I loved that the story flows so well. LC's descriptions and depth to the characters made me feel that I truly knew what they were feeling. The flashbacks, to set the stage for certain scenes, were put together very well. These scenes were artfully introduced into the unfolding plot and helped provide clarification for the story line, especially as it pertained to the past relationship of characters. The hero's young daughter, mute and with psychological problems, was charming and engaging. The hero, a fellow with a hard exterior, is softened by the flip side we see in the fondness he feels for his cat. The love scenes are not excessive. When the characters finally come together, the reader is also highly anticipating their physical reunion at this point. The hero's young brother came across both favorably and negatively. A cad at first, he redeems himself in the end, and I truly hope Ms. Carlyle gives him his own story in the future. It's a great opportunity for a sequel. The book kept me up for two nights running, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It is highly recommended.

"A beautifully written story" are the words that came to my mind while I was reading "Beauty Like The Night" by Liz Carlyle and those are the words I felt as I finished it. It is EXQUISITE. Liz Carlyle has a very special talent. She is a writer of "quality". Quality storylines, quality characters, quality "words". She is intelligent and so are her stories and characters. It is apparent to me as a reader, she writes with great "care".Cam Rutledge and Helene de Severs are complex characters but one's you can feel comfortable with and care for both of them. Helene is especially interesting to me because of her "occupation" in the little studied (at the time) field of psychiatry. Their love for each other is established immediately and the obstacles between them are handled in a way that is reasonable - but not uncomplicated - yet not silly with "mistaken assumptions" - you know what I mean.Generally children in my romance reads are very irritating to me, but the child in this story is KEY and is not "overdone". She is very endearing (and her thoughts are quite humerous in some parts).If you haven't read this book yet, I say you'd best not miss it. Mz. Carlyle has done it again - and I say that with all sincerity. It did not have as much sex in it as "A Woman Scourned", but as with most things, "quality" far outweighs "quantity". The love and sexual tension is beautiful, as is the "act" when it happens. I simply cannot find fault in this book.Congratulations Ms. Carlyle on another fine piece of work!

After writing 2 magnificent books, My False Heart and A Woman Scorned, Liz Carlyle has again written another winner! Beauty Like the Night is a wonderful, beautiful book! When but just teenagers, Cam and Helene were best of friends. During their friendship they realized that their feelings for each other ran far deeper than friendship: They were in love with each other. Unfortunately, Helene's mother, who was the paramour of the previous Earl of Treyhern, discovered them both in a compromising position. Because of her mother's station in life, a wedding between these 2 was not permitted. So Helene was sent away to a private school in Switzerland while Cam, left with a broken heart, decided to do his duty and marry a woman befitting his station.Faith has brought these 2 star-crossed lovers together again 10 years later, because Camden Rutledge, the Earl of Treyhern and now widowed, needs a special governess for his child Ariane who has stopped speaking after suffering a traumatizing experience. Helene de Severs, who has built a name for herself across the Continent for healing children, was just the right woman to do the job. Here starts the story of Cam and Helene rediscovering their feelings for each other with the help of excellent supporting characters that only Liz Carlyle can write!Ariane, the 6-year-old child in the story, is believably portrayed. Not like some children in historical romances where the children are smarter and know more vocabulary far beyond their years. No, Ariane is the typical child trying to understand words and things she doesn't know. The way Liz Carlyle wrote about Ariane and her feelings is poignant and beautiful. Bentley, the younger brother of Cam, is an absolute rake and definitely deserves a story of his own. He supported the story magnificently! Yet never overshadowing our hero and heroine. Beauty Like the Night is so well written that the author virtually brings you in the world of Cam and Helene. When Liz Carlyle writes, she makes you feel, see, touch and smell everything giving you the feeling like you're in the book yourself! Beauty Like the Night by Liz Carlyle is a book to definitely read and be savored, for it is a book that once you start, you will find it difficult to put down, because Liz Carlyle knows how to write romance! She delivers brilliantly and her prose is superb! BEAUTY LIKE THE NIGH is going up, together with My False Heart and A Woman Scorned, in MY KEEPER SHELF!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of BEAUTY LIKE THE NIGHT BY Liz Carlyle. This is by far Liz's best work. Helene and Cam's love story is hauntingly beautiful. It's a story of young love lost only to be brought together again eleven years later by a child desperate need of help. There are wonderful secondary characters that enhance the story rather than deter it. Ariane, Cam's daughter was a wonderful CHILD and helped make the story even sweeter. I can not think of another author who has brought such consistent enjoyable reads in some time. This may only be Liz's 3rd published book, but I can honestly say, my enjoyment of her work is continually growing with each work that comes out. I hope you'll give this one a try. It's like a fine wine or rich chocolate. Something that should definitely be savored.