Reviews

The Earl's Mistress by Liz Carlyle

jackiehorne's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 Isabella Aldridge's last position, as governess for the notorious Marchioness of Petershaw (better known as La Séductrice), has made it next to impossible for her to find a new job. Her last hope is the Earl of Hepplewood, a nobleman with a reputation almost as black as Lady Petershaw's. But when Hepplewood, who finds Isabella far too attractive for his peace of mind, offers her the position of mistress instead of governess, Isabella slaps him.

Deciding, though, that he's right that her best chance of supporting herself (and her two younger sisters) is by selling her body rather than her brain, Isabella asks the Marchioness to help her find a likely patron. Secrecy abounds, but readers won't be surprised when they find out who this new patron is...

The two have one night of BDSM sex (slapping and whipping), after which the earl sends her away. Isabella thinks it's because she didn't please him, but of course it is rather the opposite. And of course he can't stay away. And since Isabella has an even more foul cousin urging her to marry him, the earl gets to step in and play hero, proving that despite his domineering sexual proclivities, he's really a good guy, one who deserves the girl.

I found Isabella as a character far too passive to be interesting. Much was made of her having to work so hard to support her younger sisters, so much so that it only made sense that she would enjoy relinquishing control in the bedroom, an explanation that just doesn't hold water for me, both because she was so passive throughout most of the book, and because I think there is a difference between enjoying giving up control during sex and enjoying being spanked and whipped.

I also found the characters' attitudes toward their own sexual likes rather confusing. Is Hepplewood's self-loathing due in part to disgust at his enjoyment of sadism? Or is his self-loathing completely separate from his sexual proclivities? It was difficult to tell. As was Isabella's attitude towards her encounters with Hepplewood. At one point, she says she didn't like what Hepplewood did to her in bed; at many others, she's ashamed for enjoying something she thinks she shouldn't. What, though, is she enjoying? The masochism? Or the submission? It wasn't entirely clear.

Carlyle is great at writing intense, sexually-charged relationships. But because of its lack of clarity about each character's attitudes towards their own sexual desires, this book won't be one for my keeper shelf.

britneyfan19's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

I liked this book, I love how Isabella wanted to protect her sisters even though one was her stepsister. She still loved the girl as her own sister. The only thing I didn’t like and the reason it didn’t get a higher rating, was because of the BDSM sex scenes. I was just not a fan of them. 

tessisreading2's review against another edition

3.0

It's been years since I'd read a Liz Carlyle novel, so I'd forgotten how full of sex they are. This one brought up the sex relatively early and made it kind of creepy - the hero is overcome with lust for the heroine;

Spoiler

the heroine later agrees to become a man's mistress, the hero tricks her into becoming his mistress, and their first sexual encounter involves her getting caned - which she wasn't expecting and doesn't seem very into

- which I found difficult to read. The rest of the novel is fairly standard regency, lots of people being idiots, overly-complex backstories, etc., but the writing was easy-going and there were plenty of well-rounded interesting secondary characters, so overall a good reading experience.

halffast's review against another edition

3.0

Gently bred lady falls on hard times and decides to become the mistress of an earl, who struggles to protect her from poverty, her scheming family, and—most of all—himself.

This storyline was way more interesting than "girl becomes mistress and then guy proposes." Without giving too much away, she's only his mistress for a night, but they continue a friendship/quasi-relationship that would definitely raise eyebrows back then because of the class difference. Isabella was my favorite kind of strong-yet-vulnerable heroine, though she didn't have much overall character development. Anthony had to put in a lot more work emotionally to be a fitting partner for Isabella, who didn't let him off easy (she slaps him twice when he's being especially dick-ish). I skimmed the later sex scenes, which were BDSM heavy (many reviews call this a 50 Shades ripoff) and felt awkward for some reason. The story has a large cast of children, but their antics are cute and not overwhelming. My favorite part is when the characters vacation to a country home in the second half of the book and a lot of the scenes have a 'slice of life' feel as they casually romp around the countryside and dine together. This book is part of a series but works fine as a standalone.

samsquanch's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Rape

bluemercury40's review against another edition

2.0

I'm not sure if this is Liz Carlyle's first attempt at sadomasochism, but I find it a little annoying that the female character is so undecided in what she likes or wants. I mean, I understand that this is new to her and she is grasping on her feelings for it, but must the dialogue be so repetitive? Not my kind of thing.

xandrarama's review against another edition

4.0

This author is fairly new to me; having read a novella she contributed to an anthology, I was impressed and wanted to try a full-length novel of hers. I was not disappointed. The female protagonist is an impoverished gentlewoman trying to protect her young sisters from a dodgy cousin with guardianship rights; the difficulties faced by a woman trying to make her own way in this time period come across clearly and the reader is aware of how limited and unappealing her options are. The male protagonist is a familiar figure in the historical romance genre, a rakish earl with Hidden Pain. Refreshingly, this pain does *not* reflect the typical daddy issues ("my father was stern and unloving and I'll never live up to his expectations, boohoo") and is actually quite interesting to read about. The book provides a thoughtful, nuanced treatment of dominant/submissive tendencies and features some mild BDSM.

una_macchia's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to like this: I actually thought it might be a hate-read. BDSM isn't really my thing, and in the few romances with a dominant hero and submissive heroine I've read, I've found that they just amplify the autocratic man/doormat martyr woman dynamic that annoys me in non-kinky romance. However, I thought the way Liz Carlyle handled the elements of control and power dynamics between the hero and heroine in bed vs in the rest of their lives, and how that interacts with Victorian gender roles, was actually pretty interesting. The heroine's submissive streak worked for me in a way that it hasn't in other books because she really isn't a doormat in the rest of her life - she hasn't ever had the chance to be. The hero's desire for control and subsequent relinquishing of it to the heroine wasn't explored as explicitly but it also made sense for his character. He's rather unpleasant to say the least when we first meet him, but he gets a lot of character development (no personality transplant, though) so I could buy the HEA.

I must say that I got distracted by how raspy the hero's voice was (as described - I wasn't listening to audio). Someone get this man a lozenge!

theblisstour's review against another edition

4.0

I hadn't read [a:Liz Carlyle|21944|Liz Carlyle|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1215535084p2/21944.jpg] before, so I can't agree or disagree with the reviews that say this is a [unwelcome?] departure for her. I really like this book. I liked both of the main characters, Tony and Bella. They were complicated and proud, but most of all honest with each other. I believed the development of their relationship. Also, the kids had their own personalities, and they didn't annoy me as kids in historicals especially often to.

One issue though. Why did Tony keep saying he would use some kind of birth control but he never did? Not once! And Bella never stopped and said, hey I could get pregnant. Perhaps there is something we could do to prevent this.

Maybe another issue: I found the convoluted familial associations completely confusing. And the characters kept explaining to to make it clear. I don't understand how anyone is related to anyone else, although they all seem to be related to each other. Except oddly, the two little girls, Jemma and Georgie. Right? Still not sure.

kayo32's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0