A Study in Scoundrels by Christy Carlyle

Sophia Ruthven is the epitome of proper behavior. On paper at least, as long as that paper isn’t from one of the lady detective stories she secretly pens. She certainly isn’t interested in associating with the dashing Jasper Grey, the wayward heir to the Earl of Stanhope, and one of the stage’s leading men. But when she learns Grey’s younger sister Liddy has gone missing, she can’t deny her desire to solve the mystery…or her attraction to the incorrigible scoundrel.

Responsibility isn’t something Grey is very familiar with. On the boards and in the bedroom, he lives exactly how he wants to, shunning all the trappings of respectability and society. Grey knows he should avoid the bewitching Sophia, but he’s never been able to say no to what he wants. And having Sophia in his arms and his bed is quickly becoming the thing he wants the most.

As Sophia and Grey’s search for Liddy continues across the English countryside, can this scoundrel convince a proper lady that he’s actually perfect for her or will their adventure leave them both heartbroken?

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Avon Romance

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
A Study in Scoundrels is the second installment in the Romancing the Rules series. I adored the first in the series, and enjoyed this almost as much.

Now that Sophia's brother is married and their little sister is away at school, her life includes taking care of someone else's house, family, needs, and wants. She doesn't want to be the family's spinster sister for life. The writer is looking for a husband to spend her life with, to create a life with, someone who will understand who she is and not force her abide by the archaic rules her father put into place.

Grey is Sophia's brother's best friend, so she knows the actor in passing, including his reputation as a scoundrel. The opener of the novel features why Grey is the way he is, making him completely sympathetic to readers.

Sophia seems to be a magnet for shady men trying to take advantage, and Grey interrupts such a time, which is how the two are thrown together in adventure. Sophia is a sucker for who-done-its, writing a mystery novel, and is looking to study a scoundrel to write the part accurately. Thrust together in a whirlwind to locating Grey's missing 16-year-old sister, the pair discover that opposites definitely attract.

Both Sophia and Grey are flawed yet realistic characters – easy to connect to, their banter and push-pull, will-they-won't-they romance was a decadent treat. Grey is dealing with issues from the past, haunting him, lending the angst portion to the story. His little sister and cousin-in-law are a welcome addition to the story, as well as Sophia's housekeeper, Cate. It's obvious to spot who will be getting the next few stories, as there was plenty of groundwork laid on the pages. (The sister, though... le sigh)

Carlyle has a quick, easy to read writing style that draws the reader in from page-one until the end. The scenes are set without a ton of unnecessary detailing, and the romance feels real without being bogged down with flowery purple prose. After spending a relaxing afternoon with a smile on my face, I thoroughly enjoyed A Study in Scoundrels, and am impatiently awaiting the next in the series.

Also Available in the Romancing the Rules Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Avon Romance

For reviews & more info, check out our Rules for a Rogue post.

Fueled by Pacific Northwest coffee and inspired by multiple viewings of every British costume drama she can get her hands on, Christy Carlyle writes sensual historical romance set in the Victorian era. She loves heroes who struggle against all odds and heroines who are ahead of their time. A former teacher with a degree in history, she finds there’s nothing better than being able to combine her love of the past with a die-hard belief in happy endings.

Connect with Christy

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of A Study in Scoundrels (Romancing the Rules #2) by Christy Carlyle to read and review.

Rules for a Rogue by Christy Carlyle

Kit Ruthven's Rules (for Rogues)

#1 Love freely but guard your heart, no matter how tempting the invader.

#2 Embrace temptation, indulge your sensual impulses, and never apologize.

#3 Scorn rules and do as you please. You are a rogue, after all.

Rules never brought anything but misery to Christopher “Kit” Ruthven. After rebelling against his controlling father and leaving the family’s etiquette empire behind, Kit has been breaking every one imaginable for the past four years. He’s enjoyed London’s sensual pleasures, but he’s failed to achieve the success he craves as London’s premier playwright. When his father dies, Kit returns to the countryside and is forced back into the life he never wanted. Worse, he must face Ophelia Marsden, the woman he left behind years before.

After losing her father, Ophelia has learned to rely on herself. To maintain the family home and support her younger sister, she tutors young girls in deportment and decorum. But her pupils would be scandalized if they knew she was also the author of a guidebook encouraging ladies to embrace their independence.

As Kit rediscovers the life, and the woman, he left behind, Ophelia must choose between the practicalities she never truly believed in, or the love she’s never been able to extinguish.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Avon Romance

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
If you're a historical romance fan, you know there are tropes that are generally included in the novel. A feisty heroine (either a feminist in the making or marriage-minded), either a stuffy or roguish hero, siblings dependent on the H/h, death in the family where the man becomes the head of the household, a past (together), scandal, debt, an unwanted love interest the H/h wants out of the picture, one in the couple dragging their feet, and a ball where something either good/bad happens. On top of all that, there are always a few couples introduced who will get the next few books.

Rules for a Rogue is no different, having each and every trope mentioned above. However, Kit and Ophelia did give the reader a fresh take, which had me reading voraciously until almost the end.

Kit and Phee have been friends since they were children, but Kit's overbearing father was controlling, so he left Phee behind to start a career as playwright in London. While Kit loved Phee, he broke her heart.

Phee is a strong woman. After losing her mother when she was a teenager, leaving Phee to raise a toddler little sister, then her best friend whom she thought she'd marry one day left for the limelight. After all that, her father passed, leaving Phee as the breadwinner. A single female in England, whose options are marriage or allow the house to fall down around her head. But Phee, she is made of sterner stuff, and she refuses to marry for money. She's a survivor, and she found an ingenious yet scandalous career as an etiquette writer (writing the opposite of what a good lady should be). The only problem, Phee is a tutor to fine young ladies, teaching the archaic tenets she doesn't believe in.

Kit is a scoundrel, a playwright who loves the stage, but his heart is always seeking Phee. When his father passes, he's thrust back into Phee's orbit.

What follows on the pages is a cat and mouse game. Will-they-or-won't-they. Tension. Hunger. Lust. Love. With a ton of angst, I was pulled right into the story and didn't stop until I'd finished the novel. One of the brightest spots for me was the female empowerment. All the women supported each other, true friendships were forged, and the siblings wanted nothing but the best for each other. Nothing catty, silly, grating on the nerves to read. With the rules Phee believes young ladies should live by, it was icing on the cake to see all the women rally around one another in support.

The following didn't affect my rating, because it's found in most historical romances. The book was slightly too long, repetitious. Too much indecision for an empowered woman. Too much running away instead of just getting to the heart of it, purely because to do so would have shaved off the page-count. One or two times in a novel, I won't even notice. Near the end of the novel, I was very close to just skipping to the ending, because it was pretty much events that wouldn't have happened – again – if someone would have been honest/decisive/took what they wanted with their empowered self, both on Phee's and Kit's part.

*Note: Not a ton of purple prose, over-description, or right-clicking to change words via the thesaurus. I felt the need to mention this, as some hisro readers love those things. I don't, which is why I was entertained without having to wade through the tedium.

Recommended to Christy Carlyle fans and readers of Historical Romance. I can't wait to read the next in the series, no doubt featuring Sophie and Grey – sounds like another deliciously angsty read on the horizon.

Fueled by Pacific Northwest coffee and inspired by multiple viewings of every British costume drama she can get her hands on, Christy Carlyle writes sensual historical romance set in the Victorian era. She loves heroes who struggle against all odds and heroines who are ahead of their time. A former teacher with a degree in history, she finds there’s nothing better than being able to combine her love of the past with a die-hard belief in happy endings.

Connect with Christy

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Rules for a Rogue (Romancing the Rules #1) by Christy Carlyle to read and review.

One Dangerous Desire by Christy Carlyle Blog Tour

In a bet between two old flames...

Rex Leighton dominates the boardroom by day and prowls the ballroom at night. Searching for the perfect bride to usher him into the aristocracy, he abandoned the idea of love the last time he saw the delicious May Sedgwick. But when he’s roped into a bet, where the prize is the means to fund his greatest ambition and the stakes are a marriage he’s already planning for, Rex is willing to go all in. There’s just one problem—he’s competing against the only woman he’s ever loved.

Only love can take it all

May Sedgwick could be the belle of the season...if she cared. She is more interested in the art studio than the marriage market and her craving to pursue her passion far outweighs her wish for a titled husband. Winning this bet will finally allow May to follow her true artistic desires. Rex losing is just a side benefit, as are his breathtaking kisses that she just can’t resist.

When May is forced to choose between the dream she never knew she wanted and the man she’s never been able to forget, Rex must convince her desire is worth a bit of danger.

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

She gasped. Not a sound of shock but a frisson of awareness. He lifted his head to look into her eyes. Smoky blue sapphire glinted back at him in the moonlight.

One taste. One kiss, and he’d walk away and let her have the life she deserved.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 banterific stars.

Rex is an American who came to his mother's homeland six years ago to start a different life for himself. After struggling to survive in an orphanage and on the streets of NYC, Rex is a self-made man. Changing his name, leaving everything behind, he amasses great wealth, but now he needs to marry a titled woman who could gain him access to investors.

May is her father's daughter, determined and fiscally minded. She moved to London from NYC a year ago to make a titled match after being left behind six years ago by her one true love. With it just May and her father, both wish to uphold her mother's dream for her daughter to be titled, even if the daughter would rather be a businesswoman instead.

One Dangerous Desire is how May and Rex both need something the other can't provide, but can't seem to pull themselves away from the other.

Christy Carlyle is a new-to-me author, and I found her pacing swift, the flow of her words fluid, and the story enjoyable. May and Rex played off each other well, push-pull romance filled with banter and longing. The author plucked the heartstrings a few times, had me smiling with the warm and fuzzy, blushing with the steamy scenes, and laughing unexpectedly.

While the scenes moved rather quickly to the next, there was some redundancy as it felt drawn out (the initial plot) to the point the reader knew the conclusion but the hero and heroine weren't getting there fast enough. The plot couldn't support the page-length. But near the last quarter, new elements of conflict were introduced to add an exciting level of angst, and I breezed right straight through to the end and enjoyed every moment of it.

Recommended for fans of the modern writing style of historical romance.

Will I read more by this author, or continue with this series? Yes, absolutely. I'm interested in what comes next. As this was my first read by the author, and it was the third in the series, I plan to backtrack and read books one & two in my downtime.

Fueled by Pacific Northwest coffee and inspired by multiple viewings of every British costume drama she can get her hands on, Christy Carlyle writes sensual historical romance set in the Victorian era. She loves heroes who struggle against all odds and heroines who are ahead of their time. A former teacher with a degree in history, she finds there’s nothing better than being able to combine her love of the past with a die-hard belief in happy endings.

Connect with Christy

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the One Dangerous Desire Blog Tour HERE.

Hosted by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of One Dangerous Desire (Accidental Heirs #3) by Christy Carlyle to read and review for this tour.