Review of A Bride by Moonlight by Liz Carlyle

Royden Napier, Baron Saint-Bryce, is tall, dark, and ruthless—and on the hunt for a dangerous beauty . . . On the eve of her escape to the Continent, bold, beautiful Lisette Colburne accepts a proposal she dare not refuse: masquerade as the future bride of the steely-eyed Royden Napier and help him solve his most dangerous case. Soon Lisette is in even greater danger—of losing her heart to the one man with the power to destroy her . . .
Estranged from his aristocratic family, the enigmatic Napier has forged a reputation as Scotland Yard's most relentless police commissioner. He's vowed to bring Lisette to justice—but with every forbidden kiss and every tantalizing touch, he finds himself becoming less convinced of her guilt . . . and more certain he must have her. But when danger touches Lisette, can he save her?

********************

When it comes to Regency romances there's a small list of authors I know I can count on to deliver the goods and one of those authors is Liz Carlyle.  A Bride by Moonlight continues her run of well-written and satisfying stories, with this one including an intriguing mystery.

Royden and Lisette make an entertaining couple with their love to hate to love rollercoaster journey to a HEA.  They both have a lot of emotional baggage to work through too before they allow themselves a HEA.  For Lisette, life has been full of responsibilities, the biggest of which is seeking justice for her father's death.  These obligations have kept her from finding her own happiness and led her to keep her heart hidden so that the hard knocks of life can't hurt her anymore.  Royden too keeps his heart hidden, but for him it's behind duty and obligation. He seems super serious and by the book and needs the right woman to turn his world upside down and Lisette's the one to do it in her role as faux fiancée.

As they work together to figure out whodunit, their delightful banter with hints of sexual tension below the surface hints at the steamy sexual encounters that soon flourish.  Along with the satisfying sexual scenes is an equally satisfying mystery that actually kept me guessing. There`s actually quite a bit of action revolving around the mystery that it sometimes felt like it almost overtook the story, but through the talents of Ms. Carlyle she retained a nice balance between actions in and out of the bedroom.  This is the fourth book in the Fraternitas Aurae Crucis series and though it can be read on its own reading the other books will make for a richer reading experience.  Seeing glimpses of these characters in earlier books will show how far they've come in opening their hearts to each other as this story progresses.

From its likable protagonists to its nice balance of mystery and romance Ms. Carlyle has once again left me feeling immensely satisfied and wanting to return to this world.  Fans of historical romance will again find much to like about A Bride by Moonlight and I highly recommend you jump into this series if you haven't already.

My rating for this is a B+

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.