Carlyle attended college on a Scripps Howard writing scholarship and majored in journalism. She spent much of her career working in Human Resources and Labor Relations in the chemical and automotive industries however. She did not begin writing until December 1996 when she was between jobs. She finished the novel within two months and attempted to find a publisher for it. Although that work did not sell, Pocket Books was interested in seeing more of her work. In 1998 they bought two novels from her, publishing the first, My False Heart, in 1999. All of her novels are considered historical romance and they are all loosely linked by characters who are either related or acquainted.

In 2003, Carlyle contributed a novella to the anthology Big Guns, marking her first foray into contemporary romance.

She has been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards five times, winning in 1999 for My False Heart. She has also been nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, and won a Romance Writers of America RITA Award in 2006 for Best Long Historical Romance (The Devil to Pay). Several of her books have become USA Today bestsellers.

Rutledge Family

• Beauty Like the Night (2000) Cam Rutledge and Helene de Severs
• No True Gentleman (2002) Max de Rohan and Catherine Rutledge Wodeway
• The Devil You Know (2003) Randolph Bentley Rutledge and Frederica d'Avillez

Lorimer Family

• A Woman of Virtue (2001) Cecilia Lorimer, Lady Walrafen and David Braithwaite, Lord Delacourt
• A Deal with the Devil (2004) Giles Lorimer, Lord Walrafen and Aubrey Montford

Lies and Secrets

• The Devil to Pay (2005) Aleric, Lord Devellyn, and Sidonie Saint-Goddard
• One Little Sin (2005) Sir Alasdair MacLachlan and Esmee Hamilton
• Two Little Lies (2005) Quin Hewitt, Lord Wynwood and Viviana Alessandri
• Three Little Secrets (2006) Merrick MacLachlan and Madeline, Lady Besset

Neville Family

• Never Lie to a Lady (2007) Stefan Northampton, Lord Nash and Xanthia Neville
• Never Deceive a Duke (2007) Gareth Lloyd, Duke of Warneham and Antonia, Duchess of Warneham
• Never Romance a Rake (2008) Kieran Neville, Lord Rothwell and Camille Marchand
• Tempted All Night (2009) Tristan Talbot, Lord Avoncliff and Lady Phaedra Northampton

Armstong Family

• My False Heart (1999) Elliot Armstrong, Lord Rannoch and Evangeline Stone
• Wicked All Day (2009) Stuart Rowland, Lord Mercer and Zoe Armstrong

Other Novels

• A Woman Scorned (2000) Cole Amherst and Jonet Rowland, Lady Mercer, Countess of Kildermore

Anthologies

• Tea for Two (2002) (with Cathy Maxwell)
• Big Guns Out of Uniform (2003) (with Nicole Camden and Sherrilyn Kenyon) (contemporary romance)
• The One That Got Away (2004) (with Victoria Alexander, Eloisa James and Cathy Maxwell)
• The School for Heiresses (2006) (with Renee Bernard, Sabrina Jeffries and Julia London)