A Rogue's Proposal (Cynster, Book 4)

STEPHANIE LAURENS

Synopsis from back cover: Demon Cynster has seen love bring his brethren to their knees, and he's vowed that he will not share their fate...until he spies Felicity Parteger sneaking around his country estate. Demon remembers Felicity as a mere chit of a girl, but now she stands before him – begging for his help – all lush curves, sparkling eyes...and so temptingly worthy of the love he's vowed never to surrender to any woman.

Felicity knew Demon was one of the ton's most eligible bachelors and a rogue of the worst sort, but he was the only one capable of getting her friend out of trouble. Her fascination with him had nothing to do with the power lurking just beneath his devil-may-care facade – or with the desire that flares when he takes her in his arms. She knows he'll never yield her the love she desperately seeks, but could a marriage with passion alone – even with a man like Demon – be enough?

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Avon Books, 1999.

How acquired: Book Mooch

My thoughts:  This is definitely my favorite Cynsters book so far. I loved both Felicity and Demon from the start. Demon, like his brother and his cousins before him, has no need of a wife and no intention of losing his heart to a woman. Felicity, like her own predecessors, is a strong and independent woman who won't meekly bow down to any man and can hold her own with the best of them. Demon owns a stable of racehorses, and is quite impressed with Felicity's riding skills and knowledge of horses. I think that was part of the charm of the book for me in the beginning, all the horse talk. Yes, I was one of those teenage girls who loved horses above all else, especially racehorses. I even dreamed of being a jockey for a couple of years.

The mystery this time around involves a race fixing syndicate that Felicity and Demon begin investigating after Dillon, Felicity's guardian's son, gets involved with them and then goes into hiding. (It seems that orphaned heroines with either a guardian or a brother is a theme with Laurens' heroines). To Dillon's continual frustration, not to mention that of his right hand man, Gillies, Felicity is constantly bolting off on her own and putting herself either in danger or in socially inappropriate situations. The syndicate plot kept my interest non-stop, and watching Demon and Felicity fall for each other along the way was almost like a bonus. Especially watching Demon. Once he realized he wanted to marry Felicity, he was relentless. But like all the Cynster men, he was also arrogant and overbearing and incapable of admitting his feelings, other than the lusty ones, and Felicity was determined that she would only marry him if and when he truly loved her.

Part of the book is set in the relaxed country, where Demon and Felicity are able to spend time riding together or driving into town without her needing to be chaperoned, and part of it is set in the city, where social proprieties must be observed, and I loved seeing the contrast between those two worlds.

This entry in the series was more fun than the previous books, so much so that I didn't even notice – most of the time – the flowery superfluous writing and the author's habit of never using five words when ten are available. 

Scandal's Bride (Cynster, Book 3)

STEPHANIE LAURENS

Synopsis from back cover: Catriona is aghast to learn that her guardian's will decrees that she must marry Richard Cynster...within the week! How could the proud Scottish lass possibly consent to a union with the English rake they call “Scandal”, a masterful man with a deplorable reputation? It is true his commanding presence charms her, his heated kisses excite her --- and the mysterious Lady of the Vale whom she serves has prophesied that they will wed. But Catriona will never give up her independence!

Richard is equally stunned by the will's command, since marriage was not on his agenda. But lately he's been feeling strangely restless –- and perhaps taming the exquisite lady is just the challenge he needs. He burns for Catriona – but can he entice her into the marriage bed without making any binding and revealing promises of love?

And when passion and love are truly destined, can even the most stubborn of hearts resist?

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Avon Books, 1999.

How acquired: Book Mooch

First line: She'd never had a vision like it before.

My thoughts: From the very beginning I was a little thrown by the slight supernatural aspect. The heroine, Catriona, is a healer, and mistress of a small vale, that apparently is so remote it's existence isn't even known to many. Catriona and her mentor, Algaria, are disciples of the mystical Lady of the Vale, whom she and her tenants all worship. The vale and its lands have always been held and ruled by a woman, and therefore the mistress cannot marry a strong man who will try to take over. When Catriona has a disturbing vision of a man, it occurs to her he might be the man the Lady intends for her to wed.

Catriona's guardian, Seamus, passes away, and she is summoned to his estate for the reading of his will. Richard Cynster, aka Scandal, has also been summoned to the estate, his connection being that his birth mother was the deceased wife of Catriona's guardian. Catriona is shocked to recognize him from her vision, and distressed when, after appealing to the Lady for further guidance, she is told “He will father your children”.

Then comes the next shock. The will states that Richard must agree to marry Catriona, or the entire estate will be left to the church, leaving Seamus' own children and grandchildren homeless and penniless. The solicitor informs them that he will return in one week for Richard's answer.

I'm not sure why that supernatural aspect with the divine Lady bothered me. Maybe because the first two books had nothing of the sort in them, so it just kind of came out of left field for me.

I liked Richard well enough. Once he decided he wanted Catriona, he went after her singlemindedly. She, on the other hand, fought hard to avoid him. She decided that since the Lady only told her he would father her children and did not specifically say he would be her husband, she could simply get with child, and then go back to her vale and leave Richard none the wiser. How to do that? Drug him three nights in a row, slip into his room, have sex with him, and slip out before he awakens the next morning. It was, in my opinion, a stupid idea, and while it initially worked well enough, of course Richard was smart enough to figure out something was going on.

Once they are married and settled back in Catriona's vale, there was a Huge Misunderstanding, since neither of them could talk openly and honestly to the other. Catriona was determined that she would continue to run the vale by herself, leaving Richard to wander around and be bored. He had vowed that he would not interfere with her duties, so even when he was sure he could help her with something that she struggled with, he kept his thoughts to himself, afraid to say anything without being asked lest she interpret his intentions the wrong way. It was one of those typical situations where you want to slap both of them and yell “talk to each other!”.

I'm not sure if I like this entry in the series more or less than the the first book, but the second book is definitely still my favorite so far. And while I didn't love this, I have collected almost the entire series, and will continue with the next book, eventually. 

Devil's Bride and A Rake's Vow (Cynster, Books 1 and 2)

STEPHANIE LAURENS

Synopsis from Goodreads: Welcome to the wonderful world of the Cynsters! When I embarked on the stories of the Cynster clan, I knew they fascinated me, but I had no idea how much they would appeal to readers. This volume contains the books that first introduced readers to the glittering, glamorous, passionate, and sometimes dangerous lives of the Cynster cousins and their ducal dynasty. In Devil's Bride, the head of the dynasty, Devil Cynster, 6th Duke of St. Ives, is caught in a compromising position with a governess. He astonishingly offers marriage, but Honoria Anstruther-Wetherby has no interest. Devil is convinced, yet someone is not so enthused, and accidents start to occur. Can Devil convince Honoria that marrying him will be a more exciting adventure than anything she's dreamed? And if he succeeds, will they both survive? In A Rake's Vow, Vane Cynster, Devil's cousin and closest friend, determined to avoid Cupid's dart, takes refuge at his godmother's country house, where fate throws Patience Debbington literally into his arms. Vane is impressed; Patience is not. But as both become embroiled in a mystery involving ghosts, thefts, and ultimately attempted murder, Patience learns that she can place her trust in this rake's vow, because it's one that comes from the heart

Stats for my copy: Hardback, Rhapsody, 2004..

How acquired: Through Book Mooch.

My thoughts: I recently joined a group on Facebook, the Old School Romance Book Club, where at the end of each month a poll is put up and members vote on which book everyone will read the following month. The book for November was DEVIL'S BRIDE. I had to hunt down a copy, and wound up with this omnibus that also contains A RAKE'S VOW.

In DEVIL'S BRIDE, Honoria is a governess. One day while caught in a storm driving back from an excursion into town, she comes across a man lying in the road. While she's investigating his condition, a crack of thunder frightens her horse and he takes off, leaving her stranded with the unconscious man. And then Devil comes riding along and happens upon them. They take refuge in a nearby cottage. The young man, Tolly, who is Devil's cousin, dies. Devil and Honoria pass the night together in the cottage, sleeping in chairs before the fire. Only to be discovered by another of Devil's cousin in the morning, and Honoria's employer. A scandal in the making.

Devil offers Honoria marriage as a way for her to save face, which her brother and countless others are in favor of. But she has no intention of marrying. She wants to travel to Africa. So she repeatedly tells Devil thanks but no thanks.

I struggled to get into the story. I liked Devil well enough, but Honoria often irritated me. Devil and his cousins set out to discover who murdered Tolly and why, and Honoria was determined to be part of the investigation, while Devil was determined that she not be. I was conflicted in my feelings. I get that Honoria was a strong female character who was unwilling to settle into the conventional life of a woman of that time. And yet I often wanted to tell her to just let the the Bar Cynster, as the cousins were known, worry about the murder mystery. Which dragged out and was uninteresting.

I think a lot of my problem was that the author's writing style just didn't appeal to me. It's very effusive and flowery, with lots of long sentences, broken up with lots of commas. It was a little repetitive at times, with paragraphs dragging out in many more words than necessary to convey a thought. And the sex scenes have to to be some of the longest I've ever read. They aren't graphic, yet they are explicit.

Towards the end though I did get quite caught up in the action and was happy with how it all turned out.

In A RAKE'S VOW, which takes place several months later, Vane, one of Devil's cousins, is traveling when he gets caught in a thunderstorm near his godmother's home, so he stops in, planning to just stay the night and then be on his way. Right off the bat he meets Patience, his godmother's niece, and of course he is immediately intrigued with her. And then his godmother, Minnie, tells him that there have been a number of thefts in the household, small, usually insignificant items stolen, and there has been a mysterious being roaming around in the nearby ruins of an old abbey at night, who the household are all referring to as a Spectre. Minnie presses Vane to stay and help sort things out, and so he finds himself settling in with the rest of her house guests to investigate and figure out who is the thief and/or the Spectre.

I liked Patience much more than I did Honoria. She, too, has no plans to marry, especially not an “elegant gentleman” such as her father was, and such as Vane is. Her mother was desperately in love with her father, who did not return her affection, and Patience is determined to not let herself fall into the same type of marriage that made her mother miserable. Vane has no desire to marry either. He's a rake. Who needs a wife when you can have a mistress? And he quickly sets his sights on Patience. I also liked Vane, very much. And Minnie, and Patience's brother. And the mystery was much more interesting, and the writing didn't bother me as much as in the first book. I liked A RAKE'S VOW considerably more than DEVIL'S BRIDE. Enough that I want to get the next book and continue with the series.  

Rereadable Lines

Actually just one line:




It was not the first time she'd been kissed, yet it was. 



Devil's Bride, by Stephanie Laurens