regency

First off these books should be read in order. The 1st book is DEVIL'S BRIDE, which is Devil's story. Devil is the cousin to the hero of this book, Vane. Vane and Devil are extremely close almost like brothers. After Devil has found himself a bride its now Vane's turn. Now Vane has decided no to marry. He is a Rake and has no plans to surrender his bachlorhood. That is until he meets Patience. Now patience has no desire to marry. She is "on The Shelf" and is quite content to groom her young brother, Gerrard, to becoming a great man. She and her brother are residing at the home of her Aunt Lady Bellamy. Vane has taken refuge at Bellamy Hall to wait out a storm and soon finds himself involved with a mystery. Someone has been stealing little baubles from Lady Bellamy's houseguests and everyone has pointed the finger at Patience's brother. Now Vane and Patience must prove Gerrard is innocent.

This is an exciting fast paced story. You get to meet Devil and several others of the Bar Cynster as well. Its filled with very passionate love scenes and quick humor. I highly recommend it and the whole series.

I've had this book for months, and have only made it about 3/4's of the way through it. I've read other books instead of finishing this one. I can't seem to get myself interested in it enough to finish, and that's extremely unusual for me. This was my second book in the Cynster Series, and I really liked Devil's Bride much better. I don't know if I will continue with the Cynster Series (when and if I even finish this one). At least I can see from other reviews that I'm not the only one disappointed in this book. I'm going to force myself to read the rest of it, but I honestly can't see myself continuing with this series.
The plot is thin at best, and taking far too long to get interesting. Patience started getting on my nerves in the first few pages and I almost want Vane to walk away from her. With all her casual liason's with him, it's amazing that pregnancy or scandal never crosses her mind.

Except for her hard-to-understand aversion to men like Vane, Patience is a good if slightly ordinary heroine. We eventually understand her reasoning, but it takes time to sympathize. Vane is one of those characters you really want to like, a lot, but Laurens never gives him his due. To me, Vane is never as clearly realized as the rest of the Cynsters.

I, however, found it refreshing (having read this series out of order) to have the hero almost immediately realize that this was the woman he wanted to marry and she's the one who needs convincing. The mystery plot was not particularly good; honestly, why could no one figure out the sand any earlier? Geez.

But Laurens writes well, and this book is enjoyable, although certainly not the best of the series. I think Vane has been cheated; it's almost as though the author never really understood him. His handling of Patience's brother Gerrard was one of the most insightful elements. Read it as part of the series, but it's hardly the best. Devil's and Scandal's stories are much better.