A friend recently recommended her so I went out one afternoon to my local used book store and got ALL of Cynsters (no Devil’s Bride there), and ALL of Bastion Club. As DB comes so highly recommended, I just naturally had to have it and so I stopped by my local Borders, and BINGO! They had it, and upon getting home I went to work and put them all in order.

I started reading with book #8 “The Promise in a Kiss” as it tells the story of Devil’s parents Sebastian and Helena. Well, that one certainly wet my appetite and there I went on to the next one, “Devil’s Bride”. I’m here to tell you I liked the prequel much better. I’m in a FULL agreement with you and your review of the book.

The third installment, “A Rake’s Vow” left me scratching my head. I skipped most of the book as it was just too predictable and sooooo slow.

“Scandal’s Bride” came next and it sort of gave me hope and determination to continue with this series (I mean, now I just had to read them…I invested almost $70, right?). Scandal’s story was a bit unique, and kept a good pace. Next please!

Now came “A Rogue’s Proposal” and I just JUMPED with excitement! Now, this one was in my estimation the BEST of them all, so far. I feel that SL has taken her sweet time in developing the characters of Flick, Demon and their romance, and it shows through this book. Those two characters interact so well with each other, that they FEEL ‘real’. I’m floored by the way she’s written a story of actual courting of her heroine. The age difference was handled so well and I applaud her for that. I found Flick refreshing and Harry such a great and true Hero. Here is our sophisticated Hero, with all of his experience, finding himself completely blindsided with innocence. I also thought that the love scenes in this book were one of her best written EVER! They were not too long or too short. They were just right and actually made you want to keep on reading. This book had me hooked from the first page and I hardly noticed it was over. Trust me, that does not happen often. That’s how well written it was.

“A Secret Love” came and went. I honestly didn’t like it. Enough said- NEXT!

So here I am on finishing #9 “On a Wild Night” (Amanda’s story), after I skipped “All About Love” #6 and “All About Passion” #7. OAWN is too irritating, writing as well as the Heroine are just getting a bit reminiscent of the other ones and I’m thinking that I’ll try to tackle #10 “On A Wicked Dawn” even though I’m not holding much hope that it would be different from the other ones. After that one, I’ll be ready for some of the new Debut writers that are out there (I HIGHLY recommend Tiffany Clare and “The Surrender of a Lady”).
I’ll try to tackle the Bastion series sometime next year. I’ll be skipping the Cobra series for sure………

But apart from that, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed some of the same qualities that I do/did in Laurens. As you say, part of the charm of Laurens is “all the regular things you expect from romance, done (mostly) right”. However, I often find some irregular things in her work too, and that’s part of why I still read her occasionally.

I wasn’t aware that Devil’s Bride was considered one of Laurens’ best. It’s not my favorite because it’s so conventional. E.g. this is really unappealing in D’s B:

The highhanded “you were made for this, for me. So woman up & deal…it’ll only cost you your dreams. which are silly anyway.” attitude was irksome.

and I don’t think either protagonist’s motivations are convincingly developed. OTOH Laurens has interesting ways of giving a heroine agency even with an imperious duke in the mix. Those introspective scenes in which the heroine reflects on the balance of power and different types of intimacy in her marriage are characteristic of Laurens.

I do have a couple of favorite Laurens novels (even though the lovemaking, the heated caresses, the sighs, the moans, the passing of warm afternoons in bowers and beds and broom closets, the giving, the taking, the sexx0ring, the intimacy, the compact between lovers, the question, the answer, the to, the fro, the rumpy and pumpy, is impossible for me to read any more).

My favorite is A Secret Love, which starts and ends preposterously but in between develops a good ensemble cast and lovely sense of intimacy and “fit” in the central relationship.

I also like much of The Ideal Bride for its interesting gender roles, though its purple is of the purpliest and its sex scenes of the unreadabliest. E.g. the “woman up & deal“/silly dreams factor is turned on its head. The heroine is the well-traveled, politically savvy one. Older women let her know that she’s selling herself short and needs some *genuine* ambitions (unlike Honoria’s wallpaper-thin travel fantasy). So in TIB, when the heroine comes into her own, she explicitly decides to take the hero under her wing and teach him what he needs to develop his career, and he acknowledges her tutelage remarkably graciously.

On a Wicked Dawn is not a favorite, but is another that really emphasizes the adjustment to marriage. The engagement and mystery are ridiculous contrivances, but the evolution of the relationship after marriage is the heart of the book.

“One of the things I liked is that Devil wanted Honoria for her strength more than anything else.”

That’s a common thread in the Cynster books. Including A Secret Love.

BTW, there’s another interesting feature to this series. In the time period of most of the Cynster books, Helena is a widow, and we know that she took in her husband’s bastard child. So when Laurens later told the story of Helena and Sebastian’s romance (a generation-earlier prequel to the series), many readers felt that that foreknowledge of his infidelity and death violated the HEA. I think that says something fascinating about the importance of the “ever after” in the ending; happy for now might suffice as long as the ending’s not undercut by prior knowledge.

The evopsycho bit… I sort of wish I hadn’t read that. I think Laurens is smart and has some interesting things to say about gender roles and relationships, but ugh to biological determinism.

One of my favorites of Lauren’s is CAPTAIN JACK’S WOMAN. It was actually my second book I read of hers when I got back to discovering historicals and she had many books out already. I always recommend this one when someone wants to try Laurens book. I loved this one more than DEVIL’S BRIDE which I read first.

Great review here! Love reading your posts on the book reviews and more. I can’t get my thoughts down as you do but you do get me to remember more and think more about these reads. Glad to find this blog recently! Thanks!

All I recall from the few pages that I read was that the hero raised his eyebrows A LOT. He raised them sardonically, he raised them coolly, he raised an arrogant brow left and an imperious brow right… you get the drift. It felt like there were 35 brow raisings in as many pages and by the 35th page, I was done – I felt it would be as much fun to watch a wooden puppet with movable eyebrows. A tall, dark, broody puppet.

LOL! I will never be able to reread this book!

ReacherFan wrote:

I think some character types and certain story lines are ‘fashionable’. Like Disco music or some pop singers, they just don’t age well. Seriously, how many of those vampire and werewolf novels we all enjoy will hold up over time and be as good 50 years from now? Hell, 20 years from now when they can evoke a nostalgic response?

Thanks for your thoughtful answer! This is a good question. You are probably right. I often equate longevity with excellence, but there’s also a kind of excellence in capturing the moment, in being of the moment.

willaful wrote:

“A tall, dark, broody puppet.”
Now I’m having flashbacks to season five of “Angel”!

LOL!!!

Meriam wrote:

Jessica, I love your review but I’m inclined to agree with wilaful – quit while you’re ahead. I enjoyed Devil’s Bride (particularly the post-marriage section) and the goodwill it engendered carried me through the next couple in the series… which got progressively worse. The writing is beyond purple (I’m surprised RfP hasn’t commented; she does a wicked Laurens), and the biggest sin of all; the characters and plots are interchangeable.

Having said all of that… the one other Laurens I really enjoyed was A Secret Love. But other than that – see above.

Ok, well there are so many authors I want to try. I think this will be it for SL for me for now. But I now REALLY want RfP to comment!

Julie wrote:

I’m with the others that said Devil wanted Honoria initially for her strength and mettle to be his duchess.

I loved this, too!

FD wrote:

Auk, the excerpts and the implications of that speech by Stephanie Laurens are exactly why I avoid many authors online presence.

I know. It is just way too dicey. And it’s not even that authors behave badly. Sometimes, as in this post, they just happen to hold views I find repugnant. I’d rather not know we disagree so strongly about issues dear to my heart.

Kaetrin wrote:

It is also the book **Minor Spoiler** where Devil finally says “I love you” to Honoria – (did you notice he didn’t in DB?) and after I read DB, I went back and re-read it and it was delicious!!

No, I did not. thank you for pointing it out!

Kaetrin wrote:

I am really really sensitive to the repetition she uses which now mostly pisses me off and used to (sort of) charm me.

eg;
“Far from being freed, she was caught, trapped.”
or
“Emboldened, she hesitantly kissed him back – tentative, unsure.” or
“He’d been feeling restless, dissatisfied with his lot…”
or “the sound slid through him, sank in and set its claws, fraying his reins…”

Now, I’m like, Oh for God’s sake just say it ONCE already!!!! grrr! Oh, and ENOUGH with the reins – fraying, loosing, slipping, tightening – just ENOUGH!!

See, this is why glomming for me is a bad idea. You go back for all of the good things, but you can;t help but notice these problems.

Mistress wrote:

Seemed Honoria wanted to travel to eygpt mostly to snub the “place” society deemed she fill, by choosing to pursue a experience deemed irrational/improper for a woman.

This never worked for me. I didn’t see anything in her character that backed this desire up —- no wanderlust or thirst for adventure or anything at all.

Mistress wrote:

The highhanded “you were made for this, for me. So woman up & deal…it’ll only cost you your dreams. which are silly anyway.” attitude was irksome.

Yeah, I think this can work as a fantasy for modern women readers because of the setting. It can feel comforting to have the gender lines neatly drawn after so many decades of messing around with them.

The highhanded “you were made for this, for me. So woman up & deal…it’ll only cost you your dreams. which are silly anyway.” attitude was irksome. So was his reluctance to love Honoria, after all the wooing and manipulating to win her hand. “Devil” liked her just the way she was, as long as she colored inside the lines he set. But that’s par for the course in Historicals, so I let it slide.

But, Devil’s Bride is in my top few of favourites by this author and it is definitely a keeper for me. I have re-read it a couple of times and there are scenes I go back to when I feel like a quick pick-me-up.

A Secret Love didn’t really do it for me in as much as I didn’t think it was particularly memorable – I loved On a Wicked Dawn (I think I have that right – it was the second one of the twins books anyway and their titles are disconcertingly similar…) – I know another commenter above loathed it but this was my first ever Laurens and I really liked it. There was a very very minor subplot about a thief but basically, it was all about Luc and Amelia and the progression of their relationship as they admit their feelings to one another. It is also the book **Minor Spoiler** where Devil finally says “I love you” to Honoria – (did you notice he didn’t in DB?) and after I read DB, I went back and re-read it and it was delicious!!

I also love An Ideal Bride (Michael is Honoria’s brother) – this is a great one where the hero has to overcome the heroine’s (Caroline) issues about being wanted/loved for herself, not her political expertise and grace as a hostess. His speech to her toward the end of the book about “I will never turn from you…” was so good I’ve re-read it many times – of course it was in the midst (and I do mean in the midst!!) of a sex scene which on the one hand was a bit odd but, when coupled (pun intended!) with the root (oh, I’m so bad..) of her issues, it made sense.

I also loved Chillingworth’s story (All About Passion) – you met him in DB (although there is an odd erotic scene where he’s teaching her about trees or something… still confuses me…

Also, The Promise in a Kiss which is the story Devil’s parents which I appreciated because I already knew from the other Cynster books that they’d had a legendary love and it was nice to see the beginning.

My other favourite is Tony and Alicia’s story in the Bastian Club novel – A Gentleman’s Honour.

I do agree that many of her books seem to be more a “search and replace” these days – the names change but not much else and I am really really sensitive to the repetition she uses which now mostly pisses me off and used to (sort of) charm me.

eg;
“Far from being freed, she was caught, trapped.”
or
“Emboldened, she hesitantly kissed him back – tentative, unsure.” or
“He’d been feeling restless, dissatisfied with his lot…”
or “the sound slid through him, sank in and set its claws, fraying his reins…”

Now, I’m like, Oh for God’s sake just say it ONCE already!!!! grrr! Oh, and ENOUGH with the reins – fraying, loosing, slipping, tightening – just ENOUGH!!

I just finished Where the Heart Leads and it was an okay read and I finished it (unlike the previous two books I started by other authors) but it was probably a C – satisfactory but missing something.

I think I’ve probably moved on as a reader whereas she doesn’t seem to have as an author. I still enjoy going back to my favourites of hers occasionally but I don’t expect much for the future. Her heroes are almost all super alpha who (for some curious reason) don’t want to admit they’re in *whispers* love and who spend an inordinate amount of time trying to win the girl without having to “humble” themselves by admitting their feelings – I’m a bit over that now.

But, Devil’s Bride – ah, yes…. one of my favourites.

I second willaful and the others who suggest quitting while you’re ahead, although I will add I have read most of her books, and usually pick up new ones at the library. However I do so in the full knowledge that I will be reading a retread of previous books, just with different character names, so I only pick hers up when I am in the mood for that sort of book.

Now I’m having flashbacks to season five of “Angel”!

—-
Nice catch!

Jessica, I love your review but I’m inclined to agree with wilaful – quit while you’re ahead. I enjoyed Devil’s Bride (particularly the post-marriage section) and the goodwill it engendered carried me through the next couple in the series… which got progressively worse. The writing is beyond purple (I’m surprised RfP hasn’t commented; she does a wicked Laurens), and the biggest sin of all; the characters and plots are interchangeable.

Having said all of that… the one other Laurens I really enjoyed was A Secret Love. But other than that – see above.

Now I’m having flashbacks to season five of “Angel”!