And Then She Fell

And Then She Fell by Stephanie Laurens R

Henrietta Cynster is known as "The Matchbreaker" as she often offers advice to young women of the ton who want to know more about the man they are engaged to and this often leads to a broken engagement. When a friend of hers asks for advice on James Glossup, who has been courting her for a few weeks, Henrietta reports back that James is required to marry quickly because of the terms of his Aunt's will. After the courtship is called off James is furious as he needed that money to ensure that his aunt's estate operated smoothly and that the people who depended on him would be able to survive. He confronts Henrietta with the havoc she has caused and, feeling bad, she offers to help James find another candidate for him to marry. Luckily the two run in the same circles as he has many connections to the very large Cynster clan and both are invited to all the important events of the season. Henrietta's youngest sister encourages Henrietta to wear a magical necklace that has helped all the other Cynster girls find "their hero" and even though Henrietta doesn't believe marriage is in her near future, she decides to humor her sister and wear the necklace.

One night while coming out of her friends residence, Henrietta bumps into a strange man in the dark but she cannot see his face. Soon afterwards, Henrietta nearly drowns in a river and is only saved by James heroics and later her horse is shot our from under her and is only saved by James' quick thinking.  James is starting to realize that his hunt for the right bride is leading him directly to Henrietta, but he knows that she will not settle for anything other than love and he is in too much of a hurry to take the time to fall in love and have her fall in love with him. Henrietta is also beginning to realize that she does not really want to find James another woman to marry and neither is too upset when a midnight seduction leads to their engagement. Their families are very excited and plans for a quick wedding are started immediately, but more accidents happen to Henrietta and her midnight bump with a stranger are linked to a scandalous murder. The whole clan has to come together to help Henrietta and James survive a madman and plan them a spectacular wedding.

Henrietta is a very practical and well connected lady of the ton and while I admired her realistic out take on life, I found her role as "matchbreaker" ridiculous and I was disappointed that she didn't seem to have any real interests or anything that made her special, interesting, or unique. James was strong and confident and I admired his dedication to protecting those people who depended on him for their livelihood. However, like Henrietta, there was really nothing to make him special or set him apart from any other romance novel hero. Unlike many romances there was really no conflict between Henrietta and James and it really made for an almost boring novel. While I did like that there was no big misunderstanding or something completely ridiculous that kept them apart, when the characters mutually just agree that they need to get married it's just a letdown really. Henrietta and James did spend a lot of time together but there were no scenes that really drew my interest or made me excited to see where their relationship was going.

It seems that Laurens is incapable of writing a book with a decent amount of sex as she either drowns a book in it or she barely has the characters kissing. This book fell into the later category and what sex there was was incredibly flowery and purply and fell into euphemism and dreamy language quickly. The necklace subplot was luckily only occasionally mentioned, which I was very thankful for because I felt like it was very stupid and made me really dislike Henrietta and anyone else who would believe in it. The secondary plot was the murder investigation, which laid pretty low until about halfway through the book and then kind of exploded all over the place. It was unrealistic and ridiculous in the extreme and often seem to serve no purpose other than to show that all the Cynsters were very close and when they united together no one could stand in their way. It ended precisely as everyone knew it would end and really offered very little excitement, even though one of our characters lives was undeniably in jeopardy.

Rating: A very wordy book with two uninspiring characters engaged in an equally uninspiring romance and a murder mystery plot that was barely interesting.

Impetuous Innocent

Impetuous Innocent by Stephanie Laurens 1122

Georgiana Hartley moves back to England after her father's death leaves her with no ties to Italy and an Uncle Ernest as her guardian. But Ernest has passed away and instead her cousin Charles is at the family manor, The Place, and he wastes no time drunkenly and clumsily trying to seduce her. Eventually Georgiana can take more of his advances and runs to Chandlewick Manor to seek the help of Lady Alton. Dominic Ridgely, Lord Alton, is not married so there is no Lady Alton but it does not take him long to realize that he wants to help out this young woman. He sends her to London to stay with his sister, Bella, Lady Winsmere, and tells her that Bella will help her find a job as a companion even while having no intention of doing so. Bella is determined to make her own way in the world and her attraction and deeper feelings for Dominic are complications she know have no chance of becoming something more. Dominic has his own problems with feelings for Georgiana that he is trying to suppress.

Georgiana takes the ton by storm by being herself, speaking her mind, and being so different from all the other young simpering misses. It isn't long before she is getting offers from many eligible bachelors but she turns them all down because she is in love with Dominic. Bella worries about her friend and asks Dominic to help her discover why Georgiana is turning down all her suitors. After a few evenings in her company Dominic knows that, despite their age difference and his history of avoiding commitment, he is going to marry Georgiana. But there are obstacles to overcome in the form of Charles, who is still trying to get Georgiana to marry him, and her insecurities and fears that Dominic does not love her. First she is worried that he is in love with someone else, then she worries that he is only marrying her to obtain possession of The Place, and finally she worries that he is only offering for her because it is too late for him to back down. Luckily, Dominic has enough confidence for both of them and since he has set his mind on marrying Georgiana, he is patient enough to work through all the obstacles in their path and prove that he really does love her.

While running away from a guardian who wants to sleep with his ward is nothing new, it at least serves as a means to get Dominic and Georgiana together, so I can overlook it. Georgiana is defined by her "different-ness" from the other young women, and while most romance novels make a point about how the heroine is set apart from the rest of the ton, I felt like in this book it was really all she had going for her. I think I'd be up for a romance where the heroine is one of those simpering and giggling ladies who wants a title- that would be truly different. At the same time that everyone, including Dominic, admired her for her strength and intelligence she would go off and do something incredibly stupid, like trust Charles and go off somewhere with him. Her insecurities became old very fast and she just kept throwing them up there and while they did make sense and all of them had a grounding in reality I felt like it was just there to take up space in the book. And with all the road blocks the one that wasn't brought up enough was the 14 year age difference between them, and it is one of my favorite differences and I like when age differences play a role.

Dominic was the uber- secure and confident romance novel hero who took everything in stride and magically knew how to handle al of Georgiana's problems. He was able to do exactly what was needed in every situation that Georgiana threw up and nothing really phased him. Even when something new was brought up he was able to discover what it was and knock it down in quick order. While it was nice that the problems weren't allowed to fester, I found it odd that he was this super hero of way-laing a young girls fears about marriage. This was different than more recent Laurens novels (this was originally published in 1994) as there was no sex! It made sense in the context of this book because she was a young innocent and he was doing something he'd never done with her by convincing her to marry him. However, I would have liked something more than just a few kisses that melted her knees, but definitely did not steam up the pages. There was a brief mention of his former mistress and I was kind of hoping that something scandalous would happen on that front, but alas- nothing. Bella was a decent sidekick; she could hold her own, but did not overwhelm and was only slightly better than bland.

Rating: A decent book that took me forever to go through as the relationship progressed incredibly slowly. I plan on sticking to her more recent books.

Scottish Brides

Scottish Brides 719

Under the Kilt by Christina Dodd

Hadden Fairchild's drive to document the oral history and excentricities of Scotland takes him to the clan MacNachtan where he meets and falls in love with their "leader" Andra. But Andra does not trust men after she has been abandoned by all of them in her life and she forces him to leave. Neither can get the other out of their head and Hadden comes back determined to win her and discover the secrets of the MacNachtan marriage kilt. When the servants take it into their heads to meddle and the two are locked in the attic with the marriage plaid and plenty of fertility figurines to help them work through their problems.

This was quite a short story where a lot of the getting to know you obviously took place before the story really began. I really did miss a lot of that, but the story did get to at least a few meaty issues such as her problem with letting go of responsibility and her issues with men. While the story ended up with a few more issues to be resolved, it worked fairly well. The sex was incredibly hot, like wow, for such a short story, but I did not like that there was a completely random out of the blue reunion between her characters from other stories.

Rose in Bloom by Stephanie Laurens

Duncan, Earl of Strathyre, has known Rose Mackenzie-Craddock her whole life and she has been quite the thorn in his side. When he heads back to his childhood home to introduce the woman who may become his fiance, he runs into Rose and discovers that she continues to push his buttons, but in a completely different way. Rose is also contemplating an engagement to another man, but neither Rose nor Duncan can resist the other. They begin a game of teasing that keeps both of them on their toes and it is not long before they both realize they can't marry someone else.

Remarkable what Laurens can do with 100 pages really as she manages to write some really great chemistry between these two. I liked both of these characters immensely and they worked together so amazingly perfectly. A great deal of the story was told from Duncan's point of view and I really liked getting that perspective in a romance. To go along with the chemistry there was a little bit of really good sex, but not enough to overwhelm such a short story. Really this story boiled down to two great characters who were just great together.

Gretna Greene by Julia Quinn

Margaret Pennypacker rushes off to Gretna Greene to save her brother Edward after discovering that he has eloped, but on her way she is waylaid by bandits. Angus Greene saves her as he hates bad guys and upon discovering she has been robbed he takes her to an inn and pretends they are married. The two spend the evening discussing Scottish cuisine, their wayward siblings, and trying to avoid ripping each other's clothes off. When morning finally arrives, they've only known each other one day, but in Gretna anything can happen.

I enjoyed the slightly contrived means by which Quinn got both our characters to Gretna as it gave them some common ground and moving on from "protecting" their siblings lent the

ir rashness some realism. At times I did become irritating with their too-cute banter and it seemed more like arguing than fun, but I still liked how well these characters fit. The sex was kind of thrown in rather willy- nilly in the end, but the story definitely still felt complete.

The Glenlyon Bride by Karen Ranney

Lachlan Sinclair is not at all pleased when the local seer predicts he will marry, and he assumes this woman is Harriet, an English lady. Janet MacPhearson is companion to Harriet and she yearns to go back to Scotland. When Lachlan shows up to scope out Harriet, he finds Janet and assumes she is Harriet. At night the two meet out by the water and it is not long before they know they love each other. But with a legend against them and Harriet using her evil influence, it may take a lot for them to find their way to Glenlyon together.

I really liked the plot of this book with the mistaken identity, but there were instances where I thought it was handled poorly. To me it was obvious that Janet was actually the woman from the legend and I wanted them to wake up and go for it. I thought that Janet and Lachlan were perfect for each other and really meshed well, with a lot of common and a lot of ways the two could help each other. Some brief sex was thrown in almost as an afterthought, but overall the story worked fairly well.

The Elusive Bride

The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens 526

Emily Ensworth is in India visiting her uncle when her party is attacked by members of the Black Cobra cult and Captain MacFalene entrusts her with an important document which she must deliver to Major Gareth Hamilton, before he sacrifices his life to save hers. She gets back to base and passes the document on to Gareth and the next day he and his friends all leave on separate ships. That brief encounter was enough for Emily to suspect that Gareth may be "her one," the one she is destined to end up with, so she too leaves with her own entourage in the hopes of catching up with Gareth. When she does Gareth is forced to admit that Emily is far from the wilting English flower he has come to expect: she is independent, intelligent, and trustworthy. So he confides in her that MacFalene had passed onto him a document pertaining to the leader of the Black Cobra cult that needed to be shown to higher ups in the English government. He and his friends made copies of the document and, with one of those copies, he is trying to be a cover for the real document.

He and Emily decide that the safest course of action would obviously be for them to travel together and it is not long before they are attacked by the cultists. Pretty much every city and every sea they travel in they are being watched and attacked. And then they're attacked some more- but no worries, because none of their own friends die. And then they travel some more. On the journey Emily's belief that Gareth is "her one" is fortified so she sets out to convince Gareth of the same fact. Unfortunately traveling does not really provide many opportunities for conversation so their time together is mainly spent in the bedroom. But now the cultists have taken their destruction as a personal project and it seems like every random Indian cult member has decided to travel and kill them. The two, with their friends, must work diligently to elude being killed, so that Gareth and Emily can finally live happily ever after with each other.

I know I have complained about Lauren's books following a formula and I now know why she has done that; because straying from said formula produces disastrous results. Seriously this book was awful, perhaps one of the worst I have ever read. The Black Cobra cult completely took over the book, but if it was good I might have been able to overlook the lack of real romance, however it was definitely not goodl. I kept wanting her to explain what this damn cult was! Why were there apparently thousand's of people willing to travel thousands of miles and risk their lives? I wanted some back ground into how this cult came to be, what it's purpose was, what it was about, and why I should give a crap about our hero trying to exterminate it. And damn- they were certainly willing to kill because I felt like every time I turned a page Emily and Gareth were being attacked by another group of cultists. There were also a ton of holes in this plot that made it even more ridiculous.

I really did not feel as though I got to learn anything about Gareth and Emily, of the people they really are outside of escaping dangerous people and killing. Of course Gareth was a great fighter. I did like that Emily not only fought, but she did so intelligently and wasn't just throwing herself into the fray willy nilly. However, Emily keeps a journal and she either restates what we already read or she comes across as a teenager in love. Their romance was almost non-existant and I found it really just awful that the two agree that they want a marriage just like two other couples Lauren's had written about in previous books. Seriously- she has to resort to mentioning more developed books. And a surprise here- the sex was few and pretty terrible. A lot of the book took place while the party was traveling and I really wish their had been a map because I really did not know where some of the places were. Mention was made of other books in this series and from what I can glean they're about as awful as this one.

Rating: Non existent romance with basically non-existant characters with a terrible murder/ villain plot. Definitely one of the worst books I have ever read.

Mastered by Love

Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens

Royce Varisey, also known as Dalziel, is the newly minted Duke of Wolverstone and is quite wary of returning to his ancestral home as he and his family have been estranged for nearly two decades. When Royce decided to run a spy ring to stop Napoleon his family was very disappointed in him taking up a profession. Once at home it becomes clear to him that the person really in charge of the estate, who knows the ins and outs, whom the tenants love, is Minerva Chesterton. Minerva had been taken in by his parents after her parents death when she was very young and she has been living as the chatelaine of Wolverstone for many years. It is to her that Royce finds himself turning when he needs help on how to behave, what repairs to make to the estate, and how to deal with guests and with his tenants. At his father's funeral all the important members of the ton, as well as his very extended family, take up residence in his castle and he learns that it is imperative that he find himself a bride. Apparently the prince regent is thinking of having the Dukedom revert back to the crown if a direct heir is not provided soon.

Royce knows that he is destined for a loveless marriage, as the Varisey's are incapable of love, but when forced by the grades dames to choose a bride, he realizes that he wants his bride to be Minerva and sets out to win her even if the only way is to first seduce her. Unfortunately this backfires as Minerva is a virgin and she does not want Royce to make her an offer out of obligation and refuses to believe that any proposal he makes will be tainted. So Royce decides that the best mode of attack is to continue with her seduction but also sets out to prove that the two of them work so well together and that they would make a great team together running Wolverstone. But before leaving London Royce was unable to take care of the Last Traitor- a member of the ton who had been selling secrets to the French and cost many English lives. Royce doesn't know that this traitor has followed him to his estate and just as it looks as though Minerva and Royce are about to live happily ever after, this traitor decides it's time for one more try at destroying Royce.

Anyone who claims that romance novels are formulaic, with the same plot and the same characters must have been talking about Stephanie Laurens. Literally every single one of her heroes is exactly the same. They're wealthy but have an important job working for the crown in some sort of spy type profession and they're very masculine, and possessive. There will be tons of sex (some might say too much) with liberal references to his primitive feelings and actions with some references to her submissiveness and his power. There is always a main focus on the romance but with a side plot, always involving kidnapping and it is this kidnapping that finally forces the hero to admit that, while he has always known he cares for the heroine, he is actually IN LOVE with her. At least in this one we were presented with a different heroine as I had gotten tired of her rich, titled ladies who are so heart warmingly good that they go out to improve society through charity. While I didn't like her name, Minerva was quite likable as an actual working woman (to an extent) who was genuinely important to others and was quite skilled at her job. But other than that- true to type through and through.

I almost feel that while reading Stephanie Laurens novels I can read the first 100 or so pages, get to know the characters and what makes them (slightly) individualistic and (slightly) different than their counterparts, and then just fill in the rest of the story. The Last Traitor plot really went completely unmentioned for most of the book until at the end, and it was certainly quite unimportant really. Laurens novels are all just a little too long and perhaps if she cut out one (or five) of the dozens of sex scenes (I know it's unusual for me to say that) or really the entire kidnap plot altogether with the last traitor thing the book would have fit a little more nicely. So I liked Minerva immensely- far more so than most other Laurens heroines, but I'm beginning to think it would be really nice for her to go out of her comfort zone and write about a courtesan or something. Basically someone outside the large circle she's built for her characters (partly so I wouldn't have to read about them all getting together to save the day at the end of every novel).

Rating: A typical fill in the names Stephanie Laurens novel. I want to give it a two but I actually did not enjoy it. Perhaps that's why she continues to write them this way- because they're still enjoyable-ish.

Secrets of a Perfect Night

Secrets of a Perfect Night

"Scandalous Lord Dere" by Stephanie Laurens
When Adrian, Lord Dere, finds himself lost in a snowstorm he barely manages to make it to the front door of Abigail, Abby, Woolley. Adrian had ruined Abby eight years beforehand, granted at her insistence, and then left to lead his scandalous life in London. Abby had believed Adrian would shortly return for her, but her hopes were crushed a year later when Adrian fought against a marriage their parents had arranged between them. But now Adrian wants to give up his dissolute lifestyle and quickly after reuniting with Abby he realizes that she is the only woman he could ever marry and intends to make her his bride. For reasons Adrian cannot fathom Abby refuses his offer, but cannot resist him when it comes to his skillful lovemaking. He has no idea how much it hurt Abby that he did not want to marry her all those years ago and believes that his actions now should make up for what happened in the past. He slowly and carefully sets out to woo her but his past and reputation in London could end up hurting his chances with her at a crowded ball room where Adrian lays his heart on the line.

Laurens certainly manages to pack a bunch of steam into this 150 page novella, but unfortunately much of it just ends up frustrating and not because of Laurens typical flowery prose. It quickly becomes apparent that everytime Abby voices a concern for their future, or an opinion or idea that differs from Adrian his idea of a solution is to sex her up. When Abby first says no to his marriage proposal- he seduces her, when Abby thinks he is continuing an affair with a mistress he (after briefly briefly briefly trying to explain to her the truth) seduces her. As the longest of the three short stories one would think these characters would have enough time to work out their problems instead of just seducing them away. I liked the little bits of angst between the two of them although I quickly got tired of Adrian's- he was unhappy with his life because all the bored rich ladies of the ton were using him for his sexy prowess and none of them really cared for him as a person. It was more than a tad bit tiring to read about a man sick of being used for sex. And I didn't care for Abby as a person as, despite her sassiness, she is definitely a pushover when it comes to Adrian and lets him off the hook far too easily. Surprisingly enough my least favorite of the three stories.

"The Last Love Letter" by Victoria Alexander
Ten years ago Jason Norcross and Rachel Gresham had been madly and passionately in love with each other, and equally determined to run away to America to marry and escape her domineering father. But Rachel's father interferes in their plans leaving Rachel believing Jason had run off to America without her and Jason believing that Rachel had taken her own life. When Jason's cousin, George, Lord Lyndhurst, offers to marry Rachel she accepts and is determined to move on with her life. After his death he writes the two of them similar, but not identical letters informing each of them of the truth of the matter and letting them know that he regrets the situation and hopes both of them can leave the past behind them and find love again. Their reunion is strained but Jason quickly realizes that his feelings for Rachel have never faded and believes that she feels the same. However Rachel is terrified of trusting Jason again, even though she knows his abandonment wasn't his fault, and fears that the woman she has begun isn't capable of loving Jason the way that she had as a young girl. Determined to win her back and prove that their love has and can continue to endure Jason sets up one perfect night to make up for the one that went awry so many years ago.

The first half of this 120 page novella is chock full of flashbacks and indeed long sequences take place ten years ago as we watch Rachel and James make plans that are then dashed. These flashbacks are more interesting than the parts that take place in the "present" day as the the real-time parts are full of Rachels worries and, while they are definitely worthwhile and something that makes sense for one to be worried about, they do bog and slow down the pace of the novel. Her feelings about the girl she once was vs. the woman she know is were also a little wierd to read about- everyone changes as they grow up but it wasn't like she had become a completely different person; what made Jason fall in love with her was still present. I enjoyed how George, while obviously a flawed character, was far from being the villain and it was clear that both protagonists had deep feelings for him and "forgave" him for his secrecy after he had discovered the truth. The book has a decent amount of steam for one so short including a hot one in a stable and certainly has plenty of wonderful angst, mostly on Rachel's part. I liked the first half better; once Rachel and Jason reunited and he "forced" his way rather ham-handedly into her house I lost a little of my love for the book- still good overall.

"Now and Forever" by Rachel Gibson
Brina McConnell is terrified of attending the ten year reunion of Galliton high school even though she is no longer the short skinny wallflower anxious to fit in, but is now a successful, and sexy, private investigator. Part of her is hoping that she runs into her childhood friend Thomas Mack, whom she briefly dated their senior year before dumping him to go to Winter Prom with Mark Harris the High School Golden boy. She is surprised, and happy for him, when she discovers that Thomas has grown up, filled out, and made his fortune in the software/ computer biz. Both of them find themselves immediately taken in by the people who wouldn't have had anything to do with them back in High School, and despite his hesitancy to have anything to do with Brina, Thomas quickly finds he enjoys her company far more than that of the head cheerleader. When the two of them revisit childhood hangouts they find that they cannot keep their hands off each other which terrifies both of them. After a short lived attempt to pretend neither of them is bothered they give in to their feelings for each other, but a wrench is thrown in when Thomas is unexpectedly called away and Brina begins to worry if they have a chance together. No worries though as Thomas spends the time thinking about how important Brina is to him and how he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

Their is very little angst on his part about the whole being dumped before prom thing for someone better than me and from her about being so eager to fit in that she hurt her best friend. However there is a good bit of it when Brina is jealous of Thomas spending time with Holly, the aforementioned head cheerleader. After reading this I realized one of the best things about regency romances is that I never read them and cringe at clothing descriptions and the same cannot be said about modern romances. Unfortunately contemporary romances that are more than 5-10 years old inevitably contain cringe worthy clothing descriptions and this was no exception, but something I can live with as I am not exactly fashionable myself. Surprisingly enough this book has the hottest, and yet smallest, amount of steam of the three in the book- Gibson is very good at this. I felt like the book moved a little fast-although they've known each other for years their reunion and falling in love takes about 4 days (plus a few extra while he's out of town) and then he's asking her to marry him (not really a spoiler people). Overall it was really good, but not perfect and certainly better than the first novella.

Where the Heart Leads

Where the Heart Leads by Stephanie Laurens

Where the Heart Leads is the story of Barnaby Adair, third son of an Earl and private investigator (who has appeared of Lauren's other Cynster books) known for tackling members of the ton who have committed crimes, and Penelope Ashford. Penelope is the sister-in-law of a Cynster, the founder and chief director of the Foundling House, an orphanage and training school for East End orphans, and is determined to never give up her freedom and marry. When four of her boys are "kidnapped" from their homes shortly before Penelope is supposed to pick them up, she turns to Barnaby to help her find her missing orphans. He in turn enlists the help of his police sergeant friend Stokes who enlists the help of his "friend" Griselda who grew up in East End but escaped to open up her own millinry shop. The four quickly narrow the possibility down to a burglery school and then narrow their suspects down to a list of known burglery trainers and then set off to do "investigating" which involves going to East End markets and trying to subtly get information out of people.

Somehow, through reasons that seem to have no relationship to their investigative skills, the quartet does manage to uncover a large amount of information which makes the villian nervous and causes him to target Penelope. Barnaby gets protective, but fairly early on Barnaby realizes Penelope would make the perfect wife for him and thus embarks on a journey to convince Penelope that marrying him is a good idea- and all her idea. Penelope in turn thinks it a great idea to answer some of her questions regarding sex and takes it for granted that the affair will be no strings attached. Until Barnaby's dedication to her cause causes her to realize he is not just another airheaded ton gentleman. The investigation heats up until things unsurprisingly come to a head, but the villian, while introduced late in the book, comes as no surprised to anyone- he being the typical nasty romance novel villian. There is the typical confrontation/ catch the bad guy scene where Barnaby and Penelope are forced to confront their feelings for each other when their lives are threatened, admit their love, and live happiliy ever after.

My first Stephanie Laurens book (that I've reviewed) and it is far from her best. Usually Laurens can be counted on for at least steamy (if drawn out and melodramatic) sex and lots of it but even that was a disappointment. There were two total scenes and, even more so than expected, they dragged on incessantly to the point where they were not even sexy. Plus she has tons of inuendo; where the sex is implied (we come in as they're finishing or we leave just as it gets good) and to be honest I absolutely hate that. To make it worse kinky stuff is implied but never followed through on- major disappointment. Also I was disappointed that we only got one mildly steamy scene between Griselda and Stokes as I found their little side relationship more intriguing than Barnaby and Penelope's. And I do not like romance novels that constantly illude to the happy marriages of those couples the author has previously written about- something the Cynster novels almost all do.

The sumary was so full of the (supposed to be) side-plot because that was by far the majority of the book. The two were almost never together outside of the investigation and even their sex seemed to have been driven by needing comfort when the situation was becoming difficult. The plot was interesting and certainly different from the norm with no spies. It was great to read about a heroine dong something good for the community that wasn't at all annoying and seemed to be created solely for the purpose of having the reader "like" the heroine. The secondary villains were cool characters, well developed, and fun to read about, and it was nice that we got to read quite a bit about what was going on in their world while they were plotting. Even the children were well-represented; those who were developed avoided being overly pretentious or cute.

Rating: I did not like this book. It wasn't a romance novel in my opinion- it was 400 pages of kidnap plot with 50 pages of a poorly and slowly developing romance.