Barbara’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Cynster Next Generation #13
Publication Date: 8/17/23
Period: Early Victorian
Number of Pages: 444
A funny thing happened on the way to the proposal. Drago Helmsford, Duke of Wylde, must marry before his thirty-fifty birthday. (Yes, it is another of those stories where an otherwise loving father messes up his kid’s life by including really asinine things in his will – and this time, for really asinine reasons). His parents were a love match, but he never thought he’d have one as well, so upon advice from his Aunt Edith, he decides to propose to Alison Melwin. He met her once and she was quiet, shy, unassuming, and shouldn’t cause any trouble. The night before he is to propose, he and his friends really tie one on – rip-roaring-drunk. So, he passes out the next day on his way to propose – out cold – on a lonely stretch of road. Only to be rescued by a lovely young lady. And to repay her good deed – well – the two of them are discovered as she’s helping him into his cottage (actually upstairs to his bed). Not only discovered, but he just happened to be kissing her when his aunt, her companion, Alison, and Alison’s mother walked in. OOPS. He doesn’t know who the young woman who rescued him is, but the only way to save her is to announce their betrothal. Then, he finds out she is a Cynster. OMGoodness!
Meg Cynster is approaching her tenth season and is in the country assessing what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Obviously, she won’t be a wife and mother because she’s never found even one gentleman who remotely interested her. While she’s out gathering herbs, she comes across a man who appears dead, draped across the seat of a very expensive curricle. She doesn’t know him, but the two farmhands who are also there, but can’t handle his horses, tell her which cottage he is staying in. Even totally passed out drunk he’s handsome and appeals to her. The real trouble starts when she gets him to the cottage and no one is there. How can she get a man who is twice her size into the cottage alone? She cannot leave him outside with a storm on the way. Then, he kisses her – and she lets him.
With an agreement for a pretend betrothal, they go about fooling friends and family alike – until they aren’t fooling. But then, there are the attacks. Is someone trying to harm Meg? Or is it Drago they are after? Neither of them has any enemies – none. So, who could want to harm either of them? Why?
For me, it was an okay read, but I probably wouldn’t read it a second time. While it was written in the typical Laurens style, it was slow-moving with very little excitement. Even the attacks were over before they’d started. Mostly, it was descriptions of the many entertainments they attended and the political affiliations they were making. I really liked Meg and Drago and some of the supporting characters such as his mother and Alison. I loved that there were so many Cynsters who made appearances – from Devil and Hooria to the more recently married cousins. Meg’s brother Toby also gets a bit of page-time in this story and that is nice because his book is next. At the end of this book, there is a synopsis of several other Laurens books and one of those was Devil Cynster’s book – the first of the series. I read the sample chapter of that book and it made me realize that the author has changed her writing style over the years. The first chapter or so of that book was fast-paced, and exciting, and made me want to read it again. Perhaps I’m wrong, but the style just seems different now.
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