Stephanie Laurens

Digital audiobook performed by Helen Lloyd.

Set in 1810 England, just on the cusp of the Regency period, this delightful Christmas mystery focuses on the recently widowed Lady Therese Osbaldestone, her three young grandchildren, a flock of missing geese, a “spinster” forgoing her own happiness to look after her younger brother, and a wounded war veteran.

Lady Osbaldestone is a marvelous character; bright, opinionated, kind, inquisitive (some might say nosy), and confident in her right – show more nay, duty – to oversee everyone’s business. As she enlists the help of the children in finding clues as to the whereabouts of the missing geese, she stumbles upon two people in desperate need of matchmaking. Lord Christian Longfellow is living the life of a recluse, certain that his scars make him a pariah to his neighbors. But it is the wounds to his psyche that affect him far more than those to his visage. Meanwhile Miss Eugenia Fitzgibbon has her hands full trying to manage the estate of her younger brother, who would rather party with his equally immature and irresponsible friends than attend to business. Of course, Lady O will begin with a plea to Eugenia’s organization skills and need to be helpful; poor Lord Longfellow hasn’t yet decorated his home for Christmas, and Miss Eugenia is JUST the person to fix that!

This is a delight on so many levels, from the marvelous characters to the charming scenes of Regency village holiday life – ice skating parties, a live nativity pageant, holly and mistletoe, and, of course, the geese!

Helen Lloyd perfectly performed the audio version. She gives us a Lady Osbaldestone who is every bit the dowager and up to whatever task may come her way. She’s equally deft at giving voice to the very young grandchildren, Lord Longfellow and a host of villagers. A splendid narration. show less

Scandalous Lord Dere by Stephanie Laurens - Scandalous Lord Dere is a tender, sensuous friends-to-lovers, reunion story, two of my favorite themes in romance. Stephanie Laurens seems to have a talent for writing richly descriptive prose that isn't at all boring, but instead draws the reader into the story as through they are actually there watching everything unfold. For a novella, I thought that the characterizations and plot were extremely well-developed. Adrian is a rake to be sure, but show more surprisingly gentle, vulnerable and sympathetic, which is my favorite kind of alpha hero. I loved his possessiveness and his persistence in getting Abby to agree to marry him. Abby was a kind-hearted young woman who had never forgotten her one-time lover, Adrian, but he had also unknowingly broken her heart all those years ago, making her reluctant to accept his proposal now. I thought it was sweet that out of the countless women Adrian had seduced over the years, Abby was the only one he could truly remember in detail even though they had only made love once eight years before. I also like that he had become tired and fed up with his rakish lifestyle and wanted to turn over a new leaf. At the heart of it all, Adrian was a great guy who had simply gotten off track in his wild youth, but what better time for new beginnings than on New Year's Day, the day that he reconnected with Abby, the only woman who had ever truly understood him and that he had ever really cared about.

I found it very endearing that these two were childhood friends who later became more, and was totally enamored of the deep intimacy Adrian and Abby shared. It was often in their quieter moments that this showed through the most. I loved reading about them simply sitting together in Adrian's study while she sketched and he worked. They also had a mutual love of books that I could relate to and their impromptu waltz in the park was very romantic. I just thought these two were completely perfect for one another, and their love scenes absolutely sizzled. Stephanie Laurens is very good at writing varied love scenes that are powerfully passionate and lushly sensual. In general her writing style reminds me a lot of Lisa Kleypas which is a very good thing in my book. It is a rare author who can write a short story and make me feel fully satisfied from beginning to end. This was my first read by Ms. Laurens, and she has impressed me so much, I can say with certainly that it won't be my last. I'm very much looking forward to trying more of her books soon. Star Rating: *****

The Last Love Letter by Victoria Alexander – Considering that The Last Love Letter is a friends-to-lovers, reunion romance, I thought I would really enjoy it, but unfortunately, it didn't quite make the cut for me. I spent a large part of my time reading this novella trying to figure out exactly what wasn't working for me. When I got to the end and read the author's bio, which indicated she used to be a reporter, it finally hit me that the story had seemed more like a news report than a fiction tale in which I could immerse myself and feel the emotions of the characters in a palpable way. In fact, I felt very little connection to the hero and heroine at all. The author also had a tendency toward having the characters ask themselves a few too many rhetorical questions which could get a little annoying.

I think my other issue with this novella is the way in which the plot unfolded and the way that Jason and Rachael responded to those events. They had supposedly known each other for most of their lives, and in my opinion, that should have been the basis of not only a deep love but also a deep trust. In spite of that, they were both overly quick to accept the word of Rachael's father when they knew he was a very hard and callous man who despised the idea of his only daughter being with a penniless untitled gentleman. Then Rachael's first husband, Jason's cousin, George, kept the truth from them for years, and when it finally came out, they weren't even angry with him about it. I don't believe that George was an inherently bad man for doing so, but knowing what they had meant to each other, I thought it was a pretty selfish thing for him to do once he found out. The author did bring some sympathy to the situation with George's illness and all that he had done for, and meant to, Rachael over the years, but still the idea that they wouldn't even be the least bit miffed by his actions was a little hard to swallow. Last but not least, Jason discovered the truth three years before Rachael did and when they saw each other at that time, he tried to tell her the truth, but she stubbornly wouldn't listen. Of course, this led to the dreaded “big misunderstanding” which I definitely don't care for in any romance. When they finally did reunite once and for all and were both privy to the whole truth of how they'd been manipulated ten years earlier, Rachael still held herself at arms length not trusting Jason at all. She was even insisting to herself that she didn't love him and was ready to break all ties until the final few pages which didn't work well for me at all. Everything put together just made it very hard for me to believe that they could finally have an HEA.

The Last Love Letter was my first read by Victoria Alexander. In spite of my criticisms, I wouldn't call it bad, but it was just OK. Any readers who can get past a hero and heroine who seem to be easily manipulated by others and all the anger of numerous past misunderstandings may like this one more than I did. As written, it just wasn't entirely my cup of tea. I'm sure I'll give Ms. Alexander's work another try at some point, but I doubt I'll be burning rubber to do so. Star Rating: ***

Now and Forever by Rachel Gibson - Now and Forever is a sweet little friends-to-lovers and reunion romance, two themes I can hardly ever resist. Thomas and Brina have a reunion in the literal sense of the word when they attend their 10th high school class reunion. I loved that they had been lifelong friends throughout childhood. It was rather disappointing that Brina had blown Thomas off for a jock at the end of senior year. It made her seem a little shallow, but given her confidence issues, I guess it made some sense. It's not like she didn't want to remain friends, but Thomas was understandably and deeply hurt. I was glad that during the time since high school, Brina had grown to be comfortable in her own skin and realized what a huge mistake she'd made. Thomas had grown and changed in more way than one too, and seemed to have developed more confidence as well. It might have been nice if he had been a little more settled in his life, but he seemed like a really nice guy.

Even though they hadn't seen or talked to each other in ten years, Thomas and Brina still hadn't stopped thinking of one another. The rekindling of their relationship progressed nicely and had some good sexual tension. I think this novella could have easily been a 5-star read for me except for two small flaws. One is that I wished that Thomas and Brina could have embraced their reunion a little more fully. As written, it felt like they were holding back the whole time, right up until the end. The other is that I felt like the author was sometimes telling a bit more than showing. I think perhaps a little more showing would have improved both the character-to-character and character-to-reader connections. Overall though, Now and Forever was a very solid 4-star story for me that I really enjoyed. It was my first read by Rachel Gibson, but it has definitely left me open to trying her other books. Star Rating: **** show less

Why I Listened: That's a question I asked myself numerous times throughout the book. Seriously though, I reviewed it for the Speaking of Audiobooks column at AAR but my review (rant) is just too long for the column. So, with permission, I'm posting it here. Read on at your peril.What it's about: Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue is the first book in the Cynster Brides series by Australian author Stephanie Laurens. Heather Cynster, daughter of Martin and Celia, is abducted from a soiree in show more London. The abduction is witnessed by Viscount Breckenridge, a not-friend of hers. They don’t get along – he thinks she’s too young for him (there’s a 10 year age gap) and keeps his distance, she thinks he considers her a child. Breckenridge follows and tries to rescue her but Heather has discovered that the kidnappers wanted only a “Cynster daughter” not specifically Heather and given that she’s being treated well (they hired a maid for her, for “countenance”) she thinks it is best to stay in their clutches and extract information about the villain behind the scheme so as to protect her cousins and sisters. Breckenridge goes along with it and follows, keeping watch. If that sounds like a flimsy excuse for a plot to you, it would be because it is. Given the amount of time Heather spends with the kidnappers, she actually finds out precious little about them and even when she does, it is in brief conversations and DAYS are going by. She’s not frightened or in any way traumatised – it’s the most pathetic kidnapping in the history of the activity.What worked for me and what didn't: Torturous. Tedious. Tautologous. In audio, Ms. Laurens habit of describing everything at least three times is so very much more annoying than in print. In print, I skim and I probably only read one word in three, which means I can keep up with the gist of the story but do not want to hit something. I found the same does not apply to audio. I definitely wanted to hit something.If I had a dollar for every time Breckenridge was described (sometimes within the same paragraph as “the Foremost Rake of the Ton”, I’d be able to buy myself a Kindle. Possibly two. Breckenridge, or, as I like to call him FRT, is, to make matters worse, a very poor excuse for a rake. Depending on what part of the book you are listening to, he has either bedded “countless” ladies, or not as many as everyone thinks. However many ladies he has bedded, in his experience, most ladies don’t take any active part in the process (presumably they just lie there and think of England) and only a few have shown anything like passion. So, when FRT eventually beds the heretofore virginal Heather Cynster, he’s overwhelmed, stunned and amazed by her enthusiastic response – she’s active, takes the initiative, passionate. In one scene when she’s, er, “going downtown”, he reflects that he didn’t let ladies to that to him but she was different – WHAT? See? BAD rake. He should be booted out of the Society of Regency Rakes forthwith. Besides, anyone who knows anything about the Cynsters would know that if he was really that bad, Devil and his “ilk” wouldn’t let FRT within coo-ee of pure Heather.Then there’s Heather – at the beginning, she’s given up searching in the traditional ballrooms of the ton for her “hero. She’s decided (not unlike her cousin (?) Amanda from On a Wild Night) to search in the racier environs to find the man who will sweep her off her feet. Later, when offered marriage by FRT due to the damage to her reputation, she refuses and states that she had resigned herself to being a spinster and wants to look after homeless children so her reputation or lack of it doesn’t matter. Next thing, she’s contemplating how it turns out that FRT is her perfect hero if only he would love her. Hur?The villain is the worst villain in the history of villains. We don’t know his identity, but, after hiring people to abduct Heather, he includes a maid for countenance on the journey. Then, when she does escape with FRT, he follows, not to get her back – no!! He follows to make sure that the “bounder” who has her treats her well. There is very little in the book about the motivations of the villain other than that he’s only doing it because his mad-ass mother has made some sort of squirly bargain with him which forces him to “ruin the reputation of a Cynster daughter”. It is clear that he will be the bad guy in the series until he is eventually the hero of the final story in the trilogy.Anyway, Heather and FRT escape together but due to (some more ridiculous) circumstances, they are forced to continue on foot and this takes a number of days. They head for Richard and Catriona Cynster’s estate and on the way there the “romance” part of the book begins. There is literally NOT SO MUCH AS A KISS before chapter 9. Their very first “romantic encounter” is also the full monty. There follows 3 chapters of sexytimes, each described in torturous purple prose - three times. Once FRT and Heather arrive at the Vale there ensues further torture for the listener. FRT has vowed never to love (and thereby be vulnerable to another). Problem is, he’s already in love. Okay, so: New vow. He won’t tell her how he feels because that would give her too much power over him. Problem: she’s declared she won’t marry a man who doesn’t hold her in true “affection” which even he knows is code for “love”. So, he decides to show her his feelings by the power of his “mighty wang of lovin’”. Meanwhile, she’s decided she loves him but won’t marry him unless he loves her too and tells her so. She’s having no success in drawing out a declaration and so decides to show him her true feelings with her “magic hoo-ha”. *sexytimes*. Problem: afterwards she thinks he was just pretending in order to get her to agree to the wedding and says no anyway when he proposes yet again. It was enough to make me bang my head against a wall. Repeatedly. Over and over again. Many times. It takes an injury to FRT to sort matters out (I won’t give away what sort; it’s not quite “pecked to death by pigeons” (TM Julia Quinn) but, oh man - over-the-topsville it is).I decided to listen to this book because, while I do grind my teeth these days at the triptych descriptions and the overuse of the word “evoke” (in all of its many many iterations) , and all the “him being him”s and “her being her”s I have nevertheless really enjoyed some of Ms. Laurens books (Devil’s Bride, On a Wicked Dawn, The Ideal Bride, A Gentlemen’s Honor). But I’m not a big fan of Simon Prebble's narration of her books. He’s a bit too overwrought for my taste (I listened to two of the Black Cobra quartet which he narrated). This one has a new-to-me narrator and I thought it was worth trying. Sadly, Matthew Brenher is the opposite of overwrought. While he does use some expression in his voice, there’s no passion or excitement – the intonation during a scene where they’re sipping tea is the same as during the time they’re traversing “passion’s landscape” (yes, that is a direct quote.) I thought his voice for our hero FRT was quite good, but Richard “Scandal” Cynster has developed an alarming Scottish accent in the 9 years he’s been living there and Catriona, from the sound of her, has apparently taken up chain smoking – and sometimes she slipped into a more Yorkshire accent than a Scots one which was a bit disconcerting. A brief appearance by Michael Anstruther-Wetherby (one of my favourite Laurens heroes) and his wife Caro was even more troubling. Michael sounded prissy and rather like he’d been castrated. In fact at the end of each sentence he uttered, I mentally added “and where ARE my testicles anyway?”. Caro sounded like she was in her 50’s and frumpy . Heather’s voice was okay, but Mr. Brenher does suffer from that common problem with male narrators where the female characters sound like they’re men in drag. Also, I know that Ms. Laurens can write an extremely long and convoluted sentence, but I wondered whether Mr. Brenher had done any pre-reading before the narration performance. There were these pauses in odd and unexpected places which made the sentences sound like they had just abruptly stopped. It was so prevalent throughout the book, it was very off-putting. Because I was tortured by the silly plot and the overwrought descriptions, I had plenty of time to notice each occasion.What else? The book came in at more than 15 hours of listening time. Given that most of it was adjectives, it could easily have been trimmed by half and nothing would have been lost of the plot (what there was of it).I’ve decided I have to break up with Stephanie Laurens on audio. I just can’t bear it anymore. It may be that I will try some more in print where I can skim to my heart’s content and therefore save a layer of enamel on my teeth, but it won’t be soon. show less

I adored the first two books in this series which I was happy for after reading the disaster of the Cobra Quartet series. The conclusion to the series did not disappoint. Angelica is the most adventurous and headstrong of the three Cynster sisters and when this was alluded to in the previous books I was prepared to find her irritating as often times the headstrong heroines let their stubbornness override their sense of reason. Surprisingly she was so well portrayed as both adventurous, show more strong willed and very intelligent but not one to shoot herself in the foot for the sake of stubbornness. I really came to admire her character, strength and heart. Glencrae also was amazingly likeable despite having orchestrated the kidnapping of three women. We learn the reason behind his mother’s crazy ultimatum to “ruin” one of the Cynster girls and I was impressed with the extent Glencrae went to try and retain his honor while trying to carry out her despicable order for the sake of his entire clan.
The adventure of making it back to Glencrae’s home, fooling his mother into thinking she has gotten her revenge and seeing Angelica and Glencrae fall in love was fun filled and I especially enjoyed seeing all of the previous Cynsters involved in the action. The Cynster books are truly where Stephanie Laurens shines and both the heroes and the heroines are unforgettable. show less