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Loading... A Rake's Vow (Cynster, #2) (edition 1998)by Stephanie Laurens
Work InformationA Rake's Vow by Stephanie Laurens
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A delightful read with a sweet touch. Vane's romance deserves a perfect score of 10/10, but the overall story falls a bit short at 6/10. Unlike other Cynster stories, the background narrative failed to capture my interest. I won't be revisiting this one. The elements involving the "spectrum" and the thief lacked appeal, but Vane's romantic journey is truly captivating. ( ) 3.3 stars I enjoyed Devil and Honoria’s book more than this one, but there were still moments that made me smile, and a few that made me laugh out loud. Patience’s misgivings were drawn out longer than I wanted to put up with, but I otherwise liked her character. Vane was a good egg—dashing, persistent, and very sweet to his godmother. I loved seeing Honoria and Devil again, and it was entertaining to see all the Cynsters checking out Vane’s future bride at Honoria’s ball. I like these Cynster books, mainly because I love the family dynamic. It’s fun that there’s been a mystery to solve in each of the books so far too. I wonder if that will continue. I could do with about 15 fewer sex scenes in the next book, but I doubt that’s in the cards with this series. This isn’t one I feel compelled to drop everything and read straight through, but I like Lauren’s characters enough to eventually grab the next. Other than the massively Scooby-Doo plot (which I must say I enjoyed anyway), this book is pretty good. Although it is rather cheesy, the plot is captivating and rather fun - this isn't a particularly serious story, but it's good enough to keep a reader entertained. Vane and Patience sizzle with the heat between them, and the sex scenes are quite hot as well. While this book isn't quite as good as Devil's Bride, I nonetheless enjoyed it a great deal. I hate giving a book just one star, but I'm really not sure I enjoyed any aspect of it. The heroine was a naive, judgemental, reckless, nitwit. Practically her only attribute was her love for her brother. And the hero was so incredibly full of himself, but almost worse, the author seemed to be full of him too. Apparently he's supposed to be just the end-all-be-all of men. I bet he was called some version of 'hunter', 'warrior', or 'conqueror' well over 50 times! Every little thing he did was described as being 'masterfully done' or some nonsense. It would have been funny perhaps if it were done tongue in cheek or something, but it just dripped with sincerity. I can't think of when I last rolled my eyes so much at a book. They're in opposition for a large part of the book, and he tries to school her into bending to his will or something, but he's experienced, rich, worldly, etc. and she's very young, sheltered, ignorant, and a literal orphan, just trying to look out for her brother! They could not possibly go-toe-to-toe because it's nowhere near a fare fight! And if it's not, then him not pulling any punches against her is really just bullying. They both have pretty paltry communication skills, pretty much all their major revelations about the other are just told to them by someone else. ugh. Also, I really think 75% or so of the story revolved around their sexual encounters. Perhaps I wouldn't have minded if they were engaging, or meaningful, or at least hot or something, but they were largely rubbish too. I think the author was trying to make them 'epic', but the scenes fell very short, so the lofty language just exaggerated that feebleness. Like a toddler shuffling around in their parent's shoes. Tons of vague, flowery language too, like 'then he fell off the edge of the world as her starburst exploded'... (that's not a direct quote, but both of those analogies really were used). It felt like the book went on forever. Also there was a sort of dismal attempt at a mystery, but somehow it ended up the least of my grievances. *sigh* I'll still try to move forward in the series, I believe the later ones will be better, and I like to read in order. A Rake's Vow 4 Stars Vane Cynster is determined to avoid the same fate as his cousin, so when a storm starts brewing he decides to stop over at his Godmother’s estate. He should have known that one cannot escape their destiny, which comes in the guise of Patience Debbington, a woman who certainly knows her own mind and has no intention of giving up her independence for the likes of an elegant gentleman such as Vane Cynster. Although the fated mates trope is somewhat out of place in a historical romance novel, it seems to work here with Vane and Patience struggling against the inevitable. Both are very appealing characters and their romance is certainly passionate. One problem, however, is their distinct lack of communication skills. Neither seems capable of opening up to the other to reveal their feelings, which could have saved a lot of unnecessary angst and allowed room for the suspense plot to develop. The secondary characters are fleshed out well and contribute to the intriguing Agatha Christie-like country estate mystery atmosphere of the story. It is disappointing that the Cynster family does not play as significant a role in this book as in the previous one but the glimpses we get are wonderful. As said, the minor suspense story takes too long to get going and the culprits are fairly obvious from the start - All in all, an enjoyable sequel and I look forward to continuing with the series. no reviews | add a review
Fiction.
Romance.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: He vowed he'd never marry. To Vane Cynster, Bellamy Hall seems like the perfect place to temporarily hide from London's husband hunters. But when he encounters irresistible Patience Debbington, Vane realises he's met his match ... She vowed no man would catch her. Patience isn't about to succumb to Vane's sensuous propositions. Yes, his kisses leave her dizzy and his caresses made her melt; but Patience has promised herself she'll never become vulnerable to a broken heart. Is this one vow that was meant to be broken? .No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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