Devil's Bride

This is, mostly, a good book. I really like Devil, and while Honoria gets on my nerves at times, she comes around at the end and turns into a good character. The plot is a bit of a stretch, but I'm willing to forgive that - even though it does make me think of Scooby Doo once in a while. I like Scooby Doo, in general. The sex in this book is really hot, and there's quite a bit of it. Quite satisfying in that respect. ;) The writing is tolerable, as well, and while this book isn't, perhaps, the quality of some romance novels I've read, it's certainly fun enough that I'll pick up the others if I see them.

Devil's Bride
4 Stars

Honoria Prudence Anstruther-Wetherby (quite a mouthful, isn’t it?) is just settling in to her new governess position when she inadvertently stumbles upon a dying man. To confound matters, the victim’s cousin soon puts in an appearance and the two spend the night together in a cottage. The problems begin the next morning when Honoria’s reputation is place in jeopardy and her companion turns out the be none other than Sylvester “Devil” Cynster, 6th Duke of Ives. So begins the ultimate clash of will between a man unaccustomed to the word “no” and a woman determined to maintain her independence at all costs.

This is my second attempt at Devil’s Bride and I’m glad that I gave it another chance. The show more romance is entertaining, the characters engaging and the mystery adds spice to the story.

Honoria and Devil are the perfect match. Between her stubbornness and his arrogance there is never a dull moment and their passion both in and out of the bedroom scorches the pages.

The secondary characters in the form of the rest of the Cynster family are wonderful. The Bar Cynster cousins are completely incorrigible but in an endearing way and the Cynster wives/mothers provide Honoria with an incredible sense of belonging. The Dowager Duchess is a definite favorite.

The mystery is the weakest element mainly due to the fact that the villain is obvious from the start. Nevertheless, it adds an extra layer of intensity to Honoria and Devil’s romance.

All in all, a fun read and the epilogue made me smile. Looking forward to continuing with the series. show less

Stephanie Laurens is one of the biggest names in historical romance, having been prolific for years. She's an "auto-buy" author for many romance fans with at least nine series so far. By far the longest of her series are the Cynster books about the Bar Cynster family. Arguably (there is a prequel written long after the original novel of the bunch) the first book in that series, published way back in 1998, is Devil's Bride about the 6th Duke of St. Ives and his chosen bride.

Sylvester, known to all and sundry as Devil, is the 6th Duke, head of this large and intimidating family. Honoria Prudence Anstruther-Wetherby is a finishing governess on her way to her latest post when, in advance of a coming storm, she stumbles across a young man show more who has been shot and is bleeding out. No shrinking violet, Honoria tries to stem the tide of blood but cannot do anything else for him until a dark, imposing man on horseback arrives and helps her get the injured man to a woodsman's cottage. The two spend the night in the cottage with the dying man, thoroughly compromising Honoria. In the morning, she learns that her companion throughout the night was Devil Cynster and the dead man, his young cousin Tolly. Devil is determined to marry the lovely governess but she has no intention of marrying him, coming as she does from a family that is his own family's equal. She dreams of traveling the world, seeing Egypt, and remaining free of any marital or maternal ties. But Devil is used to getting what he wants. She stays at his family home throughout the ensuing funeral, meeting and being seamlessly folded into the Cynster family so skillfully she cannot object mostly because she wants to find who murdered Tolly almost as much as the rest of the Cynster men. None of the other women know that he was murdered and Devil doesn't want Honoria anywhere close to the quiet investigation he and the others are conducting so, of course, she inserts herself as often as possible.

Devil is an autocratic and arrogant character. He never doubts that Honoria will eventually cave to his wishes and marry him. And in fact he generally does have the upper hand and plays her so that she has no choice but to fall in with what he wants. But if he is strong-willed and single-minded, so is she, and she fights for the information she wants from him even as she gives ground in other ways. The narration moves back and forth from Honoria to Devil so that the reader sees each move in this game from both perspectives. The sex scenes between these two not quite combatants, not quite lovers are incredibly steamy and if Devil's restraint in the bedroom, waiting for Honoria to agree to marriage, is a little unrealistic, the unfulfilled, or perhaps more accurately unconsummated, desire arcing between them does heighten the sexual tension as the story goes on. As this is the introduction to the Cynster clan, there is an enormous character list in this book and none of the secondary characters are all that well differentiated from the others, with the notable exception of the Dowager Duchess. Laurens introduces each of the family members with a light hand, perhaps in anticipation of them having their own books in the series, which they eventually do. The murderer is never in question in the book, requiring little in the way of uncovering plot lines for the reader. (The characters, on the other hand, are frustratingly blind to the truth right in front of them.) Without much of a mystery, the second half of the book is chock full of extended sex scenes, Devil demanding Honoria agree to what they clearly both want, and her silence on the matter, followed by more hot, sexy times, renewed demands, and more silence (repeat at will). There's a certain something about the book which makes it definitely feel of its time, perhaps the very alpha male hero or maybe the heroine who gives up long cherished dreams without a backwards glance once her hormones fire up, but I am willing to try another Cynster novel the next time I get the urge to read an historical romance and see how I like the rest of the family. show less

This is the first historical romance that I read. Normally I had avoided historical romances because I thought they were boring. However Stephanie Laurens writing manages to combine humor and romance together to make her stories seem like they could take place today instead of the 1800's. This is the story of Honoria Anstruther-Wetherby and Devil Cynster. The Cynsters are cousins who are hailed as heros because they all went to the war of 1812 and they all returned which was not a common occurance. Devil is the head of the family because he is the oldest cousin. He is brooding and mysterious but with a warm and kind heart. Honoria and Devil meet in an odd way and then become engaged in an odd way but you forget that in the story because show more it seems like Honoria and Devil were made for each other and would have met each other anyway. I loved this book it's funny, romantic and makes you wish you knew your own " Cynster". :-) show less

The mystery is a weak point, (I don't read this genre for the mysteries, but if it's going to be so obvious then just treat it as a smaller plot point. Don't build it up and have a big reveal where it supposedly all comes together, when it's been pretty plain all along. I don't mind if I figure it out before the characters, but if it takes them an additional 20 chapters to catch up then they just don't come out appearing very bright). Also the sex scenes were, I don't know, trying to be poetic or vague or something, and it was distancing for me. (Stuff like 'and then time fractured' or 'then the starburst exploded' or something, they're not direct quotes but they were definitely along those lines and I thought 'whaaat??' with each. show more lol). And probably because of that disconnect, it felt like too much of the book was taken up by those scenes (not a usual complaint from me. ;) ). There were also a lot of characters introduced, but that should ease considerably with the rest of the series (which I am going to continue forward with). I enjoyed the prequel novella more, but I see it was actually written a few years after this one, so maybe she just improves as she goes along. I'm willing to risk a little time to test the theory. show less

I don't think this book is the best of the best of historical romance - I even wish it was a lot more progressive. That said, this is the book that dragged me into historical romances, something about the two main characters chemistry and the mystery sub? plot really drew me in. I still come back to this book when I need something familiar and easy to read.

One of my customers at the bookstore made me read this. I liked it. It was on the lighter side of romances but not fluffy. The writing was pretty good. The historical details weren't bad. The part I disliked most however was that the hero was so domineering that he was always right and she never was able to actually win an argument with him. I don't like to read stories where I feel like the heroine is banging her head against a wall. It shows that the hero does not respect her or her opinions or brains. She was treated like "the little woman, chuckle, chuckle." I don't like to be treated like that and don't really like to read about it. She doesn't have to win all the time, just sometimes. I knew who the bad guy was early and the show more characters in the books should have also.

The love scenes in this one seemed to go on too long. In fact after the first long love scene, the hero comes home the next day and goes right back to bed with her and I thought oh no not again? You got to give me some plot development between long ass love scenes.

Still it was good enough to try the next one. I hope the dynamics between the hero and heroine of the next one are different. show less