Devil's Bride

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

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

This is my first book by this author, and I’ll certainly try more. I liked the Cynster family, so I will likely read more in that series after a bit of a break (the plots sound somewhat similar). The thing I liked most about this was the idea of falling in love with a family as well as a person. Devil’s family was so close-knit and welcoming to Honoria, and reading how they drew her into the fold warmed my heart. I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance where a family was so involved with the wooing.
I liked the love story between Devil and Honoria, although the back and forth with the I’m-going-to-marry-you/no-you’re-not played out a little too long. I was also disappointed that her goal of going to Africa was just dropped. I show more thought maybe Devil would take her on an adventure after they married.
The mystery was OK. It was pretty obvious who the baddie was, but I don’t know if Laurens necessarily cared about that, since the book is primarily a romance. The villainous speech after his identity was revealed was a bit silly, but again, the main goal of this wasn’t to write a riveting mystery, I would assume.
I kind of knew to expect a lot of sex with this one, but I didn’t know the scenes would be so long! These have got to be longest sex scenes I’ve read in a historical. That said, I didn’t find them to be too explicit. There was just a lot of emotional description and hyperbole.
It will be fun to try another in this series and get to know the other Cynsters. show less

Honoria Wetherby's life changes when she stumbles upon a dying man on a country lane during a storm. Her horse runs off, leaving her and the patient stranded. She is rescued by Sylvester "Devil" Cynster, the Duke of St. Ives. He takes them to a small cottage to wait out the storm. During the night, the young man (Devil's cousin) dies. In the morning, they are discovered. Although their time together was spent innocently, Devil has compromised Honoria and decides he must marry her. Honoria, however, has no desire to marry the handsome "Devil." She values her independence and seeks adventure and travel.

Devil takes her to his home and introduces her to his mother, the Dowager Duchess, while Honoria continues to refuse his proposal. Then, show more Devil makes a proposition which Honoria, at the encouragement of her older brother, is forced to accept. She will stay with his family for 3 months...while they are in mourning (and, unbeknownst to him, to help solve his cousin's murder). Devil has his own plans that involve convincing Honoria to be his bride.

Regency romance novels are hit or miss. Sometimes they are so predictable as to be utterly unreadable. This was not the case with "Devil's Bride." In fact, this story does not end with a wedding. I think it's safe to say that yes, Honoria does in fact marry Devil. The marvelous thing is that it's not the end of the story. There's much, much more that happens after they are wed. Their story continues as they search for clues that lead to Tolly's (Devil's cousin's) killer.

This book is so well-written. It grabbed my interest right away and I could not put it down. The "mystery" is not complicated; you'll know pretty soon who it is, but it is still enjoyable to watch the characters solve it. The book's strength is in the character development. Honoria and Devil are both strong and likable characters, and it's a delight to watch their relationship grow. If you're a fan of a love story between a husband and wife, you'll enjoy this book. I can't wait to read the rest in the series! show less