Rating: 
Summary: Same plot as Devil¿s Bride...
Review: Vane Cynster, Devil's cousin and closest friend, has his turn at meeting his match in this book. An enforced stay at his godmother's house brings him into contact with her niece, Patience Debbington, and a mystery: who is the magpie thief stealing all and sundry, and who is the Spectre who appears at night, in shadow, and appears to haunt the place? The primary suspect is Patience's young brother Gerrard, but Vane doesn't believe that for an instant. His godmother begs him to stay and sort it out, and as he is already very intrigued by Patience he agrees.Patience is alarmed by Vane and does her best to avoid him; she's also worried about the effect he's having on Gerrard. ... The plot of this book follows exactly the same direction as Devil's Bride. Vane - determined not to marry - encounters a woman and knows that he's met his fate. He wants to marry her. He proposes; she refuses him. He determines to persuade her through sensuality and at the same time find out why she won't marry him. And in the background there is a (not very interesting and pretty transparent) mystery plot - again, I'd worked out who was behind it pretty early on; ... Maybe Laurens wanted him to be seen as an idiot? I found Vane's approach to Patience unconvincing; in one scene - when he'd just met her - he was aware that she had the power to attract him in a way no woman had before. And he was determined to resist that: he didn't *want* to marry. And yet barely a half-dozen pages later, with nothing having happened in the meantime, he was suddenly reconciled to his fate and determined to marry her. ... And Patience's antipathy to Vane in the beginning was simply not explained until some way in the book. I can accept her stereotyping him as a certain type of man - and not being told what she meant by an 'elegant gentleman' until almost halfway through the book did not help! - but we need to know *what* stereotype she's using, and why it bothers her. That took some time to convey. Again, a lot of detailed sex scenes, which is fine if you like that kind of thing; they're too numerous and technical - as well as lengthy - for my preference. I prefer my lovemaking scenes to focus on the emotions rather than descriptions of sex organs. Of course the extent and locations of Vane and Patience's amorous encounters are all wrong for the period, and I'm not sure why Laurens seems to assume that engaged, or near-engaged, couples of the - quite Puritanic, remember! - Regency period would naturally have sex. This has come across in three of her books now; her heroes seem to make an automatic assumption that an engagement means free sex. ... I do have the rest of the Cynster series and will keep reading - Laurens has a readable style, even if I do skim some scenes - but I do hope that she varies her plots for later books.
Rating: 
Summary: Love those cysnter men
Review: Vane is the second eldest in the 6 known as the Bar cynster. He runs into (quite literally) Patience Debbington and thus begins his downfall. He tries to escape the trap his cousin
Devil did, but when fate has her mind set.....
In this story Patience brother is suspect in a series of petty thefts. Vane comes to the youngster rescue while adding him in some growing up of his own. How honorable.
He of course falls in love but is unwilling to admit it. I don't know why men just can't get it through their heads that a women wants to be loved. He wouldn't have to do so much convincing if he would just recognized what is there. Oh well, Patience doesn't seem to mind his tactics. In fact, he is pretty convincing. Enough to set your blood to boiling. There is a scene in the conservatory that will never leave you looking at a fountain the same way again.
Her novel is fun to read. I enjoyed trying to figure out who the real theif was. The situations Patience and Vane got themselves into playing detective were amusing.
Vane and Patience are one steamy couple. Definitely buy this novel. The cynsters are well worth reading about.
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