Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: Afer SCANDAL'S BRIDE, my favorite in this series, I expected a more sophisticated story, but we're back to humphing and hmmmming and one too many "Indeeds". The plot was fairly well laid out, but Demon and Flick were cardboard cut-outs, and way, way too much was made of their age difference. After a while, even I was beginning to think of Demon as a dirty old man. And where the heck were the other Cynsters that so entertainingy populated the first three books? Take a breath, Stephanie, we'll wait for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad, bad, bad
Review: After hearing so much about this writer, I was unbelievably disappointed in this book. Cardboard characters, a silly and plodding plot, purple prose, and a zillion cliches. There are some good writers still doing romances, but Ms. Laurens isn't one of them. Do yourself a favor, and give it a miss.
Rating: 
Summary: The Cynsters Strike Again !
Review: After I read each book in this series I have a new favorite Cynster. Now I am enthralled with Demon Harry. This a delightful story and Laurens has outdone herself in developing the characters of Flick and Demon and their romance. I think her readers will especially appreciate the humor she has instilled in her latest creation. Laurens certainly leaves us anxiously awaiting Gabriel and Lucifer's stories and just maybe ( if we are extremely lucky) she will decide to treat us to Amanda and Amelia's sagas.
Rating: 
Summary: Really enjoyable
Review: After my disappointment with Vane's and Scandal's stories, I wasn't sure what to expect from Demon's story. Fortunately, the romance between Felicity and Demon was enjoyable to read.
The opening scene in this book continues from where Laurens left it on Scandal's Bride. After hearing from his brother, Vane, that Richard has married, Demon decides to escape from the matchmaking mamas of the ton and retreat to his horse-breeding farm in Newmarket. Upon his arrival, a young lad who was exercising his favorite thoroughbred catches his attention. But when he takes a better look at the young lad, he realizes that his form (well, his bottom actually) couldn't possibly be that of a man's. And so after a brief pursuit, he finds out that the lad was in fact Felicity Parteger, the ward of his mentor, the General. When he confronts her, Demon learns that she's working under the disguise of a stable hand in a bid to help the General's son, whose life has become in danger after getting himself involved in a race-fixing scheme. With the usual coolness of a Cynster, he offers to help her.
As the two of them work together in uncovering the identity of the culprits, an undeniable attraction starts to grow. Whereas he didn't think much of Flick the last time he saw her, Demon is now fully aware of her beauty and sensuality. When Felicity's virtue is accidentally compromised one night, Demon decides to marry her, while Felicity refuses of course, as she doesn't want to marry someone who isn't in love with her.
Although the book follows the same romance elements as the previous Cynster books, I found that the romance between Demon and Felicity is slightly different in that Demon is more careful in his courtship of her, primarily due to the big age gap between them. It is well-developed and there are moments when we actually see him hold back his feelings.
In terms of personality, Felicity is very likable. And despite being the youngest of the Bar Cynster wives, she shows maturity and strength of character. But every now and then, we do get a glimpse of her innocence and youth, which adds more to her appeal.
This was a fun book to read. The sexual tension between Demon and Felicity was played out well. And you will be delighted by some of the witty exchanges between them (my favorite part being the 'etchings'). Read it and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: not the best
Review: After reading many favourable reviews on this book, I rushed off and bought it almost straight away. Well, I was in for a disappointment. The first half of the story moved at a very slow pace. I was bored to tears despite the mystery, which is transparent and uninteresting by the way, obligingly thrown in by the author. Paragraphs after paragraphs of lengthy exposition just went on and on. And the sex! Well, don't get me wrong. I love plenty of steamy and well written love scenes in a romance, but 10 plus pages of boring, lengthy and repititive love scenes! Give me a break. The second half was slightly better, with a little more drama between the hero and heroine, but that couldn't save the whole story from being a boring and mediocre read.
If you are new to Steph. Laurens, perhaps you'll find this book not bad at all. But having gone through the whole series of the Cynster clones, I find that the overused formula in these books just doen't work for me anymore.
Rating:
Summary: A Rogue's Proposal
Review: As my first experience with a Stephanie Laurens's novel, I thought that this was an excellent choice. I can honestly say that it will not be my last. I have already made recommendations to family and friends
Rating:
Summary: An improvement on the last one - and a heroine I like!
Review: Book 4 in the Cynster series - or Book 5 if, like me, you count The Promise in a Kiss as Book 1 - features Vane's younger brother Harry, known as Demon. After seeing three of his fellow Bar Cynster members happily chained in marriage, Harry knows that he'll be next if the women in his family have anything to do with it. So he decamps to his stud at Newmarket, a place where he's very sure he won't encounter any marriageable women.A new jockey at his stables catches his attention - the jockey's bottom, in particular. It's not a man's rear. And he's right: the jockey is actually Felicity Parteger, the ward of his nearest neighbour. She's investigating a race-fixing scandal - the obligatory Laurens A-plot and this time, thankfully, one which doesn't take over the story. The last time Harry - Demon (I really think these nicknames are silly!) - saw Felicity, she was in pigtails and still obviously a teenager. Now, she's 20 to his 31, and she's beautiful. Not only is she beautiful, but he's attracted to her. To my relief, this story proceeds a little differently to the four earlier books. Harry actually *fights* his attraction to Felicity - Flick, as he calls her - and he doesn't propose until almost half-way through the book. Very sensibly, Flick turns him down. She's been in love with Harry all her life, but she knows that he doesn't love her. He proposes for reasons to do with propriety and also, as she knows, because he finds her attractive. But she will only marry for love. How their courtship develops, against the backdrop of the A-plot and, eventually, the London season and the rest of Harry's family, is generally well-told. This time, Laurens develops the romance steadily and well, instead of marrying her characters off in the first half of the book and thus taking away any romantic suspense. This is *definitely* an improvement on the earlier books, and I really felt as if I was reading a love story. I also liked Flick a lot. She's an independent young woman with a mind of her own, and she's determined not to be pushed around by Demon. She has a sense of humour and intelligence coupled with innocence, but she won't let Demon use his greater experience and age to get the better of her. One of Laurens' better heroines so far. But there's still the unanswered question of how Laurens' heroines manage to escape pregnancy while they're blithely and happily having sex with their men before marriage. Laurens' choice of nickname for her hero here led to a lot of distracting repetitions, too: "Demon leashed his demons..." and similar phrases occur throughout. And she *really* needs to look up 'disinterest' in a dictionary. It does *not* mean 'lack of interest'; it refers to a state of non-involvement or objectivity.
Rating:
Summary: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Review: Devil's Bride was good, this was not. It began promising-- I love the stories of young girls loving a man from afar and him finally realizing she has grown up. However, after the first few chapters, it went flying downhill. The mysery was interesting enough, but much too much attention was given to that and not developing the romance and characters. I kept plodding on, telling myself that it will get better soon. At pg 137, I finally gave up. It was too boring for words! I skipped over 100 pages and started skimming through the rest--which didn't seem much better. I can't believe I paid for this. I am kicking myself. Laurens has proven herself as a good writer, but this one missed the mark by a LOT. If you love her, then I guess you should try it, but there are many other more worthwhile books to consume a few hours.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth the read.....pick it up!!!
Review: Finally, Ms. Laurens lives up to the potential of the first book in this series. Devil's Bride was such a great story with the added bonus of knowing there were going to be at least another 5 stories to compliment it. Unfortunately, I felt Vane and Scandal's stories were way below Devil's achievement. Conversely, Demon and Flick's book was a delight to read. Here is a story that revolves around our main couple and their relationship. The outside plot compliments the relationship, not dominates it. For a while we even wonder if they are still paying attention to "the bad guys". The wrong that needs righting is not an in depth, complicated puzzle, but a backdrop for our hero and heroine to reacquaint themselves and fall in love. After our first meeting with Demon in the story, and his adamant beliefs on staying out of the "marriage market", I thought he fell a little too quickly for Flick. Knowing the consistency and devotion of the Cynster men from our previous stories though, his behavior is not unexpected. I have two (very) minor criticisms of the book. First, the repetitive nature of a few themes got to me after a while. There are only so many times Demon can fight his Demons and that Flick can be compared to a Boticelli Angel (heaven forbid you don't know your Renaissance artisans). I also would have loved to have seen a little more of the Cynster clan. Though we saw some of the women welcoming Flick with open arms, the Bar Cynster was painfully absent. Except for the occasional glimpse of Gabriel and Lucifer, guarding their female cousins, they were conspicuously absent. Don't let this one slip by, pick it up and read it.
Rating:
Summary: A very enjoyable read
Review: Harry (Demon) Cynster, the expert at horses and racing, in the Bar Cynster, retires to his stables in Newmarket, to escape the fate of his 2 older cousins and brother... marriage. His love interest, Felicity (Flick) Parteger, is a much younger, fresh faced country lass, with a heart of gold and a will of steel. The sparks fly from the first chapter onwards. The mystery they need to solve, their age difference, her innocence and Demons lack of experience with proper "courting", leads to many situations and dilema's. Flick and Demon's ways of dealing with the world, are different and complimentry. Hence a good start to their relationship begins. This book was a very fine read. I enjoyed it thoroughly, almost as much as the previous Cynster novels. The story is closer to Regency type romances than the previous three novels. I found this was not a distraction, but an engaging change from the previous books. Demon is a different type of Cynster, and so Felicity is a different woman than the previous heroines. I found the courtship cute and endering. The sexual tension was more focused, as it was the hero that places it in the relationship, again a difference from the three books preceeding it. The ending was exciting and very absorbing. The costume ball was enlighting, and engrossing. I met different Cynster's, ones that were less developed in 'Devil's Bride', 'A Rake's Vow' and 'Scandal's Bride'. I enjoyed getting to know the other Cynster's better. I did miss the main Cynster's being involved in solving Demon's mystery, as they had been in the other books. And I still don't know how Demon got his name. Well there are always more books in the series. I look forward to finding out how Demon and Felicity get along, in further books, because we are talking about the Cynster Family!
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