Rating: 
Summary: Totally predictable drivel !
Review: I have not quit a book halfway through in years and years, but this one I did - after getting tired of skipping the innumerable sexual trysts. Actually, I found there were some bits of plot between the various sexual acts in various places. I have nothing against sex, but a little substance is required as well. This was my first Stephanie Laurens book, and will be my last.
Rating: 
Summary: An honorary Cynster but, thankfully, not a carbon-copy hero
Review: Gyles Rawlins, the Earl of Chillingworth, was a minor character in several of the earlier Cynster books. Now that the Bar Cynster members are all married off, Laurens turns her attention to other characters in their environs, and her first - and very welcome - choice is Chillingworth. Of course, this development was trailed very clearly when, at the end of All About Love, the Duke of St Ives declares Chillingworth to be an honorary Cynster. He's determined not to go the same way as his friends, however, when it comes to matters of the heart.So, yes, it's another hero who is determined not to fall in love. But Chillingworth seems to mean it; he has decided to contract an arranged marriage with a suitable female, and preferably the sort who will be indistinguishable from the wallpaper in his various homes. If she happens to come with strategically-important land, such as the segment which was cut out of his own lands some years ago, so much the better. Such as his distant cousin, Francesca Rawlins. Francesca, he believes, is quiet and dull; the kind of woman he can marry, bed and then leave safely buried in the country while he carries on with his normal lifestyle. What Chillingworth doesn't know is that the young woman he saw wasn't Francesca but her cousin Frannie (why Laurens felt the need to give the two women such similar names is beyond me. It certainly wasn't necessary for the plot). Anyway, Chillingworth and Francesca marry, and are very attracted to each other - this is not the kind of marriage Chillingworth was looking for, however! He's determined not to fall in love, and so his behaviour towards Francesca is very odd; he keeps sending her mixed signals. He's warm and passionate in bed, and yet very distant elsewhere. She, on the other hand, is finding her new husband more and more irrestible. But if he doesn't want her, is there any hope of happiness? My sneaking liking for Chillingworth in the earlier books was confirmed in All About Passion, and I also liked Francesca very much. This is quite a bit better than a number of the other books in the Cynster series, largely because it's *not* a carbon copy of the other books. It's still similar, but at least this time I didn't feel as if I was reading exactly the same book yet again. This could have been a very enjoyable and interesting study of an arranged marriage which turned out to be something other than what Chillingworth had intended. But, as usual, Laurens had to bolt a dramatic plot onto it, in this case murder attempts. The villain, as ever, was predictable, and in this case it was a particularly offensive use of stereotypes. I wish this book had been purely about the relationship; if it had been, I would have rated it more highly.
Rating: 
Summary: ALL ABOUT PASSION-Gyles and Francesca-SPOILERS
Review: favorite scene with francesca-
the final showdown with franni. favorite scene with gyles-
rescusing francesca on the horse. favorite scene together-
the final showdown with franni.
Rating:
Summary: All About Passion
Review: Sorry to see this was the last of the Cynsters to be written about. It is her usual romantic love story. I loved his character. Didn't like her as well. But there is a lot of great sex and sexy men. One thing I like about all the Cynsters is when they do decide to make a commitment they stay true to their spouses. This is probably an unreality at that time but is nice to dream about.
Rating:
Summary: Oddly the plot was better than the romance
Review: I haven't been reading the Cynster series, primarily because the name reminds me of "Simon Bar Sinister" from Rocky and Bullwinkle. And the names are just a little too overdone. This book was ok. I don't highly recommend it, but I wouldn't turn a reader away from it either (hence 3 stars). Surprisingly, the plot was pretty good, but the romance scenes were odd. There were about a dozen too many "ruthless, devouring kisses." Give it up and get some new adjectives. Or better yet, toss out adjectives such as ruthless, devouring, rapacious, plundering, overpowering, relentless, etc... especially after they've been used once or twice in similar scenes. I found myself getting turned off by these scenes rather than the reverse. Minus 1 star for irritating, badly described kisses that drag on and on. What I did like about the book: The lady was great - grown up, quick witted, friendly, able to take good advice, and honest both to herself and others. The hero was able to learn from his and other's experiences and finally changed his mind about some things - he grew up. And depite his relentless kisses, he treated his wife very well. I also liked how there were several minor characters that kept popping up in the story with whom the main characters interacted in quality scenes. Strangely, the exception to this was the Cynsters with whom they had almost no interaction. I also liked how the characters spent time with each other growing closer and learning more about each other, rather than apart and pining. A couple other negatives which knocked it from 4 stars to 3. I was never really certain why the hero was so set on not falling in love. The sudden death of his father didn't do it for me- it might have had it been explained better, but it wasn't. Or a better definition of what the hero thought 'being in love' meant. Also, despite the minor "accidents" their lives went remarkably smoothly. They had the midas touch - every thing they attempted went off smoothly and made everyone love them. This is all well and good up to the "family get together ball." I absolutely refuse to believe that someone could gather up a couple hundred of their long lost relatives for a party with the notice of a week and a half. Can't be done, not even in fiction if you're dealing with the early 1800's. Especially when it would take the invitations about a week to reach some of them. If the party was given a month from when the invitations went out, sure. But not 10 days or so. It was too fakey for me to feel that the accomplishment was anything more than a plot device thrown in to make us love them more. It would have been great as a christmas ball, though. Ah well. If you like Stephanie Laurens, you'll probably like this too. As it is, I'm debating how many more of her novels I should try - are her plots interesting enough without being too forced? Are her heroes less "ruthless and devouring" in the other novels? I hope so.
Rating: 
Summary: I suppose I'm the minority here . . .
Review: I couldn't even bring myself to finish this. It was incredibly boring. All of us tried and true romance novel readers know that a good conflict enlivens a romance. However, the conflict in this novel seems contrived and, to be frank, silly. The great, big conflict keeping these two apart is . . . that he doesn't want to love his wife???? I know, I know -- his father died when he was a boy and he's scared to love again, blah, blah, blah. I wouldn't be have as put off by this concept if Laurens had managed to handle it right. For instance, in many Susan Elizabeth Phillips books (one of my favorite romance authors by the way), her heroes have hangups about falling in love and commitment, but these hangups are expressed subtlely so that readers know the heroes fears are in his subconscious, fears even he doesn't own up to until he's just about lost the heroine. In this novel, by contrast, the hero coldbloodedly decides he won't love his wife and plans his life accordingly. After a while, his continued insistence on a loveless marriage becomes just plain silly. In other words, there was no real conflict to overcome, so the romance was boring. Something else I've found that I don't like about Lauren's romances (this is my 3rd) are her love scenes. There's way too much introspection and analysis during the love scenes and too much purple prose (I know that's somewhat expected in a romance novel, but many contemporary authors have gone past that and manage to make their love scenes both original and erotic, without being flowery).
Rating: 
Summary: Lusty
Review: There arn't many books I don't finish but this is one, not because the writing is bad, this author is a master at what she does and the plot is good just too much sexual detail for my taste. I like more outside the bedroom narrative and some things left to the imagination. Still Lauren's is talented with what she pens and you might find the novel highly entertaining.
Beverly J Scott author of Righteous Revenge
Rating:
Summary: All About Passion
Review: What a great book. Chillingworth well lives up to the nickname of being an honorary Cynster. What a great series, and to have Chillingworth get the same kind of woman that he scoffed the Cynsters for getting was ideal. I compare all I read to this one and the Cynster series.
Rating:
Summary: I'll buy anything by her...
Review: Loved Chillingworth! One of my favs in the Cynster series. I have them all!
Rating:
Summary: Laurens is a favorite and this is one of the best!
Review: I've read it more than once and will read it again. Awesome. Love those Cynsters.
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