Rating: 
Summary: Mixed emotions.
Review: I loved this book, like all the others of the Cynster series and definetely loved the characters, but since I had previously read the "Bar Cynster" books, and in them Sebastian was already dead, that spoiled the fun a little. Besides, I would have liked to know how Sebastian got involved with Richard's mother, since he claimed to love Helena so much, and frankly, I have a hard time believing Helena would accept Sebastian infidelity so calmly (even happily). It would have been interesting if Richard's mother would have drugged Sebastian to make love to him, just like Catriona drugged Richard. And it would have been entirely possible since Richard's mother was a disciple of "The Lady" too.
That would have exonerated Sebastian and would have made for a nice irony.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as expected...
Review: I have read and enjoyed all (well, all the ones that feature the male Cynsters) of the Bar Cynster series. So when this one came out, I snatched it up.
But, like other readers, I found it hard to believe the love story knowing the infidelity that was to follow. And it was kind of depressing to see the romance develop between a couple you know will be prematurely separated.
It had the same type of soul-mate premise that all the books taking place after this prequel have followed. Up until this book, that same story managed to be new and fresh for each couple but this time it just seemed stagnant.
I was disappointed in this book but look forward to reading the next in this series!
Rating: 
Summary: The Story That Started It All!
Review: This is the story that started the whole Cystern series and although I enjoyed the books some more then others this unfortunatly was not one that enjoyed probably due to the fact that Sebastian did not stay true to his love.I must admit to having a very hard time getting into this story since I already had the information that Sebastian was later going to cheat on Helena. Since I had this information it was hard to believe that they were indeed falling in love with each other. Both characters seemed to strong willed and as a result I ended up not caring really one way or another about the ending. A sad thing to say about a great family series.
Rating:
Summary: Very mixed feelings about this one
Review: Confession: I have never read any of Stephanie Laurens' Bar Cynster series. I liked a couple of her other regency romances and decided to give this series a try. The Promise in a Kiss was written last, but is a prequel to all the other books, so it seemed to make sense to read it first. And that would have been okay, except that Laurens has a family tree right at the very start of the book. From that I learned two things which made this a doomed romance from the start. One, Sebastian, the Duke of St Ives, has an affair resulting in an illegitimate child while he's married to Helena. So how can I believe in Helena and Sebastian's love affair after discovering that? I can see why people who have read the entire series also have a problem taking this book seriously. Second, the family tree shows Sebastian as dead. Now this, I expect, applies to the later books in the Cynster series - but still, even before I've *read* his story, I know that Sebastian dies within about 30 years of the end of his book, leaving his Helena a widow. It's difficult to get facts like these out of your mind when reading a romance novel, let me tell you! Anyway, the book itself. Laurens is no Balogh or Beverley, my favourites of this genre, and she does tend to go overboard on the intimacy/sensuality in a manner which simply isn't right for the period, but it's done tastefully. Sebastian and Helena met for the first time when she was seventeen and he stole a kiss. They meet again six years later and know each other instantly. Helena thinks that Sebastian is a confirmed bachelor and enlists his help in finding a suitable husband; he knows that she's going to be his wife and he uses every trick he knows to persuade her. There is more to the story: a conniving guardian, threats, blackmail, a daring rescue and other such dramatic elements. But the focus is squarely on Helena and Sebastian's relationship all the time. Sebastian, a man who thought he would never love, puts Helena's needs ahead of his own and falls in love. Helena learns to trust a powerful man and to give him her love. So how can this man, who appears to love Helena more than his own life, betray her by having a child with someone else???
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been called, "A Hollow Promise"
Review: I feel like I've been violated. Ms. Lauren's has ignored a very basic tenet of romance writing. Readers are supposed to believe at the end of the romance that "love has conquered all" and that these two people have found a "once in a lifetime love." Isn't that why we buy a romance? But we know from Ms. Lauren's future books that the Duke cheats on Helena. First of all, given what we know of Helena's character, do we really think she would stand for this? Secondly, why did I just spend three hours reading a book about two people overcoming their conflict to live happily every after when Ms. Laurens has already told us that they don't. She tries to explain away the Duke's philandering by making us feel sorry for Scandal's mother. I don't buy it--would you from your husband? I don't object to the premise that there can't be love after cheating, but I do object to these two people overcoming such a tremendous violation of their love. The characterizations of the Duke and Helena in this prequel do not fit their future actions in the series. As a stand alone, without the name Cynster attached, this book would have been fine. I loved the rest of the series (except for Scandal's Bride). I gave this book 2 stars only because of Ms. Lauren's obvious talent.
Rating:
Summary: Ambivalent respsone
Review: This book was great in some respects - Sebastian was interesting, the sensuality rating was pretty high, and the premise of the book was also sound for a romance novel. However, the ending was an incredible anticlimax. Really, the Helena character, until the last few chapters was always portrayed as a smart world wise/weary character. The last chapters proved how totally wrong we were in thinking that of her. I would have preferred a stronger female character not the hollow shell that we were given. All in all I must say I am not inclined to read the other novels espceially with titles such as Devil and Scandal.....
Rating:
Summary: A Hollow Promise
Review: A moonlit night in a snow-covered garden in a French Convent. A chaste young woman walking alone, in search of solitude. Suddenly! A dashing man appears on the scene - dropping in front of the virgin's path and stealing a kiss from her lush, suprised mouth. Ah! Such promise in the opening. The excitement of a stollen kiss. The anticipation of future contact. Can't you feel the thrill? Well enjoy it, for like that pint of Ben and Jerry's, the experience is rich with flavor but leaves you feeling guilty afterwards. A Promise in a Kiss is frightfully disappointing. A whipped up confection all sugary - like cotton candy - but lacking any real substance. Frankly, Helena is a bore. She is flat and her goal seems weak. She allows herself to become this man-tempting tease but is still at heart an innocent? Please. Not bloody likely in 18th century Paris - even if she was reared in a convent (a sanctuary that frequently gave shelter to fallen and disgraced women). Sebastien certainly has promise - though he seems to have been copied from the infinitely more enjoyable novel/movie St. Ives. This was my first - and probably my last - Laurens novel.
Rating:
Summary: Decent but disappointing if you've read the Bar Cynster
Review: I actually found this book a little hard to get through. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't a very interesting one either. The characters in the book were really hard to get to like... not really interesting. I started to read the series AFTER I read this book and I actually displiked it more because of the future infidelity. It doesn't make sense with the character she wrote Sebastian to be in Promise in a Kiss. I think that this story should not have been written as a Cynster series book. It would be like Julia Quinn writing the story of Violet Bridgerton in the Bridgerton Series.. we all know how sad it would end. I for one, would rather not know how happy a couple was in the past (even if it is only fiction) and then find out about a tragedy, etc. Silly I know.. but I like to believe in the "happier ever after" endings...
Rating:
Summary: New To Cynster And Found It Boring
Review: I have never read any of the Cynster series and found this book rather boring. There isn't much plot, and what there is goes at an excessively slow pace. Maybe if I were a Cynster fan, I would find more to enjoy in it!
Rating:
Summary: What a bust!
Review: I love all the Cynster books and rated them all fives. The only reason I didn't rate this one lower is because the quality of the author's writing is good. But like others, because I knew about Sebastian's future infidelity and fathering an illegitimate child this was ruiuned for me. Helena would NEVER have tolerated it and Sebastian would NEVER have done it! I keep hoping for some other explanation. He was drugged, under a witch's spell, abducted by aliens, whatever. In all the Cynster books it's always said that the men love once and are devoted to their wives. This book should have either been written as a stand alone and not about a Cynster or not written at all.
| 
