Rating:  Summary: Amanda Gets Her Man Review: This is one of the better Stephanie Laurens books. I have read everything written by her. Martin and Amanda are perfect for each other. What I liked about this book and its twin On A Wicked Dawn is that these girls know what they want are willing to go after it. There is no missish prissy or denying what will happen between the to parties. Amanda realizes she must pull Martin back into the light and force him to face the demons that haunt him. It is a wonderful journey of discovery for both of them. I didn't want the book to end.
Rating:  Summary: not as good as other books in Cynster series Review: I agree with other readers that Amanda's careless behavior in going after Martin was really unbelievable. Ms. Laurens claims to have read Georgette Heyer, and how she could not have a sense of Ms. Heyer's more authentically rendered Regency stories is a real puzzle. Amanda is in no sense a Regency woman, or for that matter of any part of the 19th century. She pretty much believes herself to be pregnant, and still refuses to marry the man even after he's proposed (and it not because she doesn't love him) because once again in that now familar Laurens storyline, the male must admit his love, while the woman remains mum as well. I also agree that the so-called love scenes have become formulaic, boring, and perhaps too numerous. The one thing that keeps me buying these books is because I want see what's happened with characters from the earlier Cynster books. And, yes, Ms. Laurens could use a real editor.
Rating:  Summary: a letdown.... Review: Let me just start this by saying that I LOOOOVE romance novels, and I love a good sex scene...but where was the emotion? I never thought Id say this, but this book had too much sex! It got boring after awhile, usually when Im reading a book and the tension is building, Im dying for some of the intimate scenes...but in this book, I actually found my self flipping ahead to read something besides all of this meaningless sex. Also, how in the heck did Amanda get away with such behavior back in the day? I think what got to me the most was..when I started this book..it began so well..I was immediately hooked into the fast pace..only to later be disappointed..all in all...not horrible, but it could stand to have about 150 pages knocked off.
Rating:  Summary: what I was hoping for Review: I loved this novel, though it helps that I've been able to track the twins personalities through the rest of the Cynster stories. I found the relationship captivating and endearing. I wasn't sure if the switch to a female Cynster would degrade the quality and this twin is certainly strong :-)
Rating:  Summary: Disappointing, Boring Review: I found both books - On A Wild Night and On a Wicked Dawn terribly disappointing. Both books seemed more like a catalogue on the different ways and places the couples could find to make love. I do like sexy romances but when chapter after chapter is devoted to sex,it does become rather boring.At least pump it up with a good story and interesting characteters - but even that fell short - disappointing for a author of a stature of Laurens.Also I just don't fall for the idea of how both Martin and Luc can't bring themselves to declare their love. It seems that in trying to bring out the strength of character of her heroes, Stephanie Laurens has compromised on their sensitivity. I think a blend of both makes a man more interesting and realistic.
Rating:  Summary: loved_it Review: I really loved this book. Amanda Cynster finds the man she wants and no one else will do. She leads him on a very merry chase, to catch and keep his attention and while he's chasing her he has no idea that it is really she that is chasing him. Amanda finds that Martin Fullbridge, Earl of Dexter is exactly what she wants for a husband and despite an old scandel in his past she resolves to get him. Very sensual and romantic.
Rating:  Summary: Not much substance here. Review: This is the first Laurens book I have ever read and it may be the last. There is not much of substance to keep one interested. The characters are not well developed, the relationship is shallow and the murder mystery is [bad]. First of all, what did she see in Martin? Admittedly, he seemed promising at their first meeting when he rescues her during an ill-advised card game, but after that? Almost every facial description of him used the word "stony" or he was gritting his teeth or barely suppressing anger. Though he's handsome and sexy, what else is he? He has no sense of humor, does nothing but brood - sounds like fun! The author was a bit more generous with Amanda, but though she is smart and vivacious, she also comes off as completely calculating and shallow. Other than sex what was there between these two characters? Not much! Once the thrill of forbidden sex is gone, will these two have anything to say to each other? I never thought I'd say this but there were so many sex scenes in the book (though they were hot) it became boring! And what's with Amanda carrying on in such a "shocking" fashion for the times? How is she getting away with this? I hardly think her behavior would have been acceptable nor even possible for an aristocratic young lady of the day. How is she sneaking off with a houseful of family and servants? Where are her parents? And then when Martin tells her male cousins what has transpired between him and Amanda, they aren't even shocked! They immediately accept him as a part of the family!! It just all seems so unrealistic and even silly. Well, I guess I'll be reading the companion book about Amanda's twin Amelia anyway, since I've already bought it, but if it's anything like this one, it's going to be tough to finish! But at least Lucien Ashford seems to have more going for him than Martin - more personality, more humor. At least I hope so!!!
Rating:  Summary: Sadly, not recommended. Review: I have been a fan of Stephanie Laurens for quite some time. Much like the quote from an author on the front of this book, I generally buy anything with her name on it. However, I struggled through this book for various reasons. First, after years of reading books where one's reputation is the end-all, be-all of one's existence, I was disconcerted by the haphazard care Amanda Cynster had for her reputation. Neither she, nor anyone else in her family, seemed to care one whit about her visiting gambling hells, private parties known to be meeting houses for people looking to carry on sexual liaisons...It was a struggle to believe that no one in society was talking about her and that her reputation was unblemished by her stubborn carelessness. Second, and this is a reflection of how bored and upset I was, I came to be increasingly distracted by Ms. Laurens overabundance of paragraphs with fragments. In many of the scenes, particularly love/sex scenes, Ms. Laurens seems to lose all sense of English grammar and haphazardly (a recurring theme in this book) drop verbs and leave sentence fragments littering the text. Why is this an issue for me? Because I was in such a state of frustration with the book by page 100, that I was noticing every flaw. I was so frustrated that my husband threatened to take the book away from me as I was muttering to myself every other minute (I promise this is not a regular occurrence). Ms. Lauren's editor would have done everyone more justice had she encouraged her to cut at least 150 pages from the text. Undoubtedly, this would have eliminated many of the sentence fragments and encouraged the story to seem less drawn out and endless. Indeed, the only reason I can see for the excess pages is the incredible price... Why am I giving this book 2 stars when I seem to have hated it? For all of the frustration and irritability it caused, I was fascinated to see how Amanda would manage to convince Martin to fall in love with her. For a young woman of 23, she had a much better grasp of the male psyche than the majority of women I know. Also, despite the distraction of the sentence fragments, the love/sex scenes were pretty intense and they kept me distracted on a very long drive. If you feel the need to own this book, whether to judge for yourself or to be able to at least say you read it, I highly recommend buying a used copy or purchasing one at a discount store. Sorry, Stephanie, I really wanted to like this one. I have enjoyed so many of your books until this.
Rating:  Summary: Ick! What a poor excuse for a love story. Review: Nope - if you're looking for a good read, you won't find it in this book. It was everything I could do just to get through it. Ooooh! Anyway, read a really good book that I couldn't put down. I'm telling everyone about it, The Color of Revenge. It's a page-turner.
Rating:  Summary: Ok, not too bad, but after a few weeks I do not remember Review: It is slowing down, Laurens writing. I did adore "Secret lover" and all the books from Devil on the Cysters. Somewhow I find she has no more passion (true one) left and repeats herself, the pattern begins to be old and out of fashion. I do not even remeber exactly and do not think I will read it again, also I have read at least twice all the Cyster males books.
|