The Ideal Bride (Cynster Novels, 11)

Laurens is the reason I read historical romance - I found her Cynster series several years ago and keep trying to find anything to equal it - I have never found anything to equal Laurens or this series. The reviews here for this book are mixed, I guess if you do not appreciate the style of Laurens you might find this book slow but for me it is so necessary for the story Laurens is trying to tell. She wants you to understand each and every feeling of Michael and Caro - she wants you to understand why they are reacting to each other on a day to day hour to hour basis. This was absolutely a beautiful romance. No words that I could write here would convey how much I enjoyed and appreciated this book. Michael I thought might be a little stuffy since he is not a Cynster rouge type. However, Michael is beyond discription the way he truly begins to understand what kind of perfect woman Caro would be for him both personally and politically. He sets out on a pace of seduction and romance that might be unequaled in the many books I have read. The passion between Caro and Michael is unequaled - I truly could not believe how powerful and hot these scenes were without in any way coming off as just lust. And the emotions between Michael and Caro - has there ever been a more perfect couple? Noone could write a book, that goes sometimes hour by hour day by day and not have it come off as tedious but Stephanie Laurens. Caro had so many reasons to be doubtful and fearful of giving her heart to Michael. Michael until Caro, never really thought he could become like all of his Cynster inlaws and fall under the spell of a woman. How they both will discover they were so wrong. Truly if you are a absolute lover of the Cynster series and Lauren's work - I believe you will see as I do, the Ideal Bride - is indeed an Ideal read!!

In previous works I have read by this author, the plot and characterizations were just spacers to separate the sex scenes. With this book Laurens succeeds in creating characters unusual in this genre, witty interchanges between them and a mystery much beyond the usual throwaway plot of most romances. However, what makes this book a keeper for me and shows that the author is stretching her skills is the evocation of life behind the powers and people who led England during the early 19th century. It was a time when women had no overt political power, but were forced to use their social skills and access to men in powerful positions to further their goals. Sleeping with power was the few ways a woman could achieve it. However, very skilled women diplomats and politicians used their charm and knowledge and ability to navigate the social shoals to achieve political ends. The patronesses of Almacks, much loved by romance writers and readers, were real people whose social and political powers to intertwined. Unfortunately, attitudes toward present day women who are powerful in their own right show us how little all too many of us have traveled in 200 years. (This same dismissive attitude extends, of course, to women's fiction.) I haven't checked the author's 19th century name dropping, but I believe she has the truth of the era. Fans of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope could enjoy this book. (They might swoon over the sex scenes, however.) Georgette Heyer fans might be forgiven for naming Laurens her heir if she continues in this vein. This book commits the romance novel heresy of assuming because a couple share the same interests and experiences they can fall in love and live happily ever after.

Michael Anstruther-Wetherby brother of the of the Dutches of St. Ives has a problem, he has reached a certain point in politics where to advancer any higher he must have a wife... He has his eye on a possible canidate, Elizabeth the daughter of a neighbor and member of anther political family. He has not however taken into account Elizabeth awareness of how things work and she plots with her aunt Caro to make herself look less appealling so she can follow her heart and marry Edward, a young man with possiblities. However once Michael relizes Caro's charm and political skills he immediately realizes that Caroline is much more what he is looking for. Caro on the other hand is not at all thrilled with this as she is now a widow of 2 years escaping an arranged marriage to a much older man and has no plans to ever wed again. This story is much different from many of the previous Cynster family novels and is set at a slower pace. Ms. Laurens presents us with to leader characters whom are less brilliant in their passion but by the the end of the book are in love in a way that for many takes years and others never find. This is not how ever to say the book doesn't have it monents of mystery or flashes of passion. This is however a book that is a bit slower but still a wonderful read and a charming addition to the Cynster series!

I really enjoyed this book, the force of his feeling for the heroine was expected but was not unforgettable. Although he first viewed her niece as a prospect to further his career and life, Caro became the obsesseion, that a male like Michael could not resist and loves seducing. This was a passionate story, and there is an introduction of the next Bastion Club book.

By 1825 everyone in the know believes that the future in Parliament is bright for rising luminary Lord Michael Anstruther-Wetherby. His sister's marriage to the influential Cynster clan only enhances his superstar status in politics and in the ballroom. Aristocratic mothers know Michael is quite a catch and his arrogant confident manner makes all the unmarried and a quite few with spouses desire him.Michael understands that politics at the top tier in England requires the perfect wife to serve as an ornament. His sister's marriage to the Devil compels him to find a compliant pretty spouse who knows how to host galas, but passion and love are not perquisites for the position. His paragon is Elizabeth Mollston, but Michael finds his heart and other bodily parts rebel instead seeking his chosen one's Aunt Caroline, a diplomat's widow. Caro knows first hand the odious life of a politician's candy wife and wants love for her niece. She persuades Michael that an experienced woman would further his career more than a virgin would. Michael agrees as he wants Caro at his side in Parliament and more so in the boudoir, but she rejects the notion that happiness and politics are compatible bedfellows.The latest Cynster tale uses the extended family of an in-law to continue the series. Though Michael is not a pureblood, he behaves in the same haughty compassionate manner as all Cynster males that DNA testing should be required. The concept of convenient relational marriages is cleverly drawn within the fiery romance between the delightful lead couple. Fans of the Cynster series will enjoy this entry as THE IDEAL BRIDE is a chip off the old block.Harriet Klausner