Winning the Wallflower by Eloisa James

Lucy and Cyrus are engaged -- but a reversal of fortune changes everything.

Lucy inherits some money and realizes that she now has more power to choose a husband -- one who would do more than be aloof and indifferent to her.

Cyrus wanted a wife with an impeccable lineage and no fuss.  He is convinced that his criteria is sound and Lucy is the best choice.

But Lucy breaks off their engagement -- leaving Cyrus half in love with this new Lucy.  The Lucy who is honest and stands up to him.

He throws his old plan out of the window and sets off with a new plan -- to win his former wallflower fiance.

Lucy and Cyrus are wonderful together.  I love their conversations and I love how they are able to match wits.

I was charmed by how unaware Cyrus was of his own attractiveness.  He has had ladies fall over his feet but he did not let this get to his head.  It is Lucy who shows him that he is a man worthy of love.

This was a nice short story -- I'm looking forward to the full-lengthed novel, The Duke is Mine, which features Lucy's friend, Olivia.

In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster by Stephanie Laurens

 It took me awhile to finish this book -- I felt it was too long and over-written.

This is the second book in the Cynster Sisters series and it is Eliza's turn to find her hero.

 I think Stephanie Laurens did a good thing by introducing us to an atypical Cynster -- Eliza is not like her siblings or cousins.  She isn't bold or daring.  She can't ride a horse.  She's not overly fond of being social.  She is quiet and introspective.

Jeremy Carling is also not your typical Laurens hero.  He is a scholar and leads a quiet and contemplative life.

I felt Laurens could have done more about Eliza and Jeremy -- both out of their element in an adventure better-suited for their siblings/friends.  Instead, Laurens does the same thing -- she rehashes the same plot -- and has Eliza kidnapped and brought to Scotland.  And Jeremy and Eliza go through chapters and chapters of traveling ... on foot.

I am fine with Laurens using the kidnapping as the device to tie the three stories together -- but I don't think it should be as easy as changing the names of the kidnapper, the kidnapped and the rescuer -- (even the end destination was the same!)

I had to keep putting the book down because it was a lot of walking and walking and walking and not a lot of adventure.  Laurens did the convenient thing and made sure to draw out their travel to Wolverstone.  Of course there was an explanation -- and we accept (but don't understand) Jeremy's rationale for choosing such a roundabout route to a place he is very familiar with --

This is also where Laurens commits the error of over-writing -- the tedious discussion of routes and directions -- the ever-present and quite-often consultation of a map --

This story lacked focus.  It also lacked direction. This should have been Eliza and Jeremy's story -- and we should have seen some growth and transformation in the two of them.

In the end, when Eliza realizes that she had changed, I am unconvinced that she had.

When Eliza finally rose from the tub, and wrapped in a robe, toweled her hair dry, she felt ... like her old self, but not. 


She was increasingly certain she could never go back to that earlier self, her previous incarnation. Whatever changes the last week had wrought, they were irreversible.

What Laurens has succeeded in doing is to make the Laird (I assume he is the Earl of Glencrae) a very appealing character.  It is explained in this second book why he was so hesitant in the first book.

He is a reluctant villain -- and it is because of him that I have pre-ordered the third book and will read it.

This book was released one month after the first book was released ... but the third book won't be out until January -- I am hoping that Laurens has used this time to work out the kinks in her story.

Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue by Stephanie Laurens

This story had potential --

We are told, at the beginning of the story, that Heather and Timothy, Viscount Breckenridge, hate each other. They are somewhat, distantly related by marriage and they are nemeses.

They meet at an infamous soiree where Heather has sneaked off to -- she is determined to find a man to marry. (It's a strange place to find a prospective husband, considering it is a gathering with questionable purpose.)

Breckenridge compels Heather to go home, threatening to inform her brothers of her outing. On her way to her carriage, Heather gets kidnapped. Breckenridge witnesses this and decides to chase after Heather and her kidnappers.

He catches up to them -- but, instead of escaping, Heather is determined to discover the identity of the mastermind to her kidnapping. She decides to stay kidnapped to try to get information.

This whole part felt odd -- and partly defies logic. But I guess Laurens wanted to use this time for Heather and Breckenridge to develop a relationship. (They meet at night to discuss what they have discovered during the day.)

Finally, (after about 6 chapters), they decide to escape. The mastermind of Heather's kidnapping follows them. (Again, weird: he never seems to catch up. He's riding a horse and they are on foot -- but he never seems to catch up!)

Heather and Breckenridge decide to travel to Vale, to seek help from Richard (Scandal) and Catriona --

When they arrive there, the story changes.

They have forgotten about the mastermind (and the kidnapping) and Breckenridge is intent on marrying Heather. Heather does not want to get married and plans to devote her life to taking care of children. (Um... she sneaked out to a soiree in order to find a man!) She demands his love and he can't give it because of something that happened to him in the past.

There was one moment when Richard and Breckenridge decide to track the mastermind -- but, at this point, his trail is cold. (They should have done it when they arrived at the Vale, when Breckenridge and the mastermind had a standoff. Instead, they wait a few days so he could escape.)

It takes a deus ex machina (in this case, a tauri/bull ex machina) to push Heather and Breckenridge to give in to their feelings. And live happily ever after.

This story had a lot of potential. It would have been nice if Laurens had stuck to one story and saw it through to the end (preferably the kidnapping story). She also needs to edit her work better -- to avoid such lines as:

Their hearty breakfast of porridge and honey stood them on good stead as they marched steadily on. O_o

Some things Laurens failed to address:
1. Why do Heather and Breckenridge hate each other?
2. Who is Helen and what did she do to Breckenridge? (It is implied that she broke his heart but a lot of the details are left out -- I think this is an important part of the story since this is the reason why Timothy can't seem to open his heart to Heather.)
3. What happened to the letter Breckenridge left with Heather's coachman? Why didn't anyone come after them?

Laurens succeeded in piquing our interest about the mastermind of the kidnapping and the reasons behind it -- (which is why I am reading the next book) --

The greatest challenge Laurens has to overcome (IMHO) is creating unique characters. She has written about the Cynsters for more than 10 years and has introduced over 15 of the Cynster children. It becomes difficult distinguishing one from the other -- and one's story from the other.

In the word of her own characters:
The same thing we've all had to do--prostrate ourselves at their dainty feet, swear undying love, and mean it. - Richard to Breckenridge

Whoever your hero is, he's definitely like your cousins... - Catriona to Heather

She tried to step out of the Cynster mold with the Black Cobra Quartet -- but there is a reason why she has decided to return to writing about the Cynsters.

I have the next book and I'm interested enough to continue reading this series.

Forever Mine by Delilah Marvelle (e-novella)

I am a big, big fan of Delilah Marvelle and have read all of her works --

This is a wonderful e-novella and teaser to her new series (Rumors) --

Augustine is haunted by the disappearance of her younger brother two years ago. Leonard, the Duke of Wentworth, has mourned his wife for seven years and has finally decided to move on -- and he wants Augustine as part of his life.

Augustine is a wonderful character -- strong and willing to stand up and speak up for herself. The loss of her brother shatters her completely and she goes through the motions of living but doesn't allow herself to enjoy her life.

Augustine likes Leonard but cannot offer commitment to him because she is determined to find her brother -- when Leonard discovers her plan to travel back to New York (where her brother disappears), he asks to come along.

The voyage to New York allows Augustine and Leonard to discover more of each other -- and trust each other with their broken hearts.

Their love gives Augustine the faith and conviction that her brother will be found.

The Rumors series begins with Forever and A Day, 28 years after Augustine and Leonard's story and featuring the current Duke of Wentworth.

To Wed a Wild Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

This is the 4th part of Sabrina Jeffries' Hellions of Halstead Hall series --

Of the siblings, I felt Minerva was the most interesting and Gabriel is a close second.

This is Gabriel's story.

Three deaths haunt Gabriel -- the death of his parents and his best friend, Roger Waverly. He has earned the nickname Angel of Death because it seems that everyone close to him dies.

Gabriel acts like nothing bothers him -- but, deep down (and secretly), he has all but believed the nickname given to him -- he doesn't let anyone close, not even his own siblings.

Then his grandmother issues the ultimatum to him and his siblings -- his 3 older siblings have accepted their fates and have married --

Gabriel and Celia are holding on out on principle (and fear -- fear of letting people close) --

But time is running out -- Gabriel, ever protective of Celia, has come up with a plan that will allow Celia to escape a rushed marriage.

He decides to propose marriage to Roger's sister, Virginia. The problem is, Virginia and her family blame him for Roger's death. And they all hate him.

This does not stop Gabriel from pursuing Virginia --

What begins as a convenient arrangement for Gabriel, becomes utterly inconvenient when his heart gets involved. The more he spends time with Virginia, the more he comes to care for her -- and vise versa. Virginia finds it harder and harder to hold on to her anger when she discovers the real Gabriel.

And it's a Gabriel she has learned to love.

But so much of their past bears down on their present -- and it takes courage and faith from both Gabriel and Virginia to overcome it all.

This was a wonderfully written story -- at the heart of it all, are two orphans, making sense of their world and their hearts. They don't realize how alike they are -- Gabriel and Virginia, both lost their childhoods early with the deaths of their parents.

But the brilliance of Sabrina Jeffries lies in the "story within the story" -- the mystery of Gabriel's parents death continues to unfold --

It's interesting that Jeffries used a "locked room scenario" -- in the beginning (in Oliver's story), it seemed like a simple case: husband and wife were both found dead in a cabin. As the Sharpe siblings stories continue, we learn more and more about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of their parents.

I think, with this series, Jeffries has shown incredible focus and consistency -- 2 different genres have played out in a series of 4 books (so far) -- and she has successfully moved the story forward (and leaving her readers riveted) --

The next (and last?) story is Celia's -- very, very excited to get my copy in 2012!