I didn’t think the Cynster series could hit a lower nadir than Scandal’s Bride, but On A Wicked Dawn does it. The book is stretched to at least twice its natural length, and staying awake while reading it was a real chore. As a 60-page novella, it might have been worth reading, but as a 400+-page novel, it is a waste of good trees and ink. Ms Laurens should have taken the advice of other Amazon reviewers and stopped writing this series once the original six books were published.Amelia Cynster, unlike her sister Amanda, had decided to continue looking for her future husband within the ranks of those men attending Society events. It was already obvious from On A Wild Night who her choice would be: Lucien Ashford, Viscount Calverton - so old and so close a friend of the Cynster family that we didn’t know he existed until On A Wild Night. So much an old friend of Amelia’s that we don’t even get any sense that they’ve known each other for years, either.
Amelia, obviously not at all stricken with shyness or reticence when it comes to approaching men, lies in wait for Luc outside his home one night. When he finally rolls home drunk in the early hours, she strikes. (And again, how was it that her family had no idea that she was out? Would the faithful footman really not tell anyone where she’d been? Would no-one notice that a servant was absent?). Amelia tells Luc that she knows he’s in financial difficulty and that her dowry could rescue him. And she proposes.
No dragging out of the will-they-won’t-they here: Luc accepts immediately, but says that he wants a proper courtship. We know that Luc loves Amelia, but had never imagined that she might be within his reach. (Why the heck not? He’s easily high in status enough for the granddaughter and cousin of dukes). Amelia loves Luc, but never thought he’d looked at her - again, why not? She’d spent a lot of time with him in On A Wild Night.
The rest of the book is a long, slow progress towards marriage (achieved by halfway through), and then yawn-inducing, mundane post-marriage scenes, including the inevitable, and by now extremely tedious, lengthy sex scenes. By now I not only skim them; I skip them. There is nothing worth reading in these twelve-page excerpts from porn novels. We’re supposed to be able to tell from these scenes that Luc and Amelia love each other, but all we see is graphic, acrobatic sex involving a variety of different positions, as if Laurens wants to impress us with her knowledge of the Kama Sutra.
The ‘reason’ why the book is stretched out so long after the wedding has to do with the ‘need’ for Luc and Amelia to tell each other that they love the other, and for Luc to tell Amelia the truth about his fortune. (The highly ironic thing here is that it is the Duke of St Ives who lectures Luc about the need to confess his love to Amelia, while St Ives himself has never told his wife the same thing). The ‘control’ thing as an explanation for why neither was willing to say the L word was really not at all convincing. Both characters came across as idiots unable to see what was under their noses.
As for the characters, of course Luc is not a Cynster, but we’d never know it. Just like all the Cysnter males, he won’t show that he’s vulnerable. Just like all the Cynster males, he won’t tell his chosen woman that he loves her. Just like all the Cynster males, he throws his weight around and becomes overweening in his protectiveness. And Amelia... Little Miss Perfect! As soon as she marries, she becomes the perfect matriarch and wife, knowing just what to do and what to say in every situation. Hardly realistic, when she’s just taking over the reins of running a household! And she’s far better than Luc’s mother at advising his sisters, which she does at every possible moment - and yet there is not even the tiniest bit of resentment or jealousy from Luc’s mother. Suuure!!!
Yes, as ever, there is a mystery plot: someone is stealing valuables from the ton. I guessed who the thief was as soon as the plot was introduced; there is an early scene with the thief talking with Kirby, who is apparently some contact of Edward Ashford’s (banished in the previous book). The identity of the female thief was immediately apparent, and so the delay in unmasking her was pointless. That scene, in any event, was about as incredible as much of the rest of the book.
None of the Cynster books ‘fit’ properly into the Regency period; the ever-present pre-marital sex alone indicates that, as well as the lack of adequate chaperonage for the heroines and their completely unlikely behaviour. This book is no exception and is in some ways even worse: an unmarried young lady able to sneak around and sleep with her suitor at a house party? Where was her mother? Other Society matrons? Her maid, come to that?
I gather that there is now another book in the series, but I have no intention of buying it and no desire at all to read it. In fact, I’ll be getting rid of the nine Cynster books I bought, in some moment of madness when I thought that they might actually be worth reading, just as soon as I can... I believe there’s a charity shop collection due soon!
This book is one to avoid!
wmr-uk
