Customer Reviews

All About Love

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

All About Love is just that. This story answers the question that has been asked through the centuries - what is love? I'll let Lucifer give his opinion:

"It took a while to work out, but there's only one explanation." His lips twisted wryly; he looked into Phyllida's eyes. "And I now know what Martha was trying to metaphysically jog my elbow about that first day." "What?" "You. Not just you but the possibility of what we could share. Martha was trying to tell me to open my eyes so I wouldn't miss it." He glanced around again; his arms tightened as he brought his gaze back to her face. "Horatio re-created Martha's garden because he realized, as I now do, that you can't turn aside from love. You can't choose to love - it doesn't work like that - but once you do love, you love forever. You can't move counties and leave it behind; it stays with you, in your heart, your mind - it becomes part of your soul. Horatio re-created the garden for the same reason Martha created it in the first place - as his expression of his love for her and recognition of her love for him. Martha was still with Horatio when he died - I know that as definitely as I stand here with you. They're still here, both of them, memories living within this garden. Their love, shared love, created it; while it lives, their love lives, too." His lips twisted again, this time in self-deprecation. "For all that we - the men in my family - try to avoid love, for the best and most logical of reasons, when it strikes, there's not one of us, not through all the generations, who has turned his back and walked away. For us, not walking away is harder, more frightening, than fighting any battle, but if there's one thing I've learned from my family, its that surrendering to love, to the demands of love, is the only road to real happiness." "While I've seen love in action in my family, I've learned a great deal from Horatio and Martha. Love simply is - it asks no permission. Acceptance is all that love asks, the only demand it makes, but it is an absolute one. You can either admit it to your heart, or refuse it, but there's no other option." Isn't that the most romantic passage you've ever read?!?

Stephanie Laurens has the unique ability to create a series where each book is a masterpiece unto itself. No two stories are alike yet all share a common thread: Love, family, honor, adventure and protection. Stephanie has my sincerest gratitude for a series so wonderful it leaves me breathless! The epilogue was a beautiful tribute to the Bar Cynster and a wonderful closing to a story well done!

Alasdair Reginald "Lucifer" Cynster is a hero in every sense of the word. His sensuality is only surpassed by his intelligence, and he needs every ounce of both to sway his ladylove - not to mention protect her from a killer and herself.

Phyllida Tallent, beautiful in her own right is independent to a fault. As the caregiver of an entire village, she is not ready to relinquish control to an amazingly handsome rogue. Little does she know the choice was never hers to make!

The Series: All About Love is the final chapter of the Bar Cynster and I, for one, am sorry to see it end. Devil's Bride, A Rake's Vow, Scandal's Bride, A Rogue's Proposal, A Secret Love and All About Love is a collection that deserves your undivided attention. I look forward to the spin-off books about the Twins, Chillingworth, Devil's parents and Simon. You will too!

I ask myself: How many times can Stephanie Laurens write the exact same story and still get published? Obviously, she can do it six times. This novel is just like Devil's Bride, which is just like Rake's Vow, which is just like Secret Love, which is... Well, we get the idea. Hero meets heroine, decides she's the one for him, she doesn't think so for most of the book, someone is murdered, hero will investigate but doesn't want heroine's help, heroine is bound and determined to inject herself into the action, heroine decides she likes hero after all, they have sex, hero marries heroine, murder gets solved, everyone lives happily ever after. This is the plot of every Cynster novel.

If it's not bad enough to recycle the plot over and over, the characters are always the same. What's the difference between any of the Cynster men, or the Cynster women besides changing a few minor details? Characterization is much more than changing eye color, or hobby.

And I swear, even the dialogue in this book is the same as all the others in the series. This is the conversation that every Laurens Hero and heroine have in every single book, for at least half of the book:

Hero: You will marry me.

Heroine: Never!

Repeat until nausea is induced.

Stephanie Laurens has a true talent for atmospheric writing and, sometimes, can actually display a decent ear for dialogue. If only she would use it! Writing by template is never attractive, and it only gets worse with each additional installment. And to think that there will be MORE books in the Cynster series, which I'm sure will be exactly like all the others. I could have just read Devil's Bride 5, 6 or 7 more times rather than getting more books in this series.

Recommendation: Buy Cynster books used. Please send a message to all authors that only those who bother to be original with each and every book deserve our hard-earned money.

Fleeing his brother's wedding before he becomes the next catch of the season, Alasdair "Lucifer" Cynster goes to the countryside to visit his friend, mentor, and fellow collector Horatio Walham. In Colyton Manor, Lucifer finds someone murdered Horatio. However, Phyllida Tallent accidentally knocks over a halberd, knocking out Lucifer. On her way to get help, she happens to notice a brown hat.

Phyllida's dad, the magistrate concludes Lucifer is innocent of murder. Lucifer vows to uncover the killer's identity and Phyllida agrees to help him. As they investigate, several attempts to kill Phyllida occur. As Lucifer and Phyllida fall in love, they make love. He knows he made love with her because he will marry her, while she knows she made love because she loves him. However, a killer remains free with Phyllida being the prime target because she saw something at Horatio's house that identifies the murderer.

New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Laurens has written an exciting historical romantic-mystery that freshens up her popular Cynster series. Lucifer and Phyllida are a wonderful couple who readers will adore and the tidbits that allow the audience to absorb the 1820 English countryside adds value to the tale. However, it is the amateur sleuthing of the lead couple that turns ALL ABOUT LOVE into a winning regency tale.

Harriet Klausner

Think back to your first car. Mine was six years old, 75,000 miles, cherry-red; it had a long scratch at the trunk, badly painted over with a darker shade of red that did not quite match, and no matter how much I vacuumed, the carpet seemed to grow little bits of brown grass overnight. I had to jiggle the wheel before the key would turn in the ignition, and I was afraid to open the windows because I thought they would fall out. But no car since then has quite matched the anticipation, the exuberance I felt; no car since then gave me such a thrill simply because it was completely and so very mine. Devil's Bride was like that-- inventive and not without its imperfections (the arrogance, the title, the back cover)-- but the horsepower that had launched Devil and Honoria into the romance stratosphere coughed and choked about three books ago, and ever since the Cynstermobile has been puttering along on the shell and the grace of the winds.

All About Love contains more than one handicap-- it's not even the second car, but the sixth, and the Cynster name is a glaring discontentment. Lucifer is a perfectly amiable man-- he is handsome and wealthy and sometimes arrogant--but imagine this repeated five times previously, and all these carbon copies had had their own perfectly amiable wives, who were all beautiful and intelligent and sometimes stubborn. The characters are a notch below fair, the mystery is less than exciting, and as a much-hyped book in a much-hyped series it falls somewhere below disappointment. I think this is the part where I politely state that quaint "frankly, my dear" platitude and demand the last few hours of my life back.

But hey! For those that read this and wanted me stoned, the Cynster books are not ending. There's still three more left, including Chillingsworth, the twins, and some other Cynster cousin left on the branch. I think I am going to take my car for a spin and drive it over the first cliff I see.

This is the first full-length novel by Stephanie Laurens that I've read, and it certainly won't be the last. "All About Love" is the story of "Lucifer" Cynster, a supposed rake who has retired to the country to visit an old friend. He is shocked to find that his friend has very recently been murdered when he arrives in the charming village of Colyton. He also immediately meets Phyllida, a beautiful young woman who is also the town busybody and clearly knows more that she's telling about the murder. Despite their mutual mistrust, the two are surprised by their attraction to one another and begin to work together to solve the murder. Before he met Phyllida, Lucifer had no intention of ever falling in love and marrying. Likewise, Phyllida was quite content with her life in the village and was certain that she will never marry. Most of the story is about how the two become comfortable with one another and the idea of falling in love and making a lifetime commitment.

Despite a couple of nitpicks - I really hate it when heroines insist upon putting themselves in danger just to prove their "independence" and the suspects were all so similar that I had a hard time telling them apart - this was one of the best books I've read recently. Even though the plot was not terribly complicated or original (in my opinion, not really a flaw in a good romance), Laurens kept me interested all the way through. The growing relationship between the two leads was particularly well written and even surprisingly realistic. These two people didn't lay eyes on one another and immediately fall in love. They met, were attracted to one another, and let the attraction develop into something deeper. Laurens also writes great love scenes - hot but still sweet. This is the 6th novel in a series about the Bar Cynster, but don't worry if you haven't read the previous books. I haven't and it didn't make one bit of difference. You can bet I'll read the other 5 and when I'm done, I'll really enjoy picking this book back up and reading the epilogue where the whole family meets at a summer gathering.

I usually like Laurens' books, but there was one word for this book... Boredom... I should've listened to the bad reviews, but since I read A Secret Love, and enjoyed it, I decided, why not? Big mistake!!! Laurens spent so much time on the murderer's plots and schemes, and then rushed the ending in a blink of an eye... I admit, there were pretty sexy scenes, (the reason why this received three stars instead of four) but other than that it was boring... I still think that Lucifer's story could've been way better. He was so hot!!! But the heroine was also so stupid, always getting in danger, but I guess that's what made the book fun...

This is the 6th and final novel in the Bar Cynster series.

As typical of the previous five books, Lucifer is on the run after finding himself the only unmarried Bar Cynster. He decides to visit a friend, but ends up finding him murdered. After being struck on the head by Phyllida, he ends up in her family's care. They make a pact to try and find out who killed his friend and the romance begins. Lucifer decides that Phyllida is the wife that he wants, while Phyllida is of course not keen at first on the idea, although she's not against fooling around with him. Hey, this is Stephanie Laurens, what else can we expect?

Phyllida reminds me of Demon's wife, Felicity. They are so much alike that we see an instant rapport between them when they first meet, when Demon and Felicity come for a visit and stay to help them with the murder case. Lucifer is, of course, sexy and confident (no surprise there). One of my favorite scenes in this book is when Phyllida sneaks into the Manor and Lucifer catches her. Lucifer does this Zorro-thing with her clothes and then tells her "I've always wanted to do that". I thought it was hilarious. The other highlight of the book is Lucifer's proposal in the garden. The first time a Bar Cynster does the proper thing - priceless!

Although the spark between the two is not as electrifying as that of Devil and Honoria, they still make for a good story. Besides, I have to tell myself that nobody compares to the Duke and Duchess. Oh, and let me mention that I love how Laurens' finished the book with the gathering of the Cynster clan, with a highlight on Devil and Honoria. It's great to see their romance still sizzles! A very good ending to the Bar Cynster.

I just don't get it why people don't like this installment (comparing to the preceding ones). I like it as much as I did the Devil's Bride and the Secret Love. Of all the heroines, Phyllida is my most favorite. She's kind of a 'brainy' type of girl and she does show how to use her head to the maximum in solving the mystery (well, comparing to Patience's character in Rake's Vow, I would say that Phyllida is more charming and up to the same league as Honoria and Alathea!!). As for Lucifer, he's as lovely as his other Cynster cousins. Therefore, no comment about his character.

In my opinion, the mystery, although not that thrilling but does make sense to me, well, more than any other installments. I would say that it's as good as it is in Devil's Bride. I also love the way Lucifer and Phyllida develop their relationship and I really am impressed with the way Lucifer waits for Phyllida to learn to trust him (of course, before getting laid. It's just my conviction that people must learn to trust, love and then they go to bed, not the other way around :)) This is really my kind of romance. It's the closest to real life, the way they feel for each other. (FYI, I also love Julia Quinn's Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. So, if you like the book, you've got to read this one !!).

It's definitely a keeper!!!

... to make my heart beat faster. Stephanie Laurens is a wonderful writer. Her Cynster men (not to mention the whole family)are hard not to love. My one compliant about this book was not enough of the rest of the Cynster Clan. But it was understandable considering half the wives were VERY pregnant, and no Cynster male is going to leave his wife in such a condition. :) This book actually kept me guessing till the end. I had no idea who the murder was. The love scenes are always wonderful. And the interaction between the characters is top notch. One plesant surprise: when Lucifer asks Phyllida to marry him he does the one thing that none of the other Cynsters had done. It was a wonderful touch. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet. Don't miss this delightful series. I'm eagerly awaiting Chillingsworth "downfall". ;)

Actually, I almost rated this 3 stars, so I guess 2-1/2 stars is the final vote. I must admit I liked this one better than the one with Demon and Felicity (the worst of the 6, for me), and then Gabriel the next. The story plot here wasn't all that bad, although I dread the long, drawn-out struggle for the soon-to-be bride to accept the inevitable. The best of all remains, in my heart, "Devil's Bride", which I have just pulled out today and reread. I still marvel at the richness of that story and see the difference. Devil and Honoria Prudence married in the relative middle of the novel, and the joy of watching the two really fall in love in the remaining pages was wonderful -- especially with the Bar Cynster's tyrant as the hero. I did appreciate Ms. Lauren's touch of having Devil and Honoria end "All About Love" with a reaffirmation of their love story -- and that their passion remains sizzling after two years! Sorry to talk about Devil, but to me all the other of Bar Cynster stories pale in comparison to their leader's!

Still, all in all, not a bad end to the saga. Thanks, Ms. Lauren.