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Setting: Regency England
Sensuality: 8
Governess Honoria Wetherby is determined not to marry; she plans to have adventures among the Egyptian pyramids in lieu of wedding a controlling husband. But even the best-laid plans can run afoul of luck and outrageous fortune, as is fatefully proven one stormy evening when Honoria happens upon a dying young man in the woods. After passing the night in a cottage alone with the corpse and his cousin, the rakish and very much alive Devil Cynster, it's decided--by the handsome rake--that Honoria has been compromised by the unchaperoned evening and the only remedy is to marry. Despite her flat refusal, Devil is determined to have the beautiful and feisty governess; his family is overjoyed that he's finally planning to marry. But Devil definitely has his work cut out for him as he attempts to convince Honoria to wed him and forego her plans for adventure. Luring Honoria to the altar is further complicated when she insists upon aiding him in the search for his cousin's killer. Which will Devil accomplish first: seducing Honoria or unveiling a murderer? Or will Honoria foil the first plan and solve the second before Devil can?
Devil's Bride is the first of several novels by Laurens that feature the members of the noble Cynster family in Regency England. The larger-than-life hero is bold, brave, daring, and determined and meets his perfect match in the heroine, who is plucky, intelligent, practical, and wise. Lush sensuality, deft plotting, and charming secondary characters make this novel a stellar beginning for the Bar Cynster series. --Lois Faye Dyer
Product Description
Was he the husband of her dreams...or a devil in disguise?
When Devil, the Duke of St. Ives and the most infamous member of the notorious Cynster family, is caught in a compromising position with plucky governess Honoria Wetherby, he astonishes the ton by proposing marriage. No one ever dreamed this scandalous rogue would ever take a bride!
Honoria, however, isn't about to bend to society's demands and marry a man simply because they've been discovered together unchaperoned. She craves adventure and longs to see the world -- and though she's more than happy to assist him in solving the murder of a young Cynster cousin, once the crime is put to rest she intends to bid Devil farewell forever.
But she understimates the seductive power of this daring, dangerous man and the scalding heat of her own unsated desire. Does she dare let passion carry her into Devil's embrace...and into the most perilous, rapturous adventure of them all?
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