A Secret Love (Cynster Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Swirls of mist wreathed Gabriel Cynster's shoulders as he prowled the porch of St. George's Church, just off Hanover Square..." (more)
Key Phrases: inwardly sighed, brow quirked, tight breath, Central East Africa Gold Company, Lady Alathea, Brook Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Regency England

Sensuality: 8

Althea Morwellan needs Gabriel Cynster's help to save her family's fortune from an unscrupulous con artist, but the beauty is determined to keep her family's precarious financial state a secret. Althea and Gabriel played together as children on neighboring estates and she knows him very, very well. Aware that he can't resist a challenge, she conceals her identity behind a heavy black veil, pretending to be a mysterious, widowed countess. Intrigued, Gabriel agrees to help her, both because of her plea for help and because the beautiful mystery woman represents a personal challenge that he finds irresistible. Althea extracts a promise from Gabriel that he will not attempt to discover her identity and will not remove her veil.

Althea has loved Gabriel since they were children, but their relationship deteriorated over time. As adults, the two strike verbal sparks from each other at every meeting. Because of their barely polite truce, Althea is unprepared for Gabriel's wild attraction to her countess persona and she falls more deeply in love with him. Gabriel hasn't a clue that the mysterious veiled countess is really Althea, for the lady adamantly refuses to remove her veil. He finds himself charmed and seduced by the countess while frustrated beyond belief that she won't reveal her identity. For Althea, the pressure of maintaining her disguise is great and one evening, she makes a fatal slip. The ensuing confrontation with Gabriel turns both of their worlds topsy-turvy and complicates solving the mystery of her family fortune.

In this latest of the Cynster family novels, Stephanie Laurens combines a mystery plot with a deeply sensual love story. There is something very intriguing about a hero and heroine who believe they know each other well, yet see each other in a very different light when they come together as intimate strangers. As always, the supporting cast of characters is charming and includes the growing numbers of the Cynster clan. A Secret Love is a riveting novel from first page to last. --Lois Faye Dyer

Review

"All I need is her name on the cover to make me buy the book!" -- Linda Howard

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (July 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380805707
• ISBN-13: 978-0380805709
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 1.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,439 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #12 in	Books > Romance > Historical > Regency
  #23 in	Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Laurens, Stephanie

• This is item 5 in The Cynster Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Satisfying Cynster, July 9, 2000

By A Customer

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As noted in other reviews, this is the 5th in Laurens' successful "Bar Cynster" series. You'd think I'd get tired of reading about these perfect (even their individual imperfections are really perfections in disguise) men - but no! As with most of the series, Our Man Cynster (in this case, Rubert aka Gabriel) is bored with the life he's been living (lots of money, lots of women, lots of fun) and is just ripe for the picking - in this case, it's a mysterious countess that needs his help to save her family from financial ruin. Although this plot device works on some levels, it doesn't on other levels - thus 4 stars vs. 5. I mean this is a Cynster male! They all have that second sense, can read women, detect danger before it happens, etc, etc. - and I'm supposed to believe Gabriel doesn't figure out who the "countess" is, even when he's making love to her? I don't think so! But the book redeems itself by painting two of the best characters yet, especially Gabriel - he's supposedly the most detached of all of them, in the end he seems the sweetest (so far). Alathea is the usual strong willed, smart, self-reliant herione, but she's not written as too much of a stereotype. For those of you who didn't care for the steamier scenes in "A Rogue's Proposal" (I didn't mind them, but it appears many did), "A Secret Love" is a notch or two tamer than RP (or "Scandal's Bride"). It's fun to have some of the old characters pop up - I understand that Laurens' is planning Chillingsworth's romantic "downfall" in the future. And I'm quite sure we'll find out some day how the twins meet their matches! Final verdict on "A Secret Love" - buy it! And I'm waiting anxiously to find out how Lucifer goes out in glory!

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book 5 of Bar Cynster Series, July 14, 2000

By	Tina "tinaellorascave" (United States) - See all my reviews

Thirty-year-old Gabriel Cynster is intrigued by the mysterious, veiled countess from the moment they first meet, so when she calls upon him to aid her in a quest that will keep a cutthroat swindler from bilking away all that remains of her family's estate, he is powerless to deny her, or the attraction he carries for her. Wanting the mystery woman to reveal her identity to him of her own volition, Gabriel allows her to skirt around the issue of who she really is while he expertly entangles her in a Cynster-spun web of seduction. He will do as the countess asks and find the pieces of information she needs to clear her family of its debts, but each time Gabriel unravels a new piece of information, he will also exact a payment from her...in the form of innocent kisses at first, but more intimate acts as their relationship progresses.

Gabriel can't understand what it is about the countess that sets her apart from the women in his past, but he quickly realizes that, unlike any of his previous mistresses, she can stir his emotions as well as his body. In fact, there is only one other woman that has ever been able to get under Gabriel's skin, and she was more of a pariah than a blessing; she is a prickly spinster named Alathea who has been a close friend of the family for years, and Gabriel's longtime nemesis. Thankfully, the countess is nothing like Alathea, or so Gabriel tells himself...

At twenty-nine, Lady Alathea Morwellan is the matriarch and backbone of her father's earldom. The earl has an unfortunate propensity for getting himself into financial straights, so he's lucky to have a daughter with a proclivity for getting him out of them. Only this time, Alathea fears she won't be able to save the family's finances. There is only one man she knows of who is powerful and connected enough to stop the Morwellan family's inevitable ruin, but her pride and fear of being turned away keep Alathea from accosting Gabriel Cynster directly. Instead, she concocts an elaborate charade and reveals herself only as a mysterious, shrouded countess to the man whose presence has plagued her for years. To Alathea, it seemed the perfect, harmless scheme--until, of course, she discovers what it feels like to be seduced by a Cynster...

The book points to the fact that Lucifer, the sixth and final member of Bar Cynster, will get caught by the curse next. But who will come after Lucifer? It looks like it will be Chillingsworth, the handsome earl who plays a minor but titillating role throughout the entire series, and a tellingly significant role in "A Secret Love". So don't lose hope Bar Cynster fans...it looks as if there are still a few more stories to come!

-full review originally published in The Romance Reader

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining romance, July 4, 2000

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In 1820, the promissory note shook Alathea Morwellan to the bone. Apparently, her business-dumb father, the Earl of Meredith agreed to remit an amount worth more than his earldom for a percentage of the profits garnered by the Central East Africa Gold Company. Having been the brains behind the success of the earldom for the past eleven years, Alathea refuses to idly await disaster on something that smells of fraud.

Alathea decides to wear a veil to hide her identity and obtain help from someone she can trust to remain discreet in case he learns who she is. She turns to her childhood foe Gabriel Cynster, who has a reputation of assisting ladies in trouble for a price. Gabriel charges her with a kiss every time he assists her. As he works to uncover the identity of the con artist(s), Gabriel and Alathea find their kisses turning more passionate each time. Love begins to blossom, even as he tries to uncover the identity of the woman he now plans to marry.

A SECRET LOVE is an entertaining Regency romance that will thrill sub-genre fans due to its competent and ardent lead protagonists. The extended families of the two stars magnify the story line by providing depth to plot and to the protagonists. Stephanie Laurens' fifth Cynster tale is another triumph in a series that shows why the era is so cherished by readers.

Harriet Klausner