Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde by Stephanie Laurens

Drago Helmsford, the Duke of Wyld, has decided to take a wife. His aunt has the perfect candidate. But a drunken night of revelry leads to a misunderstanding and he ends up engaged to Meg Cynster. Though she is in her tenth season, it is more by choice than anything else. When they realize that they are probably going to have to bite the bullet and stay engaged for awhile, Meg and Drago do something unusual in a romance novel, they actually talk to each other and come up with a plan. As they are pretending to be engaged, they learn that they might actually like each other well enough to actually get married. It is then that the accidents start to happen... who is trying to kill them? And which one of them is the true target?

If you've read Laurens before, you'll know who and can probably figure out why but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book. 

Cynsters Next Generation #13

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 17, 2023

Follows Miss Flibbertigibbet and the Barbarian

Followed by A Family of His Own

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Miss Flibbertigibbet and the Barbarian by Stephanie Laurens

Nicholas Cynster is looking for a horse, a specific horse, one with the sobriquet Barbarian. It has been spotted at Ainsby Grange so he heads over. His introduction to the Sommervilles is helping the younger set take down their flour balloon bombs. A little odd but it smooths his introduction to Lady Adrianna. And that is good because she is going to be the one he is dealing with in the sale of the horse as her father is... not well and her mother is spending all of her time with him. 

Addie doesn't understand the feelings she's having around this man but, when the horse disappears, she's going to have more time to figure it out as the two will be working together to figure out where the horse has gone. 

I appreciated the fact that the obvious ending (at least if you're a regular Laurens reader) was actually subverted in a way I don't remember her ever doing anymore. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 16, 2023

Follows The Time for Love

Followed by Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Time for Love by Stephanie Laurens

Looking for a steel mill to supply his other business concerns, Martin Cynster believes he can talk Miss Sophia Carmichael into selling. When he meets her, he is not shocked by her business acumen (he has too many accomplished women in his family for that, but he is drawn in by her beauty. He is also concerned because not one but two accidents happen while he is there. Why is someone trying to sabotage her business? He knows it's not him and he doesn't think it's the other person vying for her business, Oliver. Oliver and Martin don't know each other well but Martin knows him well enough to assume that he wouldn't do anything so underhanded. 

Oliver was an odd addition in this book. I'm assuming that he is sequel bait but we are also left with Toby, Dalziel's son. Also interesting was that all of the conflict for Sophy and Martin was external. They basically see each other and are ready to hop in. The mystery was a little weak and the ending, with the redemption of the criminal, felt odd. 

Three stars

This book came out August 18, 2022

Follows Foes, Friends, and Lovers

Followed by Miss Flibbertigibbet and the Barbarian

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Foes, Friends, and Lovers by Stephanie Laurens

Gregory Cynster is the last of a certain set of his cousins to remain unmarried. He knows that it's in his future but it's not imperative. Except that he's just inherited an estate. A really good estate. He's not sure exactly how the estate is producing so much money.

Caitlin Fergusson knows exactly how and why the estate is doing so well. In fact, she's running it as the chatelaine. And doing it well. No one really needs to know how or why she ended up there. But Gregory's arrival is putting them all on teneerhooks, not knowing what he will do. 

It actually turns out that both are thoughtful, intelligent people who are attracted to each other though each has some secrets. And there is some external conflict from a neighbor who is overly enthusiastic about trying to buy the property.

Three stars

This book came out March 17, 2022

Follows The Secrets of Lord Grayson Child 

Followed by The Time for Love

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Secrets of Lord Grayson Child by Stephanie Laurens

Lord Grayson Child is peeved. Someone has discovered his secret. And not only have they uncovered it, they are threatening to expose it on the front page of the London Crier. That's why he's standing outside the offices waiting for everyone to leave, because then he can confront the owner. But he's not expecting the know the owner much less have a past with them.

Lady Isadora "Izzy" Descartes never expected to see Grayson Child again. Ten years earlier, he had seemed on the brink of proposing and then... he was gone. Left destitute by her gambling father, Gray had seemed like the perfect man, someone she could love and who could save her family. But then he was gone. So she learned how to earn money for herself, running a London gossip sheet. 

I do like it when characters in a shorter story have history. It means that them falling in love makes more sense. It also makes sense then that Izzy and Gray would be able to move in lock step when a dead body, a murdered body, shows up in her dark room. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 15, 2021

Follows The Games Lovers Play

Followed by Foes, Friends and Lovers 

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Games Lovers Play by Stephanie Laurens

Lord Devlin Cader didn't think he needed love to be a part of his marriage. But five years after marrying Therese Cynster, he is thinking that that was a mistake. Especially mentioning to her that that was his intention.

Therese knows that her family is known for marrying for love. But that doesn't mean that the person is perforce going to love her. And she is fine with that. She is building a powerful partnership with Devlin and people are starting to notice that she is becoming a powerful political figure in her own right. But now Devlin seems to be... changing. If she didn't know better, she would believe that the man might actually be in love with her.

This was an okay story and I was delighted to get a glimpse at someone after their marriage. Even if they thought they had figured it out, they were still working on it. However, there was just a little too much focus on people who will have sequels: Devlin's friend who has returned to England and Therese's younger brother who disappeared when he was seventeen and is also recently returned.

Three stars

This book came out March 18th 2021

Follows The Inevitable Fall of Christopher Cynster

Followed by The Secrets of Lord Grayson Child

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own