Stephanie Laurens has published many regency romance novels. She has several series within this genre, including one that follows the Cynster family. The second book in the series, "A Rake's Vow"
is about the relationship of Spencer "Vane" Cynster and Patience Debbington.Vane Cynster is forced to seek shelter from the weather at the home of his godmother, Minnie. Minnie's niece, Patience, is also living there, as well as several other people. Vane decides to delay his trip in order to cultivate a relationship with Patience, and help his godmother solve a troublesome mystery.
The author excels at her chosen genre. She tells a good story, and manages to throw a credible mystery into the plot line. There are even plenty of sex scenes. All these positive qualities, however, are buried under the ponderous nature of Ms. Laurens writing. To get to the good stuff, one has to wade through a multitude of repetitive statements and choppy phrases. There are an excessive number of dashes, commas and one-word sentences. This makes reading the story a lot more work than necessary. Here are a couple of sample sentences, to demonstrate.
'They had no time to talk, no time to speak, no time to discuss anything at all.' p.343
'She had, indeed, started to wonder if her desire to hear that particular assurance stated, in words, might, in the end, be too much to ask, an unrealistic expectation from a man like him.' p.343
While the identity of the villain may be unknown until the end, there is no ambiguity about the feelings of the two principle characters. There is a complete lack of emotional tension. In fact, they are often in complete accord about -- everything. It's amazing how well these two strangers get along with each other almost from day one.
Overall, I would say that this novel is a better mystery than romance. I recommend saving your money by buying it on Amazon.
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