The sixth book I finished in 2014 was The Perfect Lover by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 1/19/14. This is the 10th book in the Cynster family series (previously referenced in post about The Promise in a Kiss). I rated this story 4 stars out of a scale of 5.

This story is about Simon Cynster and his romance with Portia Ashford. Simon’s older sister and Portia’s older brother were featured in an earlier Cynster novel (#9 – On a Wicked Dawn). Simon and Portia find themselves at the same house party in the country. During their stay, the hostess is murdered and they, along with an inspector Stokes, work together to solve the murder. All the while Simon and Portia develop deep feelings for one another. As usual, Laurens draws us in to the emotions of the characters and makes it very easy to connect with the plot and lose yourself in the story. Overall I thought it was an excellent novel.

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Lover-Cynster-Stephanie-Laurens/dp/0060505729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392768831&sr=8-1&keywords=the+perfect+lover

The fourth book I finished for 2014 was The Promise in a Kiss by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 1/13/14. This book was a a “special” book published as part of the Cynster series written by Laurens. I discovered the Cynster series last year and started from the first book and read through to the 9th in the series before the end of last year. Laurens is very talented at developing the characters in each of her stories and drawing the reader into the emotions of the book. I especially like the series because it follows a family tree and catalogs the story of each of the members of the tree. I very much enjoy a series like that as characters pop up all over the place from previous books or future stories and they are all connected. The Cynster family tree is quite extensive, so there  are many stories to read! The family tree from Laurens’ website is included here:

The Promise in a Kiss tells the story of Sebastian, the Duke of St. Ives, and Helena Rebecce de Stansion, Comtesse d’Lisle. Helena made appearances in many of the early books of the series as she and Sebastian were the head of the family that is catalogued throughout the series. This “special” book is essentially telling the back story of how the family came to be. It was a very touching love story with a suspenseful side to it as Helena tries to free her sister from her uncle’s evil clutches. I rated this book 4 stars, I thought it had a good plot with interesting characters and was well-paced.

The Cynster series is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite series, partly because the women are all so strong and willful characters, the men are so devoted and protective of the women they fall in love with, and all the characters in the stories are so well developed it is hard not to feel as if you’re living the stories as you’re reading them. If you like historical romance novels, this is definitely a series to read. As you can see from the family tree, the first book is titled The Devil’s Bride and tells the story of the son of Sebastian and Helena. I can’t wait to continue with this series and read about more of the happy endings in store for this family.

Link to author’s website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/The-Promise-Kiss-Cynster-Novels/dp/0061031755/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392594263&sr=8-1&keywords=the+promise+in+a+kiss