Come Play In May - Book Report

It's no surprise to anyone that I read. A lot. I have books in my sewing room/library. I have books in the living room. I have books on bookshelves in my office. I have books on the window sill next to my night table. Lots and lots of books. It's heredity. What I don't have, is sophisticated taste in books. I read sci-fi/fantasy books, I read YA supernatural books, I read gardening and homesteading books, I read the kind of trash you can download for free on your kindle, and one of my favorite genres, I read romance novels.

I was a latecomer to the world of regency romances. Sure, I knew friends that read them, but they didn't appeal to me. And then I read my first Barbara Cartland book. The next thing I knew, I was prowling through the paperback book exchange in Guilford, looking for inexpensive copies of her books. And let me tell you, she wrote plenty of books for me to prowl for. Then I moved on to the harder stuff: Kathleen Woodiwiss, Jude Devereaux, Johanna Lindsey, Shirley Busbee. I was hooked. And this was all before anyone actually knew Fabio had a name.  But, alas, I had to move on again. That's the sad part about reading everything someone's written. You have to find new things to read. Eventually, I stumbled upon Stephanie Laurens. The book above is the latest of hers that I've read. While I did enjoy it, I didn't enjoy it as much as her earlier books. If you are a fan of Regency romances, I highly recommend the Cynster novels.

In Devil's Bride, the first of the Cynster novels, we meet Honoria Anstruther-Wetherby, a finishing governess of aristocratic birth who wants to live a life of adventure, and Sylvester "Devil" Cynster, the Duke of St. Ives. Honoria, in an attempt to help a dying young man, finds herself trapped in a compromising position with the young man's dark and mysterious cousin, the Duke. Forced by a terrible storm to spend the night in a woodcutter's cottage, Devil decides that he wants to make the headstrong young woman his Duchess. Together, they embark on an adventure of solving Devil's young cousin's murder, all the while the Duke attempts to ensnare his Duchess.