2.5 stars rounded up. This was a bit tedious in places and had multiple, considerable, holes in the plot. I feel like with a bit more effort Laurens could have come up with *good* reasons for things playing out how she wanted, but instead just settled for 'reasons'. Often that necessitated the characters being daft, which is also irritating. But, I didn't dislike either of them, and it was otherwise kind of 'meh' so I'm okay with rounding up. ( )

I read this for the "Headless" Woman square for Romance Bingo and my Series Headway selection.

This was pretty slow moving, its mostly a cozy mystery until 60% and out of nowhere we get something like this,



Then the story becomes a mystery with some pretty steamy sex scenes, quite the wake up call those scenes were, lol. Its well written but I found myself a bit bored, story just wasn't to my taste. The epilogue was sweet as we get reminiscing and looking to the future generation scenes from Honoria's (heroine from first in the series) point of view. It was a nice way to close out the Bar Cynsters and usher in the new, who look to be an honorary member and the girls of the Cynster pack to carry on the series. ( )

3.5 stars ( )

All About Love
4 Stars

Lucifer Cynster, the last unmarried member of the Bar Cynster, believes he can escape his fate by leaving London. Little does he know that his destiny awaits in the small village of Colyton in the countryside of Devon where he literally stumbles over a body. Soon Lucifer finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation while wooing the willful and independent, Phyllida Talent, a woman even more averse to marriage than Lucifer.

One of the best in the series thus far.

Phyllida's spirit and Lucifer's protectiveness make for highly entertaining reading as these two unlikely lovers push each other's buttons at every opportunity. Phyllida is cool, calm and collected and her aversion to marriage is quite understandable given the poor choice of suitors in her vicinity.
Lucifer is a totally swoonworthy hero and his attempts at wooing the reluctant Phyllida lead to some very amusing scenes.

The Agatha Christie type mystery is an added bonus as Lucifer and Phyllida question the various villagers and uncover the secrets of a small town. The climax and resolution are exciting and all the loose ends are tied up neatly.

The final epilogue is wonderful and gives the reader a sense of coming full circle :0)
( )

I enjoyed this mix of murder mystery and romance between two quite strong-willed people who find love while investigating the murder of a man they both respect.

When Lucifer Cynster flees London after the wedding of one of the Cynsters, he takes up the invitation of his old friend, Horatio Welham, who had invited him down to Devon to see something he had happened on while buying and selling antiques. Lucifer and he had a mutual interest in collecting antiques and Lucifer regarded Horatio as a mentor. When Lucifer arrives he happens on the dead body of his friend and is knocked out.

Phyllida Tallent has accidentally knocked out an intruder into the house of a neighbour. After knocking him out she realises that he isn't the man who murdered her neighbour and in fact she may have resulted in making him the prime suspect in the murder. She knows it isn't him and he's strangely attractive. She's sworn off marriage but this man just might tempt her.

It's an entertaining read, nothing too deep and I enjoyed it. ( )