Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde (13) (Cynster Next Generation) Paperback – 17 Aug. 2023

Don’t be put off buy the tittle. There is thankfully nothing ‘prim’ about Meg and it’s only really referred to in the beginning so why that was used is unclear. Maybe for marketing?Anyway, other than that it was a good book. I liked how it set out the courting process of a Duke, basically a royal wedding (remember a Duke is one down from a prince!) and then how they settled in to married life as aristocrats. Looking forward to Toby’s book as the narrative is probably going to be very different, in a good way!

A different slant for Stephanie to take so more interesting though still on the safe side. Knowing the areas she writes about makes it more interesting . It felt at times too safe really as the Cynsters really are a go getting family but appreciate how difficult it must be to come up with new story line's to engage the reader.. Perhaps venture more into industrial as can't be many title free handsome men left for the girls. Good to note not all love horses in Demon household.

Loved the relationship between Meg and Drago. She was a strong female and he was very happy to let her be strong. I think Drago is one of my all time favourite hero’s from Stephanie Laurens. Loved this.

Really enjoyable series .

Great book to read

Yes on the whole Ms Laurens 's books can be relied on to be entertaining, although they are not always excellent or flawless. This particular episode focuses very much on the social life of the haut ton and although set in the second half of the 19th century, little is said of the major developments in the society of the time; the advent of trains, the new industries for example. Although there are some bedroom scenes, they are kept to a minimum and not too graphic. The title is not very felicitous, as Miss Prim is a moniker rarely used in the book and it does not really describe Meg. Perhaps "His perfect Duchess"which is used several times would have been better.To me what did not ring true was the very beginning, the first encounter between Drago and Meg. The recovery from having passed out through too much drink and announcing his betrothal to Meg was far too quick!I had surmised from early on who the villain must be, but the denouement was well orchestrated.It was nice, although at times it seemed a bit didactic, to reconnect with all the Cynsters and as I fondly remembered the story linking this or that couple, it made me want to read Toby's story which it seems will be published in March 2024.

Stephanie Laurens never lets you down - a great story.

The author is on familiar territory here. Meg has been out for several seasons but thinks she will never find anyone that she wants to marry. She and Drogo are forced to announce their betrothal when they are found in a compromising situation because Drogo is drunk. Drogo drank too much because he was trying to bolster his courage before proposing to someone else! The book then follows a familiar pattern, very similar to her earlier Regency novels. We see how the aristocracy create networks of influence so that they can help influence events and take charge. The happy couple share similar backgrounds and find they are attracted to each other and quite willing to marry. Once more we are on familiar territory . The only problem is that someone is trying to murder one of them. I worked out who the murderer was quite early in the book mainly because the author tried very obviously to divert attention from him! Stephanie Laurens has a lively writing style, but I have read so many of her books that this one felt quite stale and formulaic.

Meg is walking near her cousin's house, when she encounters a carriage that has stopped with upset horses. She takes care of them only to discover that the driver is in a drunken stupor! She helps him home and ends up in a compromising situation. Drago, the driver, knows what he has to do. He announces their engagement. The plan is to end the engagement at the end of the season. But as they go around, their pretense starts feeling more and more real. Then dangerous actions start happening. Can they figure out what is happening and why, in order to make it to their happy-ever-after?The pace is breakneck and the tone is uncertain yet hopeful with an action and character oriented storyline that has some steamy scenes. The characters are vibrant and engaging. Read at least this series in order. But to go to the very beginning, read the Cynster series in order, the Cynster Sisters Trilogy, followed by the Cynster Sisters Duo, then the Cavanaughs series, the Bastion Club series in order, as well as The Black Cobra Quartet and finally this one, Cynster Next Generation. There is also, Lady Osbaldstone's Christmas Chronicles and The Casebook of Barnaby Adair which both include some characters from the Cynster series books. These are all intertwined, culminating with children from the Bastion Club and Black Cobra showing up in the Cynster Next Generation books. All of these books have mysteries, action and steamy scenes, with lots of humor as well. Enjoy!

Looks good, yet too read

Loved it! As always this book did not disappoint. There is always v romance but the intrigue is what keeps me coming back for more! I cannot wait for the next books.

Highly recommend this book

My rating for Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde, by Stephanie Laurens: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.This book, and the others in the Cynsters Next Generation series, is well-written -- but it is not as good as the earlier Cynster books. All of the books seem unnecessarily wordy, and many are just too long.My main issue with this book is all the emphasis on the mystery. I felt that the book was more about the mystery than it was about the romance. I didn't mind the mystery, just felt that the romance should have taken center stage. I actually got a little bored with the mystery part of the story, because there was just so much detail about it. Much of that detail could have been left out, and the story would not have suffered.The earlier Cynster books usually had a mystery or problem to solve, but the main story was always the romance -- in this series, in every book I've read so far, it seemed that the romances were very secondary to another plot point.On thing I do appreciate about Laurens' romances are that the love scenes are usually not extremely explicit. I like love scenes in my romances, but don't care to read the really explicit, dirty ones. That is just not romantic to me.Stephanie Laurens is an excellent writer, but this series so far has had too much emphasis on other plot points -- and not enough on the romances. Since I read Laurens' books for the romances, I don't really enjoy so much emphasis on other things.One other thing bothered me about this book, although it was minor and did NOT affect my rating. The Hero of the book is 35, but the guy on the cover looks about 20. I get that that may not be the author's fault, but that model is NOT 35.My rating system is below.1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws.3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating.4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.