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After his
sister’s marriage to one of the renowned men of the Cynster clan,
Michael
Anstruther-Wetherby’s position in Parliament seems to be a done deal.
However,
Michael lacks one vital commodity that is acceptable in society to
achieve
success…a wife.
Now on the
hunt for the perfect, well-bred young woman, Michael runs into a snag
on his
quest to find the ideal bride – Caroline Sutcliffe.
Michael doesn’t have time for a woman who
stirs his every desire when she stands in the way of his potential
bride. Caroline is the Aunt of Elizabeth
Mollston,
who Michael believes will be the perfect bride to be at his side as he
climbs
the political ladder. But first Michael has to get through Caroline to
further
his career. If only he could do that
without having seductive thoughts of her constantly…
Caroline
Sutcliffe survived a political marriage once and has no desire to see
her niece
Elizabeth suffer the same. Elizabeth has
already lost her heart to another man, one who Caroline approves, so to
thwart
Michael’s plans to court and marry Elizabeth, she and Caroline come up
with a
plan to show him just how ill-fated a marriage to Elizabeth could be. Unfortunately, Caroline never expected
Michael’s plan to marry the ideal bride to point in her direction…
With great Bar
Cynster fashion, The Ideal Bride is
another great
tale in this series. This Stephanie
Laurens tale is a delightful addition in a long line of great
predecessor’s. While delightful and
entertaining and Michael and Caroline are wonderful characters, the
pace was
slower than I would have liked for a tale by this author.
Whether it was due to Michael being quite similar
to all the Cynster men before him, or they story itself as a whole, The Ideal Bride seemed to lack
that ‘spark’ that I have come to associate with Stephanie Laurens books. The lead characters made this story
entertaining and kept this reader turning the pages.
The Bar
Cynster series has been a long-time favourite family of mine.
Michael and
Caroline are a great addition to the series/family and have been placed
on the
keeper shelf for light reading in the future.
Reviewed by Tracey West
for The Road
to Romance
August 15th,
2004
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