Quickie Review: In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster by Stephanie Laurens

Format: mass market, ebook
Pub Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Avon (Harper Collins)
FTC: Purchased myself

In preparation for the last in the Cynster sisters trilogy due out the end of this month, I picked up the 2nd book in the series to make sure I didn't miss anything important. I wish I hadn't bothered. If you've read Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue , I can honestly say that there is no reason to read this book. It is a complete rehash of the first book, with a more delicate heroine, a scholarly hero, and villains who are worse than the original group in menace.

After finishing this book, I did what I usually do, and offered it to my mom who is another Stephanie Laurens fan. That same night, I got a text message from her: "Haven't I already read this?" Her confusion was understandable since it is the Exact. Same. Plot. There are some minor characters who are interesting and some Scottish elements I found intriguing. And the ending has some information that ties in with the last book, too.  But otherwise? This book was phoned in.

It's not horribly written, and if you haven't read the first in the series, the repetition will probably not make you grind your teeth as badly, but this is a watered down version of what Stephanie Laurens is capable of, and extremely disappointing. Buy it used, borrow it from a friend, or try to get it from the library. This one is not worth your money.

My Grade: D

The Blurb:

Three heros, three rescues, three weddings.

The pleasure of your company is requested
at the wedding of Miss Eliza Cynster

...but not until she's rescued from a daring abduction by the most unexpected of heros!

Brazenly kidnapped from her sister Heather's engagement ball, Eliza Cynster is spirited north to Edinburgh. Desperate and determined to escape, she seizes upon the first possible champion who happens along - gentleman scholar Jeremy Carling.

Villains and rescues are a far cry from Jeremy's expertise, yet he cannot abandon a damsel in distress. But danger lurks and hurdles abound in their race to escape the mysterious laird, until a final confrontation on a windswept cliff reveals what their future life could hold - if both are bold enough to seize and own the unexpected love they now share.