Gimme the strong voices

 I did a lot of re-reading last year, and one of my most re-read authors was Stephanie Laurens. I haven't read a lot of her newer, self published books, but the original Bar Cynster and the Bastion Club series? You betcha.  I have a fondness for those books, and a large part of it is because she has such an incredibly strong voice.

Voice is one of those things that's often really hard to describe to people who don't read a lot. How can words on a page have a voice? How do you define it? Because it's definitely one of those things that you know it when you see it. Which is why Laurens is such a good example of this. Because her voice is pretty easily deconstructed.

Voice is kind of like style. It's something that makes one author's book distinct from every other author. It's a unique combination of word choice, rhythm, sentence construction, even pacing. Something that will tell whoever is reading it that this book is a Stephanie Laurens book, even without a name on the cover.

With Laurens, there are a few things that I always notice. One is her fondness for descriptive phrases in sets of three.  This is from The Lady Chosen

 "...the taste of him—hard, male, dominant— sank into her. 

For long moments, they both simply took, gave, explored."

and later in the same book. 

"She'd snapped out his hold too easily that afternoon, evaded his snare, shaken free of any lingering fascination far too readily for his liking.

His nature had always been dictatorial. Tyrannical. Predatory."

It's a combination of both phrases in threes and words in threes. It's particularly noticeable when listening to these books in audio, but even in print, it's very distinctive.

A second is her fondness for certain phrases. The most infamous one is probably "her lungs seized." If you go into Google books and type that phrase in, you'll find all of the dozens of books she's written with that phrase. Often multiple times in the same book. I used to make a game out of finding the first mention of it in one of her books. It was her go-to phrase for intense attraction.

Then there's the horse metaphors. So many horse metaphors. Sometimes, but not always in one of the more intimate scenes. 

Are there any authors who you feel have a strong voice? Or do you have a different way to explain what it is?

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.

Review: Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue by Stephanie Laurens

Format: Mass market pb
Pub Date: August 2011
Publisher: Avon
Length: 440 pages
FTC: Purchased myself

I am a hopeless Stephanie Laurens addict. Hope. Less. I own most of the original Bar Cynster in hardcover. A Secret Love is one of my all-time favorite books. But even I had to admit that the last series Stephanie Laurens put out was...not good. A few of the books in the Black Cobra Quartet were downright unreadable. At least for me. With this book, she's returning to her successful Cynster series and sounding more like her old self.

For the uninitiated, Stephanie Laurens has a very specific voice. Certain phrases crop up. And there are OMG-will-it-never-end? sex scenes. And horse metaphors. But the books are STILL addictive.

Waiting on Wednesday: Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue by Stephanie Laurens

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted over at Breaking the Spine. It highlights books we just can't wait to get our greedy, book-loving hands on.

August 30, 2011
448 pages
Avon

I admit, Stephanie Laurens's last series just didn't do it for me. I read the first two, then DNF'd the 3rd one. I never bothered to try the last one in the series. But this book marks a return to the Cynster universe. It's part of a new trilogy about Cynster Brides...presumably in-law sisters or some of the younger Cynsters that were too young in the previous books. Details are still sketchy (Ms. Laurens doesn't have any info on her website yet, either).

Edited to Add: Sometime after scheduling this post, Ms. Laurens added more info to her site:

Three heros, three rescues, three weddings. 

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Miss Heather Cynster

...but not before she encounters kidnappers, danger, and a daring rescue at the hands of Viscount Breckenridge.

Determined to hunt down her very own hero, one who will sweep her off her feet and into wedded bliss, and despairing of finding him in London's staid ballrooms, Heather Cynster steps out of her safe world and boldly attends a racy soiree.
But her promising hunt is ruined by the supremely interfering Viscount Breckenridge, who whisks her out of scandal-and straight into danger when a mysterious enemy seizes her, bundles her into a coach, and conveys her out of London.
Now it's up to the notorious Breckenridge to prove himself the hero she's been searching for all along

The next two in the series are: IN PURSUIT OF ELIZA CYNSTER (September) and THE CAPTURE OF THE EARL OF GLENCRAE (October)

Review: The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens

Well, after bashing the first book in the Black Cobra Quartet (the review of which you can read here), I'm happy to report that book #2, The Elusive Bride is a HUGE improvement. Not perfect, but much, much better.

I've read a lot of Stephanie Laurens books. In fact, I don't think there's one I haven't read. So I'm really familiar with her writing style. And I can't remember ever reading one that was semi-epistolary before. Along with the complicated adventure narrative, we're treated to diary entries from our heroine, Emily, as she plots and schemes to advance her cause of gaining our hero, Gareth Hamilton, as her husband.

The Untamed Bride by Stephanie Laurens

I am dumbfounded that I am having to write a less than stellar review of the Untamed Bride. Not because I didn't like the story. But because I didn't like the writing! Stephanie Laurens's writing is usually so palpably different from other authors. It is convoluted, yet flows easily. Not so this book. The sentences are too complex. Semi-colons, commas, and dashes extend her sentences to paragraph length. And the intensity she normally conveys through her writing is missing. Her normal writing cadence is off somehow. I've read my fair share of 19th century literature, but these sentences honestly rivaled Thoreau's Civil Disobedience for their length and complexity. Not something appropriate for a modern romance novel at any rate. She corrects this tendency about 1/3 of the way through, but the damage is done.

The characterization also fails to really develop as quickly as it usually does. There is a superficiality to the characters that is very unusual for this author. I don't know if it's due to the need to set up the entire series with a long prologue or if it's merely the inherent difficulties of switching series, but there was a real distance between the reader and the characters that surprised and disappointed me. Del's character eventually evolves into a more realistic character, as does Deliah's, but having to compete with so many other established characters makes them seem less vibrant than they should have.

Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens

At long last, Stephanie Laurens has released the conclusion to her popular Bastion Club series. Mastered by Love is the story of Dalziel, aka Royce Varisey. The head spymaster who directed the Bastion club members from Whitehall during the conflict with Napoleon.

For such an aggressive man, I found the story surprisingly passive. Aggressive emotionally--and sexually-- perhaps but passive in terms of the action that normally infuses the Bastion Club novels. The suspense and danger was thrown in at the very end, but the focus was on Royce's struggles to adjust to being a duke--and to convince his bride of choice to accept him.

I have a weakness for finale books and must have the obligatory glimpse of characters from previous installments to make a series feel complete. Laurens delivers that with glimpses not only of Bastion club members but also a few main Cynsters.

Although I really loved Minerva, I found the other characters a little too shallow compared to Laurens's normal characterization. That, combined with the lack of suspense and intrigue normally found in the series, adds to a twinge of disappointment . The romance, though, I considered a bit better--more compelling--than some of the previous installments.

Readers who enjoy the Bastion Club series primarily because of the action will likely be disappointed. But for fans of the series, it's worth reading just to see Royce as himself--and to watch someone normally so supremely confident have to work his way through uncertainty and emotional vulnerability.