On a Wicked Dawn

By Stephanie Laurens

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Average Rating: (See all 3 reviews) Format: Paperback, 448 pages Published In: United States, May 2002 Other Editions: Paperback, USA $14.99 $13.90 View 24 hour shipping A "New York Times" bestselling author returns with this steamy and sensational love story featuring Amelia Cynster, who takes matters of the heart into her own hands. From The Publisher: Amelia Cynster is stunned to hear these words from Lucien Ashford -- the enigmatic sixth Viscount Calverton and the man she has always loved -- just before the handsome rogue passes out at her feet. Dawn is breaking and she's already risked scandal by lying in wait for him just outside his London home. And though torn between indignant affront and astonished relief, she's nevertheless thrilled that Luc has agreed to her outrageous marriage proposal. However, rather than submitting to a hasty wedding as Amelia had planned, the exasperating lord insists on wooing her properly… in public and in private. She longs for their time alone, when she can learn all about seduction from a master, yet frustratingly, they all too often find themselves beneath the stifling gaze of the ton. But there is method behind the viscount's madness -- he has a secret reason for wooing Amelia. And like all desirable things, his passion has a price. Publisher: Avon Books ISBN: 0060002050 EAN: 9780060002053 Dimensions: 17.22 x 11.23 x 3.28 centimetres (0.20 kg)

Luke wants to get married. No interesting prospect has presented himself, though, and he would really rather marry before it becomes known all over that his family is poor no more.
Amelia has been watching her handsome friend for what seems like decades. She doesn't care that he's broke, nor that he doesn't love her. She'll MAKE him love her, and as for him marrying her, she's a considerable heiress...and he needs money, doesn't he?

This book was so incredibly boring. I had to force myself to finish reading it seeing as I'd made the mistake of actually buying it rather than getting it out from the library. After the first chapter there didn't seem to be any real plot. The two main characters had already agreed to marry so the remaining 400 pages were just a waste of time.

After eight years of dire financial straits caused by his deceased father, Viscount Luc Ashford is wealthy. Successfully steering his family through the great debts, he allows himself a night of drinking to celebrate. When he tumbles home, Lady Amelia Cynster accosts him with a proposition that they marry and he use her large dowry to pay off his no longer existing debts. Perhaps it is the marriage of his best friend to Amelia's twin that encourages him (see ON A WICKED NIGHT) and though he has the income to pay his bills, Luc finds the idea of Amelia as his bride quite appealing. He accepts before falling drunkenly unconscious at her feet.

However, Luc insists on a proper courtship, which Amelia acquiesces to even as she tries seducing him. Waiting becomes agony, as Luc wants Amelia as much as she desires him. When they finally marry, passion is their middle names until someone steals items from their home. The theft causes Luc to worry how his beloved Amelia will react when she learns why he married her is not the reason she believes.

The ninth Cynster novel is an enjoyable Regency romance starring two likable lead characters spending much of the book hiding their love for one another when they are not gazing or kissing. The well-written story line focuses on these delightful protagonists whereas a subplot involving a mystery augments their tale with unnecessary suspense. Though nothing new is added to the Cynster universe, fans of the series and Regency tales in general will enjoy Stephanie Laurens' latest historical.

Harriet Klausner

Like her now married sister Amelia is tired of waiting for the right husband to come along. Being a sensible young woman with a reasonable fortune she decides on a man who has good character but lacking in funds and presents him with an offer he can't refuse.

Luke inherited a multitude of debts when his father died but managed to keep up apperances sakes while he slowly ammassed a fortune of his own. Not having time or feeling that he was in any position to offer marriage to any wellbred lady, when one proposes to end his money worries if he marries her he finds that marriage to her is what he wants most in the world. All he has to do now is hide the fact that he is wealthy on his own.