And Then She Fell
4 Stars

Series note: This is book #1 in the Cynster Sister Duo not to be confused with the Cynster Sister Trilogy. The trilogy focuses on Gabriel and Lucifer's sister while the duology is about Amanda and Amelia's sisters. Both the trilogy and the duology are connected through the pendant gifted by The Lady in book #3 of the original Cynsters series. Yes, it really is a bit convoluted, but carry on regardless!

Henrietta Cynster is known throughout the ton as the "matchbreaker" for her ability to ferret out the fortune-hunters and other less-than-agreeable suitors courting the young women of society. When she ruins James Glossup's chances, he is furious as he needs to marry to gain his inheritance. After learning about the conditions of his grandaunt's will, Henrietta agrees to help James find a suitable bride, but the two soon realize they are the perfect match for each other. The only problem is the pesky attempts on Henrietta's life.

Laurens has once again hit the mark in a series that is more miss than hit overall.
Henrietta and James's romance is engaging (putting aside the purple prose sex scenes), and the mystery is suspenseful.

Henrietta and James have an intense attraction and their friends-to-lovers romance is very entertaining. There is also, thankfully, no keeping secrets trope as she is aware of his need to marry at the outset.

The suspense plot revolving around the reason for the various attempts on Henrietta's life ratchets up the tension. The explanation for the crimes is logical, and the climax and resolution are excellent. The fact that it is Henrietta and the other women in the family who rescue James is an added bonus.

While it is clear that Laurens' never met an adjective or adverb that she didn't like, it is possible to look past her often repetitive writing and enjoy her stories. This is a prime example. Looking forward to Mary and Ryder's book next - the teaser in the epilogue is promising. ( )

Henrietta & James, boring ( )

Henrietta Cynster has pretty much determined that she will be a spinster because she is 29 years old and has yet to meet a man that makes her heart flutter. She instead uses her time to help other young woman avoid a disastrous marriages and so is known in the Ton as the Matchbreaker.. When she informs a young woman that James Glossup is not interested in love but just being married so that he can get his inheritance, Henrietta starts a whirlwind of problems. Bering informed by James Glossup that her information while true was lacking details, Henrietta felt responsible for the related problems and decided to assist Mr. Glossup with his search for a bride.

Even though the story was a bit predictable, it was still enjoyable to see the Cynster clan again, ( )

Just wondering out loud... When are we going to read a last Cynster book? This is #19?! Ms. Laurens needs to get away from this family already. Not that I didn't like the story, but I'm just about done with this family. I honestly can't keep them all straight in my head!

This is another one of her stories in which the mystery takes over the romance, but since I liked that part better than the romance, I was okay with that.

The characters were interesting but the chemistry was only so-so. All in all, if you're a SL fan, you'll no doubt want to read it and I recommended for the mystery alone.

Melanie for b2b
( )

Harietta Cynster is famously known as the matchbreaker, she investigates the motives of various men for other women and helps women escape ill-fated nuptials. When she disrupts James Glossup's match she finds that he has a reason to want to marry suddenly and she offers to help him, proximity causes them to find that they have an attraction to each other and maybe have a future together, that is until she starts to suffer from some accidents.

Survival may be the hardest thing.

It was charming and the mystery worked for me, including having complicated plotting that was logical and intense and wasn't insulting to the intelligence of the characters.

And in 2020 I re-read it and I really enjoyed it again. ( )