Review of All About Passion, a regency era romance by Stephanie Laurens
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see our full disclosure for further information.
Synopsis
Gyles Rawlings, Earl of Chillingworth, thinks he has found the perfect meek and mild woman to marry. He requires an heir, but likes his bachelor lifestyle and doesn’t want a wife who would make him change that.
Everything he has heard about Francesca confirms the idea that she would be the perfect countess. However, in his eagerness to keep all arrangements overly formal, he mistakes her for her cousin and finds himself marrying the woman he has been dreaming of an affair with.
Their encounters are passionate, and Francesca sets about making herself invaluable to her new husband in the hope that he will come to love her. Gyles finds himself unwittingly protective of her, but it takes a serious attempt on Francesca’s life for him to admit that he loves her.
Review
All About Passion is part of a series about the Cynster brothers and their love lives. While Gyles is a Rawlings, not a Cynster, he might as well be. When I bought it, I didn’t realise this, but the book was fine as a standalone. There are a few things that I thought might reference one of the other books, but they didn’t affect the story or my ability to follow it.
It was fun to see Gyles dig himself into a hole before the wedding. His comments to Francesca show that he obviously does not know that she’s his bride, and this makes her furious, especially once she realises it. And he keeps making it worse. To be fair, Francesca didn’t correct him once she realised he had made a mistake.
‘“You may now explain how it was that you thought my cousin was the woman you were marrying.”
The demand, and her tone, refocused his mind wonderfully. When he didn’t immediately respond, she flung out her hands. “How could you have made such a mistake?”
“Very easily. I had perfectly reasonable grounds to imagine your cousin was the lady for whom I was offering.”’
The sex scenes were too long. I do appreciate a bit more than “wham, bam, they made love,” but two or three pages is usually sufficient. The sex part of the wedding night lasts for 15 pages, and a later scene in the library is 8 pages long. Too long. Doesn’t add to the story.
I liked Francesca. She’s intelligent, passionate (not just in bed), and doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Francesca goes after what she wants, even after Gyles insists that he cannot give it to her. Even though strong heroines are fairly common in romances these days (at least the ones I read), Francesca still seemed unique.
One thing that I did not like was the predictability of the plot. It followed the obvious course for a romance with a case of mistaken identity: they get married anyway, struggle at first, but eventually fall in love. The solution to the mystery of who is trying to harm Francesca was easy to guess correctly (afterall, there was no other way to tie in Franni’s illness).
Conclusion
Have you read All About Passion? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.
If you haven’t, it can be bought at Book Depository (they have free worldwide shipping!).
