Rating: 
Summary: Sensual and sweet
Review: My favorite of Ms. Laurens Bar Cynster series, this book contains both the sensual love story and the sweet partnership that develop between the lead characters. After Richard and Catriona marry because of the stipulations of a will, they struggle to create a relationship that will satisfy both her responsibilities and his need to be needed. Using the theme of a "hero without a cause", this book is more thoughtful than some of Stephanie Laurens' other novels. It's a satisfying very satifying, gentle book to read on a rainy day.
Rating:
Summary: SENSUAL,LUSH,SEXY,MY FAVORITE OF THE CYNSTER SERIES
Review: This is my favorite of the Bar-Cynster series. I loved Devil's Bride as well as A Rake's Vow, however Richard and Catriona in Scandal are mezmerizing. Richard has all the same perfect qualities as all the other Cynster men except to me he is sexier due to his vulnerability. He has no real place to call his own. Catriona being a witch also adds spice to the story. I fell in love with Richard and wanted to be Catroina. If you like a good story, sizzling,hot,lingering sex scenes then this book is a must read or if you are just a fan of those oh sooooooooo sexy Cynsters, then read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Falling in love with Richard
Review: Is amazingly easy to do. In spite of the stretching Miss Laurens had to do to make this plot work and in spite of the 'mysticism' inherent in the 'Lady of the Vale' aspect, this is one of my favorite Cynster novels. Richard is everything good that Devil is without the unwillingness to bend. I found him so much warmer and more human with his doubts, so much less arrogant in his posture. He is strong and protective and possessive without ever crossing the line into overbearing. Yes, there are places where I argue with the plot development, with the characterization, even with the pacing. And I found the handling of Algaria idiotic. To echo another reviewer, no way would this man, as protective as he is, allow this woman, whose violent nature has already manifested once, to be nursemaid to his children. Still, of the nine Cynster novels I've read, this hero and Lucifer turned out to be my favorites of all the Cynster males thus far. For total enjoyment it's necessary to be able to feel for AND WITH the character. I ask myself whether I'd marry him and answer 'yes'. I couldn't say the same thing for Devil. And then I reverse and ask myself if I'd marry HER if I were in his position. No. Sigh. My own recalcitrance at being manipulated would prevent me. To me manipulation is unacceptable, a complete turn-off either in books or in real life. It's a good way for a book to find its way into my trashcan. Although it was a close thing with Devil, none of Miss Lauren's books have landed there. Hooray for Stephanie.
Rating: 
Summary: Unappealing heroine...
Review: I am not claiming that everyone will feel as I do but I really didn't like the heroine in this. I appreciate a strong female in any book. But I don't appreciate this one. Catriona's heritage of "the Vale" was loosely justified. And maybe I am stepping on the toes of the feminists but I don't appreciate her dominance in this book. Richard's character was way to strong to capitulate to a female. I didn't think their relationship was a result of compromise as in the first two Cynster books. The hero didn't stay true to his character. I struggled to hang on to this story. It took me almost three weeks to read it. I chose to read two books in the midst of this one. I was just disappointed with this one. But that doesn't mean I won't finish the series because I like the story line of the Bar Cynster. And I have already read the last three in the series. I came across them first and loved "On a Wicked Dawn" and "All About Passion." I will keep reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Do they all have the same plot?!
Review: Richard Cynster, half-brother of the Duke of St Ives (who goes by the improbable soubriquet of Scandal, but with a brother called Devil what can you expect?!) travels to Scotland to the reading of the will of his mother's husband Seamus McEnery - complicated family relationships here, to be explained later. There, he meets and is instantly attracted to Catriona Hennessy, his late stepfather's ward. Catriona is undoubtedly a lady, so he can't seduce her; and since he has no wish to marry, it seems that the relationship will go nowhere.Then the will is read... and McEnery's offspring will only inherit if Richard Cynster agrees to marry Catriona Hennessy. Note the wording: if he agrees to marry her. Nothing says that she has to marry him. Nothing says that a wedding has to take place. In other words, there's a simple way out of this situation: all Cynster and Catriona have to do is pretend. He can say that he'll marry her, and the lawyers are satisfied. Then the two of them can ride away and never see each other again. And so, of course, the two of them get married. Less than a third of the way through the book, in fact. And bang goes any sense of tension, suspense or indeed, any point in reading any further. What I didn't like about this book: The plot is *identical* to the three Cynster books I've read already, starting with The Promise in a Kiss. Male Cynster meets woman, decides he wants to marry her; she refuses him; he makes her change her mind; she marries him; boring post-marriage incidents, including the introduction of an A-plot. And, of course, lots and lots of lengthy sex scenes. Sensuality is all well and good, true, but in its place and not over-done. I wasn't aware that it was possible to have an eleven-page sex scene outside a porn novel, but Laurens achieves it time after time. I really don't want to read the same book over and over again! The weird 'Lady of the Vale' witch/wicca nonsense. I want to read a romance novel, not a book about some weird-in-the-head woman who believes that her entire life is governed by some 'Lady' who speaks to her in her dreams. Keep psychic nonsense out of romance novels, please!! And I couldn't believe that Cynster actually took her seriously! The story of Richard Cynster's place in the family, which is explained to us early in the book. This has bugged me ever since I read The Promise in a Kiss. There is *no way* that Helena, the duchess, would have taken in her husband's bastard and brought her up as her own son. There is no way that the Helena of Promise in a Kiss would have tolerated Sebastian's infidelity. I also can't believe that a bastard would have been accepted in society to the extent that Richard is. And doesn't Laurens know anything about inheritance and paternity law?? Richard Cynster's mother was married to McEnery. This means that IN LAW Seamus was Richard's father. IN LAW Richard is McEnery's eldest son and therefore inherits everything unless the will makes special provision for unentailed property. Oh, and in which dictionary may I find 'witchy' as an adjective? The word does not exist!! The title's rather derivative, as well - the second in the series (if we count Promise in a Kiss as the first) was called Devil's Bride. But this book does have a lovely cover design. Shame about the content!
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't finish this one.
Review: I loved "Devil's Bride" and "A Rake's Vow" and bought the entire Bar Cynster series after reading the first two. I wish I would have looked at "Scandal's Bride" a little more closely before spending the money. I thought Scandal was sexy in "Devil's Bride" and "A Rake's Vow." I mean, he wasn't mentioned all that often, but as Devil's half-brother, he was sure to be sexy and strong, right? Well, his character in "Scandal's Bride" is okay, but the heroine and plot make this book disappointing. I never connected with the heroine. And I am NOT a huge fan of supernatural storylines. I think Richard would have thought her a mentally ill young woman and ran the other way. I know that Scotland is full of mysticism and lore, but I agree with the other poster who said a woman known for "witchcraft" in that day and age would have been condemned, killed, or at least branded an outcast. I just didn't care enough about these characters and this story to read past the first few chapters. I can't recommend this one. Hopefully the next Cynster book is better.
Rating: 
Summary: The effort of writing a book
Review: I would just like to say that this book doesn't differ much from Lauren's past books, but that doesn't mean that it's not a good book! It's basically heroe trying to persuade heroine to fall in love with him, but hey there is some appeal in that and as for the whole 'Lady of the Vale' thing I deeply simpathise with Laurens in trying to make her books different from her others by adding that something different. Truth be told: I don't like magical books unless they are fantasy novels and so the whole idea of 'the lady of the vale' in a historical romance was a bit far-fetched. I also found it qiute hard to believe that Richard would actually fall for his wifes witchcraft. In my oppinion he should have sent her to a psychiatrist to get her checked out! Apart from these few things that I didn't like I think Laurens did make an effort to make a good book. She just wanted to make it different from her other books and went about doing it all wrong!
The last thing I would like to mention is that some reviewers should watch what they are writing. One reviewer said that there is no such word as 'witchy' in the dictionary. Well, so what if there isn't. The word is used in many books and there is no law that says we can't make up words. A lot of people's surnames aren't in the dictionary, so what are you getting at?! Anyway, even though this book didn't appeal to me that much I must say that I adored 'A rakes vow' and 'On a wild night'. Keep writing, Stephanie, you're doing a great job!
Rating:
Summary: Loved Richard. Not so crazy about the story.
Review: The only reason I'm giving this book 4 stars is because I loved Richard's character, but I can't say the same thing about Catriona. I think I would have liked it better if she were more of a healer and less of a witch. Personally, I could have done without all the mystic and supernatural stuff this book is full of. Another thing, the book started out great, but after Richard and Catriona got married, the story slowed down tremendously. Everything was about them trying to get along and deciding how to run the Vale. It would have been so much more interesting to have some intrigue, some villain to unmask, like in all the other Cynsters books. OK, there was Algaria poisoning Richard, but the way they handled that situation is yet another thing I did not like about this book. The woman tried to kill him, for goodness sake! How on hell are they going to simply forgive her on the absurd basis that she thought she was doing "The Lady's" will? And not only that, but put her in charge of their future children?! That's very hard to digest. No sane person would behave like that. Anyway, I think Richard is my favorite Cynster, and this could have been my favorite Cynster book, it certainly had the potential. It's a shame that because of a poor development of the story the book did not live up to it.
Rating:
Summary: 3rd in the Bar Cynster series and maybe the best!
Review: I have throughly loved everyone of the Bar Cynster books. I have read them as fast as I have gotten them. The heros are all strong, exciting, handsome, strong men who also are sweet, caring, vulnerable and utterly devoted to family. The heroines are sassy, strong, stubborn, brave, loving, caring, smart woman who are the hero's equals. These discriptions are perfect for the hero and heroine of Scandal's Bride. Richard, aka Scandal, has been summoned to the north by his mother's family. Richard's mother has been dead for many many years and now her husband has died and Richard is in his will. Richard, ever curious, arrives to find that there is someone else who is in the will. Catriona, the Lady of the Vale. Catriona was the ward of the late Seamus. She has also come to find out what Seamus had in mind for her. Its nothing that either thought it would be. Seamus' will has stated that Richard must marry Catriona and if he doesn't Seamus' children will be disinherited and will loose their home. Now Richard has tried for years to avoid marriage especially since his older brother and cousin have taken the plunge. But Catriona is so unlike any other woman he has ever met. She is independant. She has a purpose in life and believes that no man can help her with that purpose. He is facinated by her and wants her in ways that he has never imagined. Catriona is also facinated by Richard. He is a strong willed man who she believes will interfer with her duties to the vale but she can't deny her attraction to him or her growing feelings of love. They marry and return to the Vale. Catriona tries to go about her business but soon finds that Richard can be a great help to her and her people. They soon both find that they love each other and that together they can prosper. We get to meet Devil and Honoria again as well as Vane Patience and see where thier lives are going. I found this book to be very erotic in its love scenes but it also touched my heart they way that two very strong independant people can unite to be even stronger. In short I loved this book!
Rating:
Summary: Here's a first for me- Grimoire-thumpping Wiccans!
Review: To some this book up, it's boring. I have read A Rake's Vow and I liked it. All the elements that made that book enjoyable are missing here. The plot is basically: Richard 'Scandal' Cynster and Catrion Hennesey get married because of a dead guy's manipulations and, of course, fate. That's it
The first hundred pages are so are interesting, but the story quickly goes down hill. What could have been a story about a commanding alpha-male and equally commanding alpha-female went no where because they marry to easily and Richard is content to hand over the reins to Catrion. In over words, the tension and conflict is completely flat.
Too much sex! It seems like Laurens couldn't think up a plot so whenever she had writers block she'd just have Richard and Catrion go to bed. Now, don't get me wrong, I like a little steam as much as the next person, but when the couple starts going at it like bunnies every 10 pages it gets really tedious.
In the last hundred pages (and I my eyes were glazed over at this point), Laurens tries to give the story CPR are by having someone try to kill Richard. Super-obvious Historical Romance Mystery Time! Honestly, I couldn't have cared less. In a Rake's Vow, the mystery was more prominent and didn't feel like it was tacked on in a last-ditch effort to save this mess.
But The #1 problem with this book is Catrion. Catrion is a psychic Scottish lass with a speacail connection with The Lady. Of course, Laurens never goes into this much or talk about her rituals so Catrion comes across as a religious-fanatical-maniac/guru. I even really question her so-called Wiccaness and wonder if she is a Cult leader who has enslaved her people. What I found even more disturbing was that she spouts off to just anybody about The Lady. It wasn't so long ago that they used to burn people like her (when the story takes place). She's just like any old Bible-Thumper; can't stand'em in real life and I hate'em in my fiction (unless they are the opposition). I really expected her to jump up and start ragging on the inferiority of other religions.
I certainly hope Scandal's bride is only a fluke. I have about 3 other Bar Cynster novel waiting to be read. I'm gonna be really upset if the rest are this boring.
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