Rating: 
Summary: A Thoroughly Boring Read
Review: The book started alright but after a few pages I found myself yawning away and not at all connected to the characters in the book. I rolled my eyes every time Philip and Antonia bump into each other (and they do bump into each other an awful lot) for Laurens always drones in how attracted they were to each other. The drone goes on and on in a very unconvincing and irritating manner - how she felt electrified by his touch and vice-versa. I wonder why that had to be repeated so many times? The conversations are dull and the pace is draggy.I really tried to plod through it, trying to think that maybe the story will pick up and things will get better. But it didn't. The plot and the dialogues went on monotonously. I gave up half-way through. I just couldn't put myself through the torture of reading it to the end. It was that bad. I guess romances are meant to be real, in that people need to be able to relate and empathise with the protagonists but at the same time, spicy conflicts should be included to keep us readers interested enough to finish the book. To me, this book has missed the mark by a mile wide. A pity, the cover looked so attractive. Should have adhered to the well-used proverb - Don't judge a book by its cover ;)
Rating:
Summary: A Thoroughly Boring Read
Review: The book started alright but after a few pages I found myself yawning away and not at all connected to the characters in the book. I rolled my eyes every time Philip and Antonia bump into each other (and they do bump into each other an awful lot) for Laurens always drones in how attracted they were to each other. The drone goes on and on in a very unconvincing and irritating manner - how she felt electrified by his touch and vice-versa. I wonder why that had to be repeated so many times? The conversations are dull and the pace is draggy. I really tried to plod through it, trying to think that maybe the story will pick up and things will get better. But it didn't. The plot and the dialogues went on monotonously. I gave up half-way through. I just couldn't put myself through the torture of reading it to the end. It was that bad. I guess romances are meant to be real, in that people need to be able to relate and empathise with the protagonists but at the same time, spicy conflicts should be included to keep us readers interested enough to finish the book. To me, this book has missed the mark by a mile wide. A pity, the cover looked so attractive. Should have adhered to the well-used proverb - Don't judge a book by its cover ;)
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: The main characters got together too early in this book and there was never a real question of its ending. It seemed like the background story between Catriona and Ambrose was more interesting than the main characters. It took incredible endurance to finish this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A REAL Regency
Review: They don't seem to be written anymore,which is a shame. In this book you will find no women dressed wearing tight "stable boy" trousers (don't you wonder why it is they never can find pants that fit?), no murder mysteries, no spys, no smugglers. Nope, none of that! How refreshing! You get, hold your breath, a COURTSHIP! You get interaction between two adults who aren't acting childishly every other page, that you'd like to slap silly because they act like such brats! Yes, this is the real thing. Write more of these, Ms. Laurens, please!
Rating:
Summary: BORING
Review: This book begins interestingly enough, but ends up repeating the same scenario so much, that you lose interest. This was not $6.99 spent well.
Rating: 
Summary: Setting the record straight.
Review: This book is NOT a Cynster novel. It is the last current book
in the series that runs "The reasons for marriage", "A Lady of expectations", and "An unwilling conquest"... The book also runs along the regency style of writing, not the
more risque/explicit Cynster writing. The love themes through the book restrain themselves to the usual regency passionate kisses and breast fondling scenes. The "bridle" night does not get explicit, merely poetic. So, if you are looking for Cynster spicyness, wait for Amanda's novel in April 2002, "On a wild night". If you are looking for "tame" regency style romance, this is the book for you. How Antonia Mannings finds out what Philip truly wants in a wife is very entertaining. At no time is the heroine portrayed as flighty, blind, or cowardly. She is portrayed as very astute and intent on having Philip as her husband. Philip balks at manipulation, but in the end, its fun watching him do the pursuing. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Cliched and Uninspiring
Review: This book is perfect for dewy-eyed young girls who have very little experience with romance novels... and with life. Everyone else, don't waste the money. Antonia (I cannot read that name without thinking of Willa Cather) is the perfect heroine: she's thin and beautiful, floats rather than walks, and small woodland creatures come calling every morning at the sound of her voice ;-). And yet, if you can bring yourself to believe it, she has gone so far unnoticed by the male half of the population. She decides to get married, although she has sworn never to fall in love because as a child she witnessed the effect love had on her mother. She also has the bridegroom all picked out. Enter Philip, her aunt's stepson. As in every other cliche, he's a titled lord, most wonderfully handsome, and bloated with his own superiority. Of course, he's immediately taken with Antonia's heretofore unobserved charms. He capitulates surprisingly quickly and agrees to marry her. She, however, wants to keep their engagement quiet until after she has made her entree into London society--I won't explain the why, as it really makes no rational sense. The cookie-cutter elements just keep on coming. From the heroine stumbling right into the hero's arms, to the hordes of marriage-minded girls pursuing him, to all the coincidental meetings, this book plods along through a seemingly unending amount of pages. There is nothing here to make an emotionally mature, experienced person identify or sympathize with either of the two leading characters. The story often takes turns into inconsequential details, and there are no buildups of tension or emotion. This story seems like a regency novel (i.e. no sex, no very complex characters, for those of you who don't know) that the author has slightly reworked and remarketed. Still, because it is Stephanie Laurens, and because you may learn several new vocabulary words reading this book, I gave it two stars. DO READ the author's steamy ALL ABOUT PASSION, which is phenomenal and in my opinion one of the best romance books of 2001. Laurens is to be commended for having improved her work so tremendously in the space of three years.
Rating:
Summary: A Promise in a Kiss
Review: This book was very good.It showed the begining of the Bar Cynister Family and I enjoyed the entire series.She writes like I likethem very sexy and heart warming,with a good story to go along with the romance
Rating: 
Summary: Regency vs. Regency-era historical
Review: This is a good book in the way of regencies. Antonia is a mature, beautiful woman and I'm thankful that this is not a regency in which the main female character is an indecisive brat. I've read the other reviews in which the people were disappointed with the book, but this is because the type of book they were reading was different from what they expected. A "regency" is a romance with rules. There's rarely any blatant sensuality and if you read regencies published in the '70s or '80s (now out of print, they can be found in your local library or purchased used), you oft won't even see a kiss between the heroine and hero until the end. A "regency-era historical" is the classification for Cynster books. They are romances set in a time period of the author's choice.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: This is a great regency romance in the classic style. The plot revolves around changing generational expections. The aunts largely view marriage as a political and financial union--the purpose of marriage is to protect, preserve, or further a family's influence. The younger set is just beginning to see marriage as personally fulfilling. This is not a milk and water novel about a very young heroine and older man. The main characters are mature people capable of making rational decisions. Highly recommend it!
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