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On a Wicked Dawn  By  cover art

On a Wicked Dawn

By: Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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Publisher's summary

Laurens, a New York Times best-selling author, thrills millions of fans with each book in her sensuous Bar Cynster series.

Both beautiful and headstrong, Amelia Cynster has decided to marry the man of her dreams. Lucien Ashford is handsome and sexy - but Amelia is tired of waiting for him to make the first move. So slowly, carefully, she begins to lay her trap.

©2002 Savdek Management Proprietory Ltd. (P)2003 Recorded Books

What listeners say about On a Wicked Dawn

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    428
  • 4 Stars
    175
  • 3 Stars
    84
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    18
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    100
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    352
  • 4 Stars
    133
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    16

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

It was wicked!!

I really enjoy Lauren's book and I especially like the narrator. It drives me crazy when they change narrators with their novels. He is definitely someone you should listen to....but the book is great. I love it when the hero is being setup and tortured by the heroine. She knew before he does that they were meant to be....great continuation of the Cynster novels. The love scenes were great...smile.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A plot.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm not sure but I'm reluctant to read the next book in this series.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Simon Prebble?

Absolutely!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I like most of the Cynster characters so they bring something to the story. But not enough.

Any additional comments?

The earlier Cynster stories were very good. The series started to fade with the previous book and it has really dropped with this one. Maybe Stephanie Laurens just had a bad book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

not much of a plot

On the positive side, the author has a wonderful vocabulary and the reader is capable. The book is way too long for the limited and predictable plot. I am glad I got it on sale and didnt waste a credit on it. I fell asleep several times and had trouble rewinding and finding my place since the same scenes seemed to keep repeating and the plot moves with all the speed of a soap opera.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Meet the family

As the story goes, I don't think this novel is as good as the rest. The premise is just weak and the sex overwhelms it. That said, as a Cynster fan, I liked the book because there was an opportunity to get to know some of the older members of the family - Arthur, Louise, and especially Helena. For me that rescued the book from a lower score.
Narration as usual was wonderful.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

One of the weakest stories in the series

Simon Prebble does his usual excellent rendition of the characters, and but for that, I wouldn't have finished it. The interminable sex scenes that are usual in Laurens' books are even more frequent in this one. The plot looked promising when she finally got round to it midway through, but stalled and fizzled before it had a chance to develop.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

too much sex!

I never thought I'd say this, but there were chapter ling sex scenes. It actually got in the way of the story. FYI, I'm not a prude, obviously this genre is going to have sex scenes, but this was too much.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Tedious. Total loser compared to the others

I loved them all enough up to this one. Author seemed like she couldn’t figure out what to write about. The possessive behavior of H-Luc borders on offensive. Sad but I was totally absorbed by all the others and think I will drop this halfway through. I hope the next ones are better. Heroine has no backbone and the back story about Edward is super irritating. Nothing much to recommend this one. So frustrating.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not a romance novel, rather more erotica

When the series started, I figured it was okay. The guys have that dickish arrogance I don't care for, but the writing was pretty good, story okay, good characters, and excellent narration.
Then in the book before this one, I notice a fall off in story and an up tick in sex. I like sex, but it doesn't really add to the story much when repeated overly much.
Now this book, while you can't exactly say the writing was poor, you can say it was devoid of any real story at all. Too call this book a romance novel is a fraud. It is simply an endless repetition of sex scene after sex scene.
For the first 12 hours or so, the plot to sex scene ratio was at a level so low as to compare with porn movies.
Then, when the book finally got around to a plot, the main characters didn't even take part in it all. They just kind of a summary of what happened.
This book is probably one of the single biggest disappointments in my personal reading history.
Quite simply, save yourself the pain and avoid this book at all costs. I'm not even going to attempt to see if things improve later in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not much happening here

I couldn’t finish it. There was so much time spent describing thoughts and looks, and sighs, and feelings but there wasn’t enough HAPPENING. I don’t generally require a thrill ride of a subplot, but the main plot was not engaging me in this book, nor was the subplot. Very disappointing.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Couldn't finish it......

What would have made On a Wicked Dawn better?

A plot, less sex....

What do you think your next listen will be?

I am off Stephanie Laurens for a while. This book turned me from S.L.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Simon Prebble?

He is ok, poor material.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from On a Wicked Dawn?

All sex scenes.

Any additional comments?

I think you get the picture.

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1 person found this helpful