Temptation and Surrender

A Cynster Novel

By: Stephanie Laurens

Narrated by: Roz Landor

Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Handsome, wealthy, and well-born, Jonas Tallent has everything a gentleman needs to enjoy London society to the fullest...and he has. He's played cards until dawn, flirted with eligible young ladies, and made love to some ineligible ones.

But now he's restless and bored with the mindless frivolity and careless pleasure, so it's with a sense of relief that he takes up the reins of his family's estate in rural Devon. His most pressing need is to hire a new manager for the inn; the center of village life. Such a small task, yet he discovers few decent applicants are willing to live in a quiet country backwater.

Then genteel but impoverished Miss Emily Beauregard applies for the position. Jonas's initial response is an emphatic "no!" Ladies, especially one as attractive as Emily, belong in the ballroom or the bedroom, not running an inn. But with no alternatives, he grudgingly allows Emily to try, and she rapidly proves herself worthy, resurrecting the inn with tact and skill.

But Emily has a secret. It's not only the need to provide for herself and her orphaned siblings that has brought her to Devon. She's surreptitiously searching for a family treasure hidden in the village, the only clues to its location a cryptic rhyme handed down through the generations. Emily is determined to solve the puzzle, find the treasure, and reinstate her family to its rightful place in society.

But Em hasn't bargained on Jonas. His experience is temptation, his attentions irresistible, and he's determined to aid her in her quest. He eventually persuades her to trust him, and together they unravel the clues. But someone else is watching, waiting, and once the family legacy is unearthed, the villain strikes, threatening Em, her family, and the love she and Jonas have discovered in each other's arms.

©2009 Savdek Management Proprietory Ltd. (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Better than others

I'm a fan of the Cynster Series. I much prefer this 1 for only 1 reason; the female orator makes the love scenes sound more romantic than scandalous.

So, So.

Story was good, but not all that exciting.

Really good addition to the series, solid stand al

A powerful author and good narrator make for great listening experiences, well done to both as this is yet another lovely read, strong characters and interwoven sub-plots with a couple of sneaky twists.
Will read again.

Very relaxing read

In hindsight I really did enjoy the book and although all good love stories have their share of love scene's I got the impression the author was trying to give lessons! The scene in the middle of the book was soooo long and drawn out, I actually caught myself concentrating on something else completely- I actually forgot to listen!!

Other than that it was most entertaining and if I were to listen to it again I would fast forward the excessive scenes.

Lacks the spark !

This was my first novel for Stephanie and I was disappointed !
The story was flat. The characters were not engaginging . It was way to long . It just lacked the passion ! The narrator was excellent though as usual but she had little to work with . I do not recommend this book

Jonas meets Colyton of Colyton

Date: 1825 October

Chronology: set after The Ideal Bride; before Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue.

Jonas Tallent is Phyllida’s twin and brother-in-law to Lucifer aka Alasdair Cynster. Jonas is managing The Grange and business interests in Colyton while his father is helping a widowed aunt.
Emily Ann Beauregard Colyton talks Jonas into hiring her as manager of Colyton’s Red Bells Inn. Along with her 4 siblings, Emily has moved to Colyton to escape an Uncle who has used them as free labor until she turned 25 and could assume guardianship. The town of Colyton was named after her family and there is a Colyton Treasure that they hope to find to improve their circumstances. Of course there is someone trying to steal the treasure out from under them, but this is offset by Em’s romance with Jonas, and Isobel’s with Mr Filing, the Curate.
I like the main characters, the basic storyline and the visit with Colyton’s inhabitants (see All About Love). The details of Jonas’ romance with Em didn’t work for me as it was fraught. I was also annoyed there was little proactive action taken to immediately protect and process the Colyton Treasure as there would have been with early Cynster books.

I’m not wild about Landor’s narration. At all. Her male voices took away from the narration. If she didn’t speak so softly, I couldn’t handle the higher register of her voice.

I want my Simon Prebble...

I agree that sometimes Simon Prebble can make love scenes sound like sporting events with his intensity and speed, but they are way more fun to listen to then Ms. Landor. She’s also terrible at doing men’s voices. I’m committed to going through the series without skipping any books, and I’m not sorry that I invested in this one. Her character development is fun and I don’t mind that it slows down the plot a little bit.

just too long for the content

Another Cynster spinoff. Which wouldn't be too bad except for the length of the book and the contrived feeling I got about the erotica

stephanie laurens always rates a 5 but ...

Would you consider the audio edition of Temptation and Surrender to be better than the print version?

I do not read what I listen to... just doesn't interest me to.

What other book might you compare Temptation and Surrender to and why?

I guess it fits right in with all the extentions of the cynster novels. I didn't read the first one of the talent siblings.... BUT, for some reason this one seemed to drag and it is the only one of over 20 Stephanie Laurens books I have felt that way about. Still a good book though.

What does Roz Landor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I prefer Simon Prebble... but its like your eyes adjusting to a change in lighting I eventually got used to it.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was utterly neutral on this one! Something about it was.... just not as engaging as most.

Any additional comments?

I would still recommend this book! I think it may have just been me since I just can't accept that any of her books don't measure up.

Excellent storyline

Great main characters, good supporting community , and a couple of villians. a perfect blend