On a Wicked Dawn

By: Stephanie Laurens

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another great story.

Despite a few reviews to the contrary, I really loved this book. It is well written and kept my interest. There are quite a few love scenes, but it is beautifully described and not vulgar. Simon Prebble was once again outstanding. Recommended to all romance readers.

Twin Amelia gets her man

It’s one week after Martin’s marriage to Amanda and 6-7 years after Devil’s marriage to Honoria.
Amelia has decided she’s ready to be married. She’s 23 and in her sixth season. She’s looked over all the prospects in the Haute Ton and there’s no one she wants more than Luc. That’s Lucien Michael Ashford, Sixth Viscount Calverton, 29, whom she’s known most of her life. So when Amelia sees that Luc and his family have been pressed for money, she asks Luc to marry her to repair his family’s fortunes. What almost no one knows (besides the lack) is that his ship has literally come in. The family fortunes are completely restored and Luc is able to finally marry and his first choice is Amelia.
A bonus in the story is Devil getting up the nerve to actually tell Honoria that he loves her - it only took 3 children and how many years?
Prebble is a little weak on female voices but an excellent narrator.

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.