And Then She Fell

Cynster Sisters, Book 5

By: Stephanie Laurens

Narrated by: Matthew Brenher

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Laurens has returned to another utterly irresistible branch on her beloved Cynster family tree....

The only thing more troublesome than a Cynster man...

...is a Cynster lady who believes love is not her destiny. Famously known in London society as "The Matchbreaker", Henrietta Cynster's uncanny skill lies in preventing ill-fated nuptials - not in falling victim to Cupid's spell.

But then she disrupts one match too many and feels honor-bound to assist dashing James Glossup in finding a suitable bride for a marriage of convenience.

A task infernally complicated by the undeniable, unquenchable attraction that flares between James and Henrietta, who continues to believe she will never fall....

©2012 Savdek Management Proprietary Ltd. (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

...but it took a while

I love the Cynster family novels. Strong characters who try, but ultimately fail, to avoid the ONE fate has in store for them. It is Henrietta Cynster who seems to have successfully avoided fate. She is 29, firmly and determinedly on the shelf. But you can't really outrun fate if you're a Cynster, even if it takes a while to catch you. The crux of this story is that there is a time constraint there hasn't been on others, and Henrietta is actually trying to find a wife for James, a man whose marriage plans she had upset. Although, as in every romance, there is a happily ever after, the suspense lies in whether James will have to choose between his apparently fated bride or give up on his honorable goal. Will he? Won't he? The narration was good, though when I listened to the first Cynster novel, hearing a male reader (even though Simon Prebble is one of my faves) for a romance was a shocker. But with the first several, the main protagonist was male, so I got used to male readers for all the Cynster novels I have (13 at this point) and Matthew Brenher did not disappoint with this one. Production values are good, as usual.

excellent as always for this pairing!

Except for the way the love scenes stretch out I can't find anything to say that isn't positive exclamations!

makes you want more

wonderfully entertaining- interesting and leaves you wanting more. can't wait to read the next book

And Then She Fell by Stephanie Laurens

It was very enchanting! I didn't expect the twist at all and how they fall in love with each other is totally predictable but oh so romantic! ❤

Murderer, Mystery and Romance

Enjoyable story of heroine giving advice to women if the man they are interested in truly loves them. Heroine unfortunately bumps into murderer who now is after her and finds the lover who rescues her from the murderer’s attempts. Narrator does a good job.

a good one

Very goog. I love Stephanie Laurens novels. they also pick very believe able narrators. Enjoy!

Decent story, narrator is a disappointment.

Story has some good moments but it is a rehash of so many preceding stories of the Cynsters. Maybe that is deliberate.

Narrator just doesn't make it. His voice seems just wrong for such a book; his voice is very "growly" at times. He rarely shifts his voice for different people. There is little pacing, which could be effective in place of modulating voices from character to character.

Late but not last

Date: 1837 Apr-May

Chronology: set after Where the Heart Leads and The Peculiar Case of Lord Finsbury’s Diamonds; before The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh.

Henrietta has left the Lady’s necklace in her jewelry box for 8 years since she received it from her cousin Angelica. At 22, Mary has decided she’s ready to move on to the next stage of her life and she can’t wear the necklace until Henrietta 29, finds her true hero. No surprise that things start happening. Henrietta has agreed to help James Glossup find a bride in one month, and they are drawn together as he repeatedly protects her from a murderer. James is Simon’s friend from The Perfect Lover.
Brenher is an ok choice for narrator.

horrible narration

The narrator was really grating on me. I had listened to other books in the series with the same narrator and he was actually ok, but his portrait of the main character was flat out horrible.
The story itself was a typical Cynster novel, just a little less steamy then the earlier ones.

Great Story, Weak Narrator

This was a really good book in the Cynster Sisters series. I think it is helpful to have read a couple of stories on the Cynster family before you read this book, but it is not critical. I really liked Henriettta and James' story - it developed well and the characters were interesting. Henrietta, at 29, was known in society as the "Matchbreaker." She broke-up James' plans to marry another lady that he did not love, but he needed a wife in a set time frame to meet the terms of his Great Aunt's will. After learning his circumstances, Henrietta agrees to help James find a new bride, but they end up falling in love with each other during that process. I think what helped keep the book really interesting was the murder/attempted murder-mystery that intertwines with the story. I was surprised at the very PG nature of the sex scenes in this book, which were often times cheesy in their attempt to keep out any details, mild or otherwise. I seem to recall her books having much more heat and passion.

The narrator, Matthew Brenher, was not good. His female voices were pathetic and distracting. However, the book was still worth listening to.

Ms. Laurens set-up the next book for Henrietta's sister Mary, and based on the preview, I am hopeful that Mary's book is going to be excellent, so I look forward to listening to that!