Interesting premise for the first half of this story...
VISCOUNT BRECKENRIDGE TO THE RESCUE, the first book in the Cynster Sisters Trilogy, has a new threat to the Cynster ladies that set this story on the right path for a warrior male to show his true colors. The first half of the book is interesting and fresh territory for this series. She’s almost an old maid. He’s the man that irritates her. When she’s kidnapped by unknown forces, he’s the only one that witnesses it. He gives chase. She realizes the threat is not to her specifically but to all her sisters. For that reason she refuses to escape when he catches up. Grudgingly he agrees. But once the series falls into the “admit you love me or I won’t marry you” realm, things degenerate. This standard refrain isn’t typically irritating but this couple got on my nerves. The misunderstandings between them, the intractable stance both of them took, the fact they didn’t “use their listening ears”, mired the story in the second half of the book. On the plus side, catching up with Richard and Catriona (Lady of the Vale) was terrific. Their story, Scandal's Bride (third Cynster novel), is one of my favorites. The narrator, Matthew Brenher, has limited inflections and reads the book rather than performs. He rates as competent. He’s no Simmon Prebble, the superb narrator that elevates the core books in this series.