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A review by bookwyrm_lark
A Conquest Impossible to Resist by Stephanie Laurens
2.0
Compared to Laurens’s early Cynster books, A Conquest Impossible to Resist is… bland. Despite several murder attempts, it lacks urgency and intensity: in the romance, in the murder plot, and (despite repeated mentions of the Cynsters’ need for breeding stock) in Prudence’s overall motivation. Deaglan’s motivation works a little better, but he’s a pale imitation of the larger-than-life rakes of the original generation. I don’t object to taking a break from the somewhat over-the-top alpha-male heroes usually favored by Laurens, and I’m happy to see an alpha male who is nonetheless willing to deal with the heroine as an equal—in fact, that part of the relationship was refreshing.
But overall, in the romance as in the rest of the book, there is far too much telling and not enough showing. It even spills into what should, in some scenes, have been dialog. In some places, there’s too much dialogue, but in others, the author tells you the gist rather than show you what was said… and invariably, what isn’t shown would have worked better as dialogue to bring the characters alive.
I think that’s my problem with the whole book, in fact. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but it never really came alive for me, never sucked me into its world so thoroughly that the world outside disappeared.
I could blame that on myself—on being too tired, distracted, and/or stressed with work to really get into the book—but just as a test, I started reading the first Cynster novel, [b:Devil's Bride|363499|Devil's Bride (Cynster, #1)|Stephanie Laurens|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388204947s/363499.jpg|2524956], right after this one. The difference is clear and palpable. The writing pulled me out of myself and into Honoria’s world immediately, despite the fact that I’ve read the book at least five times before. Devil’s Bride isn’t perfect, for reasons that lie outside the scope of this review, but taken as a benchmark (it remains one of Laurens’s best and most popular romances), it casts A Conquest Impossible to Resist completely in the shade.
As a final and regretful note, this is not, by far, the first of Laurens’s recent books that lack her early spark. I have hung on a lot longer than I might otherwise, but I’m close to giving up on her. At this point, I’m reading out of habit and loyalty rather than any real excitement for the new books. Very few of her novels since leaving Avon are on my “keep and reread” shelf. And that saddens me.
A slightly longer version of this review was originally published on The Bookwyrm's Hoard blog.
But overall, in the romance as in the rest of the book, there is far too much telling and not enough showing. It even spills into what should, in some scenes, have been dialog. In some places, there’s too much dialogue, but in others, the author tells you the gist rather than show you what was said… and invariably, what isn’t shown would have worked better as dialogue to bring the characters alive.
I think that’s my problem with the whole book, in fact. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but it never really came alive for me, never sucked me into its world so thoroughly that the world outside disappeared.
I could blame that on myself—on being too tired, distracted, and/or stressed with work to really get into the book—but just as a test, I started reading the first Cynster novel, [b:Devil's Bride|363499|Devil's Bride (Cynster, #1)|Stephanie Laurens|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388204947s/363499.jpg|2524956], right after this one. The difference is clear and palpable. The writing pulled me out of myself and into Honoria’s world immediately, despite the fact that I’ve read the book at least five times before. Devil’s Bride isn’t perfect, for reasons that lie outside the scope of this review, but taken as a benchmark (it remains one of Laurens’s best and most popular romances), it casts A Conquest Impossible to Resist completely in the shade.
As a final and regretful note, this is not, by far, the first of Laurens’s recent books that lack her early spark. I have hung on a lot longer than I might otherwise, but I’m close to giving up on her. At this point, I’m reading out of habit and loyalty rather than any real excitement for the new books. Very few of her novels since leaving Avon are on my “keep and reread” shelf. And that saddens me.
A slightly longer version of this review was originally published on The Bookwyrm's Hoard blog.