The Ideal Bride: Number 12 in series (CYNSTER, #12) (Bar Cynster)

by Stephanie Laurens

Michael Anstruther-Wetherby is a rising member of Parliament - a man destined for power. And with his connections to the wealthy and influential Cynster family his future appears assured. Except that Michael lacks the single most important element of success: a wife.Political pressure sends him searching for a perfect wife - a gently bred, malleable young lady, preferably with a political background. Michael discovers such a paragon but finds a formidable obstacle in his path - the young lady's beautiful, strong-minded widowed aunt, Caroline Sutcliffe.Having lived through an unhappy political marriage, Caroline wants nothing of the sort for her niece, who has already lost her heart to another. So Caroline and the younger woman hatch a plot - Caroline will demonstrate why an inexperienced young lady is not the ideal bride for Michael.

• ISBN10: 0749937262
• ISBN13: 9780749937263
• Publish Date: 7 February 2008 (first published 2 March 2004)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

Michael Anstruther-Wetherby needs a wife to rise further in Parliament and fixes his sights on a young lady only to find an obstacle in the form of her aunt, the young widow Caroline Sutcliffe.

Caroline isn't really interested in marriage, her previous experience has her a bit embittered, however Michael is attractive and atttentive and distracting. She's also finding that life as a widow doesn't allow her to follow her ability to steer a diplomat's life.

The two of them are great together and seperately and the wooing you can see develop. I could see how she realised where her skills could be useful again in the world of diplomacy but her difficulty in coming to terms with wondering if that's what's missing in her life and maybe not a man, but that without a man she really can't do this kind of work.

I loved the story, and the characters and the way the Cynster family helped and hindered as things went on.