All About Passion by Stephanie Laurens

Soothing. That is how I found this book.

I’ve admitted previously that I can’t read Laurens’ Cynster novels one after another, given the similarity in prose. But in reading All About Passion, I was reminded that—despite some repeated descriptions—each of these stories are unique to me. Particularly this one.

Yes; there was the “heroine in danger” element. But instead of building the tale around the mystery, Laurens’ central focus remains on the burgeoning love affair between the H and H. I found it sweet and not altogether predictable.

Also different was the manner in which the H / H come to be married. This was an arranged marriage from the start. It was not a case of “hero tangles with heroine, then autocratically decides she must become his wife.” This H and H are fully engaged in building a relationship. Calmly.

At present, I am miserably sick AND PMS’ing. My feelings get hurt when the wind blows. In this mindset, All About Passion was the perfect remedy. A simple love story between a man who believes himself incapable of love and an intelligent, patient woman who does not spend every moment in peril or despair. In a word, All About Passion was soothing.