The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh (Cynster Sisters Duo, 2) Mass Market Paperback – June 25, 2013

*Possible Spoilers Ahead*When I compare all the names of Stephanie Laurens' male characters from the paperbacks and ebooks that I have read, the winner of the sexiest male name goes to Ryder Cavanaugh. Ryder is the latest, but by no means the least or the last, of Ms. Laurens' sexy male characters. He is known throughout the ton for having the devil's own luck. He knows who he is and what he wants. What he wants is a wife who will transform the Cavanaughs into what he desperately needs for he and his siblings, a family. Not just any family. He wants one equivalent to the Cynster dynasty and others like it around the ton. To create what they need his dynasty must have the proper matriarch.> At her sister's engagement ball, he notes the proud tilt of her head and the narrowing of her cornflower blue eyes as she sites her prey across the ballroom. Even though she is diminutive in height he recognizes that Mary Cynster is a force to be reckoned with and just the matriarch he needs. Unfortunately for him Ms. Cynster has other plans. Unfortunately for her Ryder checks her plans. What proceeds is an epic battle with the winners of each skirmish running neck and neck to see who wins the war of wills.> So as not to give anything else away, I will move along to the Epilogue. This is the best epilogue I have ever read. Learning something about yourself, life or even history are the best things you can take away after finishing a book. At best this epilogue should be a Public Service Announcement. Teachers should use it to develop lesson plans for social science classes. Book clubs should put aside their latest thrillers to discuss the important points it makes. At the least it should be required reading for anyone who has ever heard a fairy tale.> The message this epilogue teaches about the meaning of and the power of family, friendship and their associated connections could not have been said better. It takes the reader on a journey which shows how the past shaped the Cynster dynasty's present and how succession management and planning in the present is shaping their future. Not only are the book's story line and characters deserving of five stars, the epilogue deserves five stars as a stand alone. You have really outdone yourself Ms. Laurens. Congratulations.

THE TAMING OF RYDER CAVANAUGH is the twentieth book in the Cynster series. It is the story of Mary Cynster who was a small child when the events of the first novel took place. Mary is a very strong woman. In many ways she reminds me of Honoria in that she will be the matriarch of her own family. Mary is looking for her own hero but Ryder Cavanaugh is looking at her for a potential wife.Mary and Ryder are simply adorable. Ryder may be a rake but he has a soft heart and really wants to build a strong family. I really like these books where the conflict between the characters is small. The real conflict is who is trying to kill Ryder. Laurens does a great job her of having these characters drawn together by the threats that come upon them. I also really liked how Mary refuses to allow herself to become a victim that needs to be protected. Ryder and Mary are a team. For me, the best Cynster books are the ones where the main characters work as a unit to solve the mystery. This book is one of the better books.For fans of the series, the epilogue is wonderful. It was really special to see all the couple and their children. Having Honoria and Devil see what their live together has helped create was so moving. They are still my favorite couple and I look forward to reading about the next generation.I'd rate this book a 4.25.

The Cynster series seems to be back on the upswing, and I couldn't be happier about it. I've been a big fan of the books for awhile but many of the recent additions have been a bit lackluster. I think part of that was due to the heroes and the complicated 'danger' portions of the book. As a Stephanie Laurens fan I always expect there to be both romance and danger, I know I'm not going to get one without the other, but for the most part I've enjoyed the danger portions. The Cynster Sister Trio was the most lackluster when it came to that and those heroes were the most uninspired to my way of thinking, the Cynster Sisters Duo seems to be getting things back where they should be.Ryder Cavanaugh is a high caliber Cynster hero. To be honest we haven't seen a man this decidedly appealingly dangerous since Martin - although perhaps the comparison immediately springs to mind because Ryder is so often described as a lion of the ton. I think he also might actually be the very first of the men to specifically go LOOKING for a bride rather than just falling into it once he's met his bride. He's a very proactive kind of romantic hero, he wants to choose his own bride without being influenced by the ton and so he starts looking before the grand dames and the matchmaking mothers would expect him to, ensuring that he will be allowed to choose for himself.Unfortunately the choice he settles on - Mary Cynster, the last unwed Cynster female of her generation - is more interested in his younger half-brother Rand. She doesn't want a pushy, autocratic, overly appealing husband, no matter how fast he makes her heart beat. It's rather fun watching him hunt her down, and by the time she declares that she will NOT be the only female Cynster of her generation to go to her wedding a virgin, I was absolutely feeling the same excitement that I had with early Cynster books.What drags the story on a little bit is the "danger" portion, but I personally found this "danger" to be MUCH more believable and therefore enjoyable than many of the other recent books. Not only that, but I enjoyed speculating and then doubting my speculations. There was a lively case of side characters in the form of Ryder's family and I'm hoping to see them in future books... there was also some introduction to the next generation of Cynsters. I'm not quite sure how I feel about all of them yet.All in all, I feel like Laurens is heading back to her roots and to the tension and excitement that made her earlier books so successful. Are we there quite yet? No, the story definitely drags in some places, although I have to admit that I still enjoyed the glimpse into Ryder and Mary settling into peaceful marital life, but overall I feel like the Cynster series is gaining traction again. New life is being breathed into it, and while we haven't quite gotten a full second wind yet, I think this is a book that Cynster fans will be happy to add to their collections and that we all hope the future books continue in the same upward trend back towards the feelings of excitement and heady romance that the Cynster name invokes.

A nice roundup of the first generation Cynsters. I like that each couple got a little roll call and their children got a chance to show some of their personality. I will read the next generation books at some point, but they’re not on Libby through my library so it may be a while.