A duke’s second son with no responsibilities and a lady starved of the excitement her soul craves join forces to unravel a deadly, potentially catastrophic threat to the realm – that only continues to grow. With his older brother’s betrothal announced, Lord Michael Cynster is freed from the pressure of familial expectations. However, the allure of his previous hedonistic pursuits has paled. Then … pursuits has paled. Then he learns of the mission his brother, Sebastian, and Lady Antonia Rawlings have been assisting with and volunteers to assist by hunting down the hoard of gunpowder now secreted somewhere in London.
Michael sets out to trace the carters who transported the gunpowder from Kent to London. His quest leads him to the Hendon Shipping Company, where he discovers his sole source of information is the only daughter of Jack and Kit Hendon, Miss Cleome Hendon, who although a fetchingly attractive lady, firmly holds the reins of the office in her small hands.
Cleo has fought to achieve her position in the company. Initially, managing the office was a challenge, but she now conquers all in just a few hours a week. With her three brothers all adventuring in America, she’s been driven to the realization that she craves adventure, too.
When Michael Cynster walks in and asks about carters, Cleo’s instincts leap. She wrings from him the full tale of his mission—and offers him a bargain. She will lead him to the carters he seeks if he agrees to include her as an equal partner in the mission.
Horrified, Michael attempts to resist, but ultimately finds himself agreeing—a sequence of events he quickly learns is common around Cleo. Then she delivers on her part of the bargain, and he finds there are benefits to allowing her to continue to investigate beside him—not least being that if she’s there, then he knows she’s safe.
But the further they go in tracing the gunpowder, the more deaths they uncover. And when they finally locate the barrels, they find themselves tangled in a fight to the death—one that forces them to face what has grown between them, to seize and defend what they both see as their path to the greatest adventure of all. A shared life. A shared future. A shared love.
Second volume in a trilogy. A historical romance with gothic overtones layered over a continuing intrigue. A full length novel of 101,000 words.
Praise for the works of Stephanie Laurens
“Stephanie Laurens’ heroines are marvelous tributes to Georgette Heyer: feisty and strong.” Cathy Kelly
“Stephanie Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters.” Historical Romance Reviews.
“Stephanie Laurens plays into readers’ fantasies like a master and claims their hearts time and again.” Romantic Times Magazine
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The Devil’s Brood Trilogy features the three children of Devil Cynster from the Bar Cynster series. Devil (Sylvester) and Honoria have three children – two sons and a daughter. The Devil’s Brood Trilogy features Sebastian Cynster (oldest and the heir) in the first book, Michael (second and spare) in the second book and the third and last will feature Louisa (known as Lady Wild). There is a mystery flowing through all three novels and the three Cynster’s each have a hand in a portion of the solution. Someone is plotting against the crown and is planning to blow up something – they don’t know what or who is behind it, but they do know that ten barrels of gunpowder is involved. In the first book Sebastian and Lady Antonia Rawlings discovered where the gunpowder had been and learned that it had left for London. In this book, Michael and Miss Cleome Hendon are tasked with finding where the gunpowder was delivered in London and keeping watch on it to try to follow its target location.
Lord Michael Cynster leads a hedonistic life, but it is beginning to find that lifestyle very unsatisfying. So, when Drake Wolverstone tasks him with locating the gunpowder and following it to its target location, he jumps at the chance. He realizes that the villains can blow up pretty much anything they want to with that much gunpowder. He also knows how dangerous these plotters are because they have so far murdered everyone who has participated in their plot just as soon as their part was finished. No loose ends.
Michael believes that the first step must be to identify who carted the gunpowder into London. Since the transport of gunpowder is highly regulated and monitored and ONLY registered carts and carters can transport it, Michael sets off to determine who those carters were. He goes to Hendon Shipping Company in hopes of speaking with one of the Hendon brothers only to learn that all three of them are out of the country. However, he is taken to the person who runs the company because of their intimate knowledge of the kind of details he needs. My goodness is he surprised when he meets that person — Miss Cleome Hendon. Oh my – a female running a shipping business. Cleo hears Michael out and says she can indeed help him – but she has conditions for that help. She wants some adventure and guarantees she can identify the carters, but insists that he let her help with the investigation.
So, now we have a typical male who is accustomed to ruling his world and protecting the females in his life, paired with a strong, intelligent woman who wants adventure in a mans world. What could go wrong there!!!
Michael and Cleo investigate, protect each other and even fall in love. What more could you ask for in a wonderful novel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Then — we can be off to read the next book and see the grand finale!
Love her books. Can’t wait for the next book in this series. Each book leaves you hanging you want to keep reading.
Great book. I am enjoying the Cynster Next generation books a lot. I found this one to be a little redundant at the end where they review what has happened over the last two books, but still a great read. Looking forward to the last book in the series. Yay for Devil being in this one!
The second of the Devils Brood Trilogy, The story of Michael and Cleo was as delightful as the first in the series- The Lady by His Side. I can confidently recommend all three books. Each stands alone with wonderful characters, interesting storyline and the skillful crafting of Stephanie Laurens.
Just like all of her books she is an original. Could not wait for it, and could not put it down.
She is one of my favorite romantic authors!!!
A fan of Laurens and the whole arc of the Cynster Clan, this book meshes right in to that world.
No Cynster sits back when danger arrives on the scene and reading the stories of each is a pleasure.
love all her books always very enjoyable read
A continuing book in a series.