Bold and clever, THE CAVANAUGHS are unlike any other family in early Victorian England. #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens continues to explore the enthralling world of these dynamic siblings in the eagerly anticipated second volume in her captivating series. A Gentleman of Means One of the most eligible bachelors in London, Lord Christopher “Kit” Cavanaugh has discovered … Cavanaugh has discovered his true path and it doesn’t include the expected society marriage. Kit is all business and has chosen the bustling port of Bristol to launch his passion–Cavanaugh Yachts.
A Woman of Character
Miss Sylvia Buckleberry’s passion is her school for impoverished children. When a new business venture forces the school out of its building, she must act quickly. But confronting Kit Cavanaugh is a daunting task made even more difficult by their first and only previous meeting, when, believing she’d never see him again, she’d treated him dismissively. Still, Sylvia is determined to be persuasive.
An Unstoppable Duo
But it quickly becomes clear there are others who want the school–and Cavanaugh Yachts–closed. Working side by side, Kit and Sylvia fight to secure her school and to expose the blackguard trying to sabotage his business. Yet an even more dastardly villain lurks, one who threatens the future both discover they now hold dear.
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3.75 stars–THE PURSUITS OF LORD KIT CAVANAUGH is the second instalment in Stephanie Laurens’ THE CAVANAUGHS historical romance series, a spin off from the author’s Cynster/Cynster Sisters Duo. This is twenty-nine year old, Lord Christopher ‘Kit’ Cavanaugh, and Miss Sylvia Buckleberry’s story line. THE PURSUITS OF LORD KIT CAVANAUGH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Kit and Sylvia) THE PURSUITS OF LORD KIT CAVANAUGH follows the slow building relationship between twenty-nine year old, Lord Christopher ‘Kit’ Cavanaugh, and Miss Sylvia Buckleberry. Hoping for a successful upstart to his new Cavanaugh Yacht building business, Lord Christopher ‘Kit’ Cavanaugh finds himself in a predicament when the new lease on his warehouse forces a charity school, for impoverished children, onto the streets with nowhere to go. Enter Miss Sylvia Buckleberry, the school’s director and administrator, and the woman with whom Kit will fall in love. Hoping to make right his ill-timed business venture, Kit helps Sylvia find a new place for her school, but a place that doesn’t sit well with some of the locals. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Kit and Sylvia, and the potential fall-out as both Kit and Sylvia are targeted for who they are, and what they do.
Sylvia Buckleberry, the daughter of a preacher, knows that someone is following. From the destruction at Kit’s Cavanaugh Yacht building, to the numerous attempts to break and enter, Kit and Sylvia are unsure from where the threats are coming.
The relationship between Kit and Sylvia is slow to develop having previously met at Lord Randolph’s wedding (THE DESIGNS OF LORD RANDOLPH CAVANAUGH
#1). Sylvia struggles with her attraction to a man whose reputation as a rake precedes his introduction to their small ton but Kit has no idea as to the cold indifference aimed in his direction. The lone $ex scene is passionate but mostly implied.
There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters many of whom struggle to survive the streets of 1843 Bristol, England. From destruction to thievery, desperation and loss, the number of locals hoping for a job increases as our hero gives everyone a second chance. We are reintroduced to Kit’s siblings Rand and his wife Felicia, as well as Eustacia aka Stacie, Godfrey and Ryder.
THE PURSUITS OF LORD KIT CAVANAUGH is an entertaining and engaging story; a well-written, slow burning romance between two people who battle not only their attraction to one another but an unknown force that is trying to destroy everything they love. The premise is captivating; the romance is sweet and tender; the characters are edgy and intelligent.
3.5 stars rounded up
This book starts shortly after the ending of the previous book, The Designs of Lord Randolph Cavanaugh, Lord Kit Cavanaugh has moved to Bristol to start a new venture, Cavanaugh Yachts. He has rented a warehouse and plans to open shop immediately along with his friend and business partner Wayland. They want to take occupancy immediately, but learn a charity has been using in and they need a few days to vacate.
Sylvia Buckleberry learns from the officers of the Dock Company that they have rented the warehouse that she uses for a school and that she must vacate immediately. She knew that it was a possibly that they would lose the space, but with the decline in shipbuilding, she never really thought it would happen. She tries to find another space for the school, but as they haven’t the money in the budget for rent, she is faced with the real possibility of having to close. She is upset and barges into Kit’s office and rages at him. Kit is stunned and intrigued, the Sylvia he met at his brother Rand’s wedding was an ice queen and nothing like this fiery woman. He waits until she is finished with her rant and offers to help find another place for the school – even offering to pay the rent. Sylvia is surprised, she has always harbored a secret crush for Kit, but his reputation was one of a rake and she refused to fall prey and kept her distance from him. But this Kit is nothing like the rumors she heard and she wonders if she misjudged him. They work together and find a place for the school and Kit goes about setting up his new business, but he is drawn to Sylvia and makes excuses to see her.
When the school is threatened, Kit immediately comes to her aid and when someone sabotages his workshop, he wonders if the events are related and vows to protect Sylvia. They again work together to find the villain or villains and a bond develops between them. Kit decides that Sylvia is the woman for him, but needs to take things slowly. Sylvia finds herself falling for Kit all over again, but doesn’t know if he feels the same and is not sure if she can trust her instincts as they were so wrong before. But when Sylvia’s life is in peril, nothing will stop Kit from saving the woman he loves and he will prove once and for all that she is meant for him.
The ending is fantastic and I like that Kit was determined to win Sylvia honorably, but a bit more steam would not have been amiss. This was a good story, but it was wordy, dragged a bit and some of it was down-right dull and boring, add to that the misuse of his honorific (which happened in the last book as well) and this was a fair to middling story at best, good but just not great. This is the second book in the Cavanaugh series, but it could easily be read as standalone title.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an e-arc that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*
Kit Cavanaugh first met Miss Sylvia Buckleberry (I love her name) in the first book of the series, The Designs of Lord Randolph Cavanaugh and it was not an auspicious beginning for them. She treated him coldly and it seemed that she couldn’t wait to get away from him. So, while she intrigued him, he left his brother Rand’s wedding never expecting to see her again.
Kit spent some time with his older brother, Ryder, and his family and then left for Bristol where he is starting a yacht building business. He rented the perfect warehouse for building the yachts and all he had to do was to wait for the charity that was using the warehouse to vacate the premises. He wondered what sort of charity was using the warehouse.
The next day, an absolute force of nature in the guise of Miss Sylvia Buckleberry accosted Kit in his offices. She was quite different from the cold, aloof woman he met at Rand’s wedding. She demanded his help in relocating her charity school since he is the cause of them having to move. Kit had no idea it was a school he was dislocating and he was anxious to help with the relocation, the costs – whatever was needed. Sylvia couldn’t believe this was the same man whose reputation she had so much about before.
Kit and his partner, Wayland Cobworth, can hardly wait to begin work. Bristol’s shipbuilding industry is floundering since the invention of iron ships. Luckily for Kit and Wayland, that leaves the finest craftsmen available for hire. They are fortunate to put together a top-notch crew including a secretary that keeps it all together.
Kit and Sylvia spend more and more time together because of the school. Who knew that a charity school could have an enemy? But it does. Then again, who knew that a new business providing many jobs to an impoverished community would have enemies? But it does. Add to that – someone is watching Sylvia. Are they all related?
The road to romance is fairly smooth with each person coming to know and respect who the other really is. It is the danger to the school, the business, and Sylvia that moves the plot along. The mysteries are interesting and you won’t know who the villain is until the solution presents itself.
This is an excellently written book with interesting and compelling characters to whom you can totally relate. I really liked Kit who is not at all what his reputation makes him out to be. I also admired Sylvia who set a goal for her life and then went about making it happen. She’s quite an admirable heroine.
I definitely recommend this book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Pursuits of Lord Kit Cavanaugh (The Cavanaughs #2) by Stephanie Laurens I enjoyed this second book in THE CAVANAUGHS .. Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for allowing me to preview and review this book. This is Kit and Sylvia’s story… They both have love and marriage hangups his caused by his mother.. hers avoiding her attraction to him “the rake”. There are laughs, mystery, danger, twists and turns all leading to a leading to a very HEA.. Can’t wait for number three.
I love the family centered stories.
I loved the characters. They were believable and enchanting.
The Pursuits of Lord Kit Cavanaugh is the second in the series but can be read as a stand alone story. This is a story of mistaken perceptions and learning the true worth of a person. Lord Kit Cavanaugh is looking to start his future in his new business venture, Cavanaugh Yachts, but must wait while a charity school vacates the premises. Miss Sylvia Buckleberry started a school for the dockside boys and everything is running smoothly until she is informed that the school must vacate the premises. She decides to track down the new owner and find a resolution to saving the school only to discover that the owner is Kit Cavanaugh, a renowned rogue that she secretly has a crush on. The story that follows is extremely entertaining with a bit of mystery and drama along with a sweet love story.
Loved this book of two people who never thought they would marry finding each other. Kit was so damaged by his self serving mother to believe he could ever find a woman he could trust. But lo and behold the clergyman’s daughter was just the one for him.
The title “The Pursuits of Lord Kit Cavanaugh” is so appropriate. He pursued his love of sea faring yacht making. He built his team and moved forward with his new endeavor. At the same time his new business pursuit displaced a school for underprivileged youths in the area. The school was led by an acquaintance Miss Sylvia Buckleberry. His first met her at his brother’s wedding a few months past. Now she was before in him with rage about her school being displaced. He became fascinated with her. They worked together to solve their problems amicably. However, prejudice, anger, revenge and danger were following both of them. Neither one could figure out why. I loved the way the author wrote about the children/kids in her school. Very realistic, loyal, kind, funny and adventurous. When danger came to the school and to Sylvia personally, it was three of the boys who enabled Kit to find her and rescue her. He also had to deal with the fact that someone was trying to sabotage his business. So as the title suggests, Kit pursued his business but fate also had him pursuing romance with Sylvia. A lovely read and worth the time. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
You can’t go wrong with with Stephanie Laurens…I don’t care what she writes. One of my all time favorites.
I loved the characters in this book. I enjoyed learning about Kit’s ocean going yachts & Sylvia’s school with the great kids sprinkled throughout the story. I am looking forward to more books in the series.
Stories like this one have rekindled my love of historical romance in recent months. For this PNR girl, that’s saying something. As one friend put it:
“Who are you? And what have you done with the real Laura?”
*snorts*
I was a newbie to the series and to Stephanie Lauren’s work *hangs head in shame* And, although this is Volume 2 in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone. You all know how nosey I am by now, so it’ll come as no great surprise when I tell you I’ve already downloaded Volume 1. What can I say? I have some pesky unrelated-to-this-story questions I need answers to.
I really loved Kit. Once he sets his mind to something, he is steadfast in his aim. He’s determined his new business venture will be a success. He is also passionate and giving. More so than he’d like folks to realise. Kit have a heart? Pfft, perish the thought *smirks* Added to which, his inherent protectiveness for those he cares about *sighs* – yup, I was a goner.
And whether prickly (she’s really not!) Miss Sylvia Buckleberry likes it or not, Kit is beginning to care a whole lot *sighs* (yes, again!) about her. I’d like to think I’d have been a bit like Sylvia if I had been around then. Standing up for what’s right and helping to improve the lives of others.
“Sometimes, in order to seize the good things in life, you just have to have faith and make a start.”
Together this pair are unstoppable force. And when danger lurks, two heads are most definitely better than one.
This book was such an easy read. The author’s writing swept me away enveloping me in the burgeoning romance and nail-biting suspense. I experienced it all. I love to be surprised and I never would’ve guessed.
Guessed what? – you say.
Now that would be telling… *winks*
Happy reading. Go on, you know you want to.
Bristol, England 1843 Lord Kit Cavanaugh has finally determined his niche and purpose. Moving to Bristol, he and his partner Wayland are starting a new venture, Cavaugh Yachts. They find a warehouse to rent and want to get started right away but find that a charity who was occupying the space needs a few days to relocate.
Sylia Buckeberry (yes love that name!) finds out that the school she runs will have to find a new place to operate, but the problem is they have no funds to pay the rent! Confronting Kit, she rants about there is no place to go and the children need the school. What is amazing is that Sylia and Kit met at his brother’s wedding not too long ago, but this seemed a passionate woman compared to the seemingly icy one he had met! Intrigued he assures her he will help find a place. He is very drawn to her and she to him.
But there are outside forces that come into play that threaten Syvia’s school, he comes to her aid but at the same time someone messes up the ship workshop. What is going on?
Stephanie Laurens is one of my all time favorite authors. Her books have brought me hours of entertainment and swoonworthy heros and fiesty heroines. This story is no exception and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially with the mysterious spin of who is trying to hurt Sylvia. I highly recommend any story by this author and cannot wait for more on the Cavannaughs! I read this book through NetGallery.
Stephanie Laurens’ heroines are marvelous tributes to Georgette Heyer: feisty and strong.
Kit is a man marked by the past, after being shown by his mother as a trophy for most of his life, he decided that he did not want to live in the London or live with the high society, because of this he decides to join his best friend and builds yachts in Bristol. When he arrives, he is already faced with Syliva, a girl who snubbed him at his brother’s wedding .
Sylvia was charmed by Kit from the first moment she saw him but his fame made her want to saty away from him for fear of falling in love and end up suffering. But when fate puts them in front of each other again, it will be difficult to hide this passion.
Little by little, they are approaching and realizing that the impression and the image they had of each other was totally wrong and that both combine a lot.
Mixing up a good suspense with romance and a good touch of comedy, Stephanie Laurens has created an engaging plot that has conquered me since the first pages. With every created situation I felt even more attached to the book and when the end came, I was sighing wanting more.
I loved it too much as she changed that image of characters strongly moved by physical passion and created a story with more moments of conquest, waiting and anticipation.
A delightful historical romance.
The handsome rogue meets the one that tilts his world. For the first time he doesn’t know how to respond or how to make the move to get what he wants. She is worthy of the utmost respect and the cream of the crop for all her choices. How does he show worthiness when he has specifically crafted himself to be viewed as the ton’s heartbreaking scoundrel?
He has to change his game. Can he play his cards rights? And if he does, will she even want him? Will he take the risk?
While all this plays out, both Kit and Sylvia are in the midst of enhancing their careers. He is starting a new yacht building company, and she is furthering the operation of a school. But, it seems others aren’t too keen on their enterprises and set out to thwart their every move. From fires and kidnapping these two are put to the test. Will love overcome?
The writing is strong and the characters are wonderful. The supporting cast brings additional enjoyment. This story is about the building of friendship and learning to trust with sprinklings of romance and lots of suspense. A very entertaining read!
I read an ARC of this story. My honest and fair review is voluntary.
Stephanie Laurens writes classic love stories. Kit is the ultimate gentleman while wooing Sylvia. She is a true lady who is genteel and worthy. The story is filled with goodness and light. It is uplifting and heartwarming. It has some fun moments with a great cast of characters.
Kit, the hero, is the not the typical character which plays out between the pages of a novel. He hides who he is, masquerading as a rake for many years. It was his way of protecting himself from the machinations of his mother. After his mother dies, he is free to become the man he wants to be.
He is quite an admiral character, when he sets out to be his own man, starting a business of yacht building. He is able to procure an old warehouse which hadn’t been used for years. With astuteness, he and his old friend from school days pull a team together of experienced and seasoned workers who had lost their jobs as businesses moved out of the town. Kit’s dream, unfortunately, dashes another’s—Miss Sylvia Buckleberry’s.
Miss Sylvia Buckleberry realizes she is ‘on the shelf’. She is not one to let that stop her in being an active person in society. She decides to move out of London to a small town which can use her help. She starts a school for boys, particularly, those boys whose fathers have lost their jobs with little means to live. She’s given an old warehouse without rent for a place to teach, close to the boys’ homes. She has made great headway in the town—her school teaches 17 boys, employing two teachers and an old woman as their assistant. When the warehouse is taken from her, she no longer has the church’s support to teach the boys if she can’t procure another place to teach.
Sylvia met Lord Cavanaugh the previous month when her close friend married. They were paired together as part of the wedding party. Knowing his lordship’s reputation, she made sure to freeze every sentence uttered to him, even when her senses were mesmerized by his handsome physique. Lord Cavanaugh, in turn, thought she was a cold fish and even though he liked what he saw, she didn’t interest him.
Ousted out of the warehouse, she is frustrated and angry, and decides to confront the demon who did this to her—the rake who cares only for himself. Her anger, passionate appeal and beauty quite undo Kit. Getting off on the wrong foot has made it hard for Sylvia to see a different man than she imaged. He surprises her with his proposal to sponsor her school.
Kit surprises himself. He finds he enjoys helping people and when he can do a good turn for the folk of the town, he does.
I’ve got to love the way he handles Sylvia with kid gloves. She’s a clergy’s daughter, and must be wooed gently, not his usual method of enticing a woman, but then, Sylvia is not just a woman to him. He quickly becomes protective of her. Something or someone is afoot to destroy property. Who are they after? What are they trying to damage?
Author Laurens writes an entertaining story of mystery and suspense supported by spirited characters willing to fight for what they want or believe to be true.
After watching the way the connection starts at the end of Rand and Felicia’s book, I was looking forward to seeing where Kit’s story would take us. And I’m happy to report that I quite enjoyed it. Kit is very much like his brother in that he’s very aware of the ways his mother’s actions have scarred him. Yet Sylvia’s contrary nature intrigues him to the point he’s willing to overcome his past history. I was a little concerned by Sylvia when we first see her striding into the fray like an avenging harpy. I was worried that she was going to turn out to be one of those overbearing, managing heroines I thoroughly dislike. Thankfully, that fear was unfounded. The romance was a slow build as we followed our leading couple through their days. I appreciate the amount of research that has obviously gone into this book but, like its predecessor, it goes way too far into the minutiae of Kit and Sylvia’s passions. For myself, I didn’t need to know about the building of tool racks or schoolboys’ lessons or many of the other tidbits peppered throughout the story. The intrigues come from many varied sources and successfully kept me guessing all the way to the end. Partly, I suspect, because there’s no real clues provided that would have allowed me to predict most of them beforehand.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.
Terrific book. Now that his brother’s wedding was over, Kit was ready to head for Bristol and get his dream of Cavanaugh Yachts launched. All he needed was the right location and the craftsmen with the right skills, and he would be set. The site was quickly found; all he needed to do was wait for the charity using it to vacate the premises.
Daughter of a vicar, Sylvia found her calling in providing education for the sons of Bristol dockworkers. She and her team worked hard for the last two years and had just started seeing real progress in their efforts when she found out that they were losing their building.
I loved both Kit and Sylvia, both of whom made brief appearances in the previous book, The Designs of Lord Randolph Cavanaugh. Kit had quite the reputation around London as a rake. What no one knew was that it was a carefully cultivated reputation, designed to discourage his manipulative mother’s matchmaking aspirations. Having been a witness to his parents’ marriage, Kit had no desire to marry. In reality, Kit was an honorable, kind, and hardworking man. Sylvia gave up on the idea of marriage for herself long ago, after she endured one season of the glitz and glamour. She is intelligent, determined, and kind. Both of them have dreams that they are passionate about.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Kit and Sylvia. Their first encounter was at Rand’s wedding, where they were partnered during the wedding celebration. Kit was intrigued by Sylvia, but she treated him coldly, so he tried to put her out of his mind. Sylvia struggled to maintain her distance from the rake she was inexplicably drawn to and had crushed on two years earlier. She never expected to see him again and was dismayed to find he had leased the building that housed her school. I loved their next meeting, as Sylvia burst into Kit’s office and harangued him about dislocating her school. Kit was stunned by the difference in Sylvia and intrigued all over again. I loved how he took the wind out of her sails by merely agreeing to help her find a new spot for her school. As they spent time together looking for a new location, both Kit and Sylvia discovered that their previous beliefs about each other were all wrong. I enjoyed seeing them get to know and respect who the other is, and the realization of how much alike they are. I liked Kit’s move into courting Sylvia, though it took a bit for her to realize what he was doing. As the trouble that stalked them heated up, I loved Kit’s protectiveness of Sylvia, which added to his growing feelings for her. Sylvia was also protective of Kit, and I enjoyed how she did things that would help him. But it took the danger at the end for them to realize just how deep their feelings for each other were.
The suspense in the story was good. There were attacks on the business, attacks on the school, and Sylvia’s persistent feelings of being watched. Were these incidents related, or were they separate issues? There were multiple twists and turns as each event was dealt with, revealing some interesting motivations and solutions. The final confrontation had me on the edge of my seat until it was all over.
The secondary characters gave added depth to the story, helping both Kit and Sylvia shine. The boys that Sylvia teaches, and their families, showed another side of Victorian England. The advances in the technology of boat building changed the economy of Bristol, and this book showed the effects on the ordinary people. The struggles to take care of their families was vividly portrayed. I liked Sylvia’s compassion and practical ways of helping and dealing with problems. Her connection with her students and their families also played a big part in helping Kit get his business started. I loved Kit’s practical methods of running his business, and his hands-on approach. It was especially fun to see the variety of reactions. I loved the assorted boys and their parts in the book. Each one has a unique personality and history. There were some pretty funny situations that they got involved in, but they also played a huge part in the final confrontation. I liked the appearances of the previous couples in the series and their roles in moving the relationship along.