
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns to the Cynstersβ next generation with an evocative tale of two people striving to overcome unusual hurdles in order to claim true love.
A nobleman wedded to the lady he loves strives to overwrite five years of masterful pretense and open his wifeβs eyes to the fact that he loves her as much as she loves him.
Lord Devlin Cader, Earl of Alverton, married Therese Cynster five years ago. What he didnβt tell her then and has assiduously hidden ever since--for what seemed excellent reasons at the time--is that he loves her every bit as much as she loves him.
For her own misguided reasons, Therese had decided that the adage that Cynsters always marry for love did not necessarily mean said Cynsters were loved in return. She accepted that was usually so, but being universally viewed by gentlemen as too managing, bossy, and opinionated, she believed she would never be loved for herself. Consequently, after falling irrevocably in love with Devlin, when he made it plain he didnβt love her yet wanted her to wife, she accepted the half love-match he offered, and once they were wed, set about organizing to make their marriage the very best it could be.
Now, five years later, they are an established couple within the haut ton, have three young children, and Devlin is making a name for himself in business and political circles. Thereβs only one problem. Having attended numerous Cynster weddings and family gatherings and spent time with Thereseβs increasingly married cousins, who with their spouses all embrace the Cynster ideal of marriage based on mutually acknowledged love, Devlin is no longer content with the half love-match he himself engineered. No fool, he sees and comprehends what the craven act of denying his love is costing both him and Therese and feels compelled to rectify his fault. He wants for them what all Thereseβs married cousins enjoy--the rich and myriad benefits of marriages based on acknowledged mutual love.
Love, heβs discovered, is too powerful a force to deny, leaving him wrestling with the conundrum of finding a way to convincingly reveal to Therese that he loves her without wrecking everything--especially the mutual trust--theyβve built over the past five years.
A classic historical romance set amid the glittering world of the London haut ton.Β
Start Reading THE GAMES LOVERS PLAY Now
 Cynsters Next Generation BY WINTER'S LIGHT
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β’ November 2014
 THE TEMPTING OF THOMAS CARRICK
#2.0
β’ March 2015
 A MATCH FOR MARCUS CYNSTER
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β’ June 2015
 THE LADY BY HIS SIDE
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β’ March 2017
 AN IRRESISTIBLE ALLIANCE
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β’ May 2017
 THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF THEM ALL
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β’ July 2017
 A CONQUEST IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST
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β’ March 2019
 THE INEVITABLE FALL OF CHRISTOPHER CYNSTER
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β’ March 2020
 THE GAMES LOVERS PLAY
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β’ March 2021
 THE SECRETS OF LORD GRAYSON CHILD
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β’ July 2021
 FOES, FRIENDS AND LOVERS
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β’ March 2022
 THE TIME FOR LOVE
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β’ August 2022
 MISS FLIBBERTIGIBBET AND THE BARBARIAN
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β’ March 2023
 MISS PRIM AND THE DUKE OF WYLDE
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β’ August 2023
 A FAMILY OF HIS OWN
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β’ March 2024
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