A Lady of His Own

Rating:
Summary: a little too much sex this time
Review: Another book in her Bastion series, Laurens returns us to the group of men who have formed an alliance to find wives away from the prying eyes of mothers and sisters.

Charles and Penelope's story is much the same as the others in this series, revolving around a mystery to be solved involving old family secrets. Penelope is a strong willed woman who refuses to be left out of the investigation, and Charles is our hero who increasingly seeks to protect her above all else.

As usual, Laurens weaves an engaging tale, but truth be told I grew weary of it toward the end. Her insistance of having characters converse easily while cantering on horseback is especially irrating to this reader, who also happens to be an equestrienne.

The sex scenes are, as usual, steamy. However their sheer number grows tiresome after a while. After the (seeming) hundredth time the hero and heroine scream and shatter together, it just becomes rote. This is certainly not the best book in Laurens' library.

Rating:
Summary: Too long
Review: I found this latest title in the Bastion Club series way too long. It was full of longeurs and gratuitous sex. If some of that had been cut the book would have been several hundred words shorter and the font size could have been enlarged, thus making it physically much easier too read!!

Rating:
Summary: Best of the Bastion Club
Review: I think this is the best of the Bastion Club series so far. I liked the history between Charles and Penny and their realization that the thirteen years they spent apart made them into the people they were and therefore better suited for each other the second time around. Both of the main characters were strong and knew their own minds and there wasn't the usual overdone miscommunication between them that is usually present in romances. The spy plot of the book was okay but SL delivers on the steamy sex! I agree with the one reviewer who would like to see a book on Dalziel.

Rating:
Summary: Still Steamy, But Not her Best - 3-1/2*
Review: Setting - Cornwall, England 1816 --- Escaping matchmaking mama's, well-intentioned sisters, and other interfering females, Charles St. Austell was thrilled to accept another mission from his ex-commander Dalziel to travel to his ancestral estate in Cornwall and ferret out rumors of spies working with the smugglers in that area. Restless, unable to sleep his first night home, he was astonished to discover his neighbor, Penelope Selborne, walking through his home in the middle of the night. He knew Penelope rather intimately from a one-time tryst that occurred thirteen years previously. When Penny studiously avoided him after that one passionate interlude, and being third in line to the Earldom, Charles joined the service, going to live in France, setting up a spy network reporting back to the Home Office. With his father and both brothers now deceased, Charles was now the new Earl and knew he must marry and beget an heir.

It didn't take long before Charles uncovered a mysterious plot that put the Selborne family right in the middle of treasonous activities, and endangering Penny's life. He also realized that the years apart hadn't stopped his loving Penny, and as she again attempted to keep him at arms-length, he wasn't about to let her slip away from him again. Between trying to ferret out a cold blooded assassin Charles set into motion a sweetly sensual seduction to make Penny his Countess.

Stephanie Laurens is an auto-buy for me and I eagerly await each and every novel that is released, even though I can't imagine any of her new heroes supplanting Devil Cynster (sigh), or the Cynster series! With this third entry in the Bastion Club series, I struggled with the first 80 pages of this book as the groundwork was slowly and meticulously laid. Thankfully the action finally picked up rather well after that. I am not adverse to steamy sexual scenes, but have to admit that after so many instances with Penelope `shattering' as she reached for the moon - I was again, getting bored? More importantly, when a man takes as much time, patience, and extreme efforts to please a woman, without gaining his own satisfaction, how could any woman have any doubts that he might not love her? Being a huge fan, I hate to say it, but this was not one of Lauren's best! One thing, she has accomplished though is that she has certainly whetted my appetite to discover more about the mysterious master-spy commander, Dalziel, so you know I'm coming back for more! --- Marilyn, for (...)


Rating:
Summary: Missed greatness, hit good squarely
Review: There is a spy subplot in this book that feels tacked on. Anytime we enter the intrigue of the story, it pulls the reader out of the relationship between hero and heroine. That said, it's a decent read not requiring knowledge of the series.

I found the heroine of this book to be a bit more interesting than SL usually writesl. When being pressed by the hero for information she's able to say no and consider her options in her own time. I found the book an enjoyable read, but I would have liked more of their personal history and less of the 'spy' story. It was a bit hard to believe that they could put their relationship behind them so completely for 13 years without a bit more anger at discovering their errors.

Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: There was no chemistry between the characters and the story was very slow. I skipped a lot of pages. Very disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Boring Boring Sex
Review: This book is very thin on plot and the sex is excruciatingly boring. The book goes like this- Engaging characters meet, discuss intrigue, begin an affair, have page after page of boring boring sex, discuss intrigue, more pages of boring sex, a page of discussing intrigue, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Rating:
Summary: Dumb, Da Dum, Dumb
Review: Was not impressed at all with this book. I love her Cynster series, but so far The Bastion Club series isn't very good at all. Sorry Ms Laurens, but I still love you and look forward to reading more of your books.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing better than a Stephanie Laurens book!!!!
Review: Well over a year ago I began reading historical romance novels and the first I read were Stephanie Laurens. I read every single one she wrote and each one seemed better than the rest! Since then I have been searching for an author I feel is as good as she is - and I am still searching. Yes, there are many great authors but there is just something about Laurens that reaches the very depth of a person. This book embodies that character development. Charles was so dynamic and you just loved to see someone so in control of everything in his life have to thoughtfully, seductively court Penny who 13 years before they had one night of passion. It is always so romantic when the man never forgets a lost love and it was so clear that Charles never forgot Penny. And Penny who is now 29 could never ever forget her first and only true love. It was so obvious how this couple was closer and more connected than most couples in romance novels. That is what I feel Stephanie does better than anyone. All of the passion seems so real - it is intense - it is absolutely beautiful. Someone wrote this book was too long - how anyone could think a Laurens book too long - I could just read on and on and never tire of any of her love stories. I have a special place for all of Laurens books and will be reading this one I am sure again and again. Totally a complete winner!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly boring, but!!!
Review: While I basically enjoyed the book, I did find it tedious at times. The love scenes were long and boring and a few too many. I did enjoy the subplot of secret selling to the French. And I enjoy the members of the Bastion Club and am eagerly awaiting Dalziel's story.

I hope Ms. Laurens will read some of the reviews--many are saying the same. All her books could be about fifty pages less and not lose anything--just perhaps gain a few more loyal readers.