| There
is more than a touch of the wild adventurer in each of them, and they are loyal to the
bone. Seven of London's most eligible bachelors band together to form The Bastion Club, an
elite society of gentlemen dedicated to determining their own futures when it comes to
that most important step of all - marriage. Tristan
Weymss, Earl of Trentham and an ex-military man, needs to marry and quickly or he will
lose his inheritance. Tristan sets out of
find the lady of his choosing. While
overseeing the renovations to the home that is to become the home of The Bastion Club,
for him and six other ex-military gentlemen, Tristan meets THE LADY CHOSEN, Miss Leonora
Carling. Leonora intrigues Tristan as no
other woman has ever done, and the more time he spends with her, the more he knows she is
the one he shall marry. But when the asks
for her hand in marriage, she declines.
Leonora
Carling does not have marriage on her mind! After
a disastrous relationship in the past, that left her gun-shy about the opposite sex,
Leonora won’t make the same mistake again, or trust any man. Tristan Weymss, is one man that she is very wary
of, she distrusts him and doesn’t like how her body responds to him whenever he is
near. Leonora finds it convenient that
someone begins to try and drive her family out of their home, around the same time that
Tristan purchased the house next door and began renovations. Leonora vows not give into Tristan’s
advances, despite how much his kisses dent the armour around her heart.
Who
wants the Carling family out of their home and why? Will
Tristan win Leonora over and become her protector, her lover and her husband? How long can
Leonora resist Tristan?
Stephanie
Laurens returns with the first book, THE LADY CHOSEN of The Bastion Club. This is an exciting adventure with a delightful
heroine and a charming scoundrel of a hero. From
start to finish, I was intrigued and charmed by the witty and entertaining cast of
characters and a suspenseful mystery throughout. Leonora
and Tristan’s relationship was passionate, steamy and entertaining. Neither will give
up their pride, accept compromises easily and it was fun to watch their journey and their
love unfold.
THE
LADY CHOSEN and this series have a few similarities to Ms. Lauren’s previous series,
The Cynster’s. Readers can expect at
least another six stories, featuring the remaining members of The Bastion Club and
set in the Regency era. This reviewer
anticipates the continuing books in this series though.
The brief glimpses we saw of the other gentlemen in The Bastion Club
peaked my curiosity to know more about each of them.
Ms. Laurens latest series is off to a very fine start with THE LADY CHOSEN, and I am glad to have more of her work on my
keeper shelves.
Book
2, A GENTLEMAN’S HONOR was released September 2003.
To learn more about how The Bastion Club came to be, check out Ms.
Laurens website http://www.stephanielaurens.com/bastionclub.htm for the prologue and more information on this series.
Reviewed
by Tracey West for The Road to Romance
October
6, 2003 |
