Book Review: The Lady's Command by Stephanie Laurens

The Lady’s Command by Stephanie Laurens
Book 1 of The Adventurers Quartet
E-Book, 384 pages
MIRA
December 29, 2015
★★★½☆☆

Heat Rating:

Genre: Historical Romance, Adventure, Regency

Source: Received from publisher for review as part of TLC Book Tour

“The instant Captain Declan Frobisher laid eyes on Lady Edwina Delbraith, he knew she was the lady he wanted as his wife. The scion of a seafaring dynasty accustomed to success, he discovered that wooing Edwina was surprisingly straightforward—not least because she made it plain that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Declan’s vision of marriage was of a gently-reared wife to grace his arm, to manage his household, and to bear his children. He assumed that household, children, and wife would remain safely in England while he continued his life as an explorer sailing the high seas.

Declan got his wish—up to a point. He and Edwina were wed. As for the rest—his vision of marriage…

Aunt of the young Duke of Ridgware and sister of the mysterious man known as Neville Roscoe, London’s gambling king, even before the knot was tied Edwina shattered the illusion that her character is as delicate, ethereal, and fragile as her appearance suggests. Far from adhering to orthodox mores, she and her ducal family are even more unconventional than the Frobishers.

Beneath her fairy-princess exterior, Edwina possesses a spine of steel—one that might bend, but will never break. Born to the purple—born to rule—she’s determined to rule her life. With Declan’s ring on her finger, that means forging a marriage that meets her needs as well as his.

But bare weeks into their honeymoon, Declan is required to sail to West Africa. Edwina decides she must accompany him.

A secret mission with unknown villains flings unexpected dangers into their path as Declan and Edwina discover that meeting the challenge of making an unconventional marriage work requires something they both possess—bold and adventurous hearts.”

The Adventurers Quartet is a set of 4 novels each focusing on a different Frobisher brother – starting with Declan in The Lady’s Command. Immediately from the start I had a slightly nagging feeling that I was supposed to know something about these people already, despite this being the first book in a series – and I wasn’t wrong! Some of the characters in this series were secondary characters in Laurens’ prior novel The Lady Risks All, as well as two of her prior series The Bastion Club and The Black Cobra Quartet. I don’t feel that having not read these in any way impacted my experience with this book – there were just little references from time to time that I registered as probably have some significance; for example, there were frequent references to the mess of the Black Cobra cult and campaigns.

I don’t typically read a ton of historical romances, but what drew me to accept this for review was the bent toward the adventure – and I have to say, that was the enjoyable part of this novel for me, romance and history aside. I am going to do this review a little different and take each of those elements at hand here.

- Romance -

It was so refreshing to have a romance novel start with two characters that are already married at the start of the novel – and not even the kind of married that happened because they were forced together by circumstances. They actually are in love with each other from the beginning! What was interesting was seeing how this grew and changed over the course of the novel and made their relationship stronger. I would say that the romance was a secondary element to the novel. While there was certainly an acceptable helping of romantic scenes, they actually served to develop the characters rather than just be thrown in for the sake of sex. They were rather tasteful and alluding, but gave you just enough without being too graphic.

- History -

The historical part was mostly just the backdrop setting. This is a regency set novel taking place in England, on the high seas, and in colonial Africa. You get a sense of the drawing room and the dangers of the port. You hear mention of slave traders. That’s about the extent of it.

- Adventure -

People have gone missing – Declan is sent on a mission to figure out why. It’s part mystery, part adventure on the high seas and the borderline wilderness of Africa. I typically don’t enjoy historical mysteries because they tend to be so transparent and flimsy. But I did not see the twists coming in this one. And while we do not know how this mystery wraps up (that will happen in future installments of this series) I found it to be an adequate place to pause the story.

The segments that take place in England were honestly the most absolutely boring parts of the novel. I almost put the book down at the 25% mark because it was frustratingly slow. She loves him, he loves her – they stare at each other with longing – and that is it. Until they set foot on the boat, it is not interesting at all. As soon as they return to England the story ground to a halt – I was hopeful that style had lost its way in Africa, but no go.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I might feel compelled to read the next book when it comes out. It was one of the more enjoyable historical romance novels I have read.


Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Harlequin Junkie
• The Reading Café

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

 
Also by Stephanie Laurens:

Stephanie Laurens has written many novels, those in the Adventure Quartet include:

A Buccaneer at Heart (Book 2)
[My Review]

A Daredevil Snared (Book 3)
[My Review]

Lord of the Privateers (Book 4)
Coming December 2016

 
Find Stephanie Laurens: Website | Newsletter

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Tour Stops:
Monday, January 4th: Romancing the Book

Tuesday, January 5th: Bewitched Bookworms

Wednesday, January 6th: The Sassy Bookster

Thursday, January 7th: Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

Friday, January 8th: A Chick Who Reads

Monday, January 11th: The Romance Dish

Tuesday, January 12th: BookNAround

Wednesday, January 13th: From the TBR Pile

Thursday, January 14th: Worth Getting in Bed For

Friday, January 15th: Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Monday, January 18th: Reading Reality

Tuesday, January 19th: The Maiden’s Court

Wednesday, January 20th: Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot

Thursday, January 21st: FictionZeal

Friday, January 22nd: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, January 25th: Bibliotica

Tuesday, January 26th: A Night’s Dream of Books

Wednesday, January 27th: One Curvy Blogger

Thursday, January 28th: It’s a Mad Mad World

Friday, January 29th: Stranded in Chaos
 
 


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