The Maiden's Court: Book Review: Lord of the Privateers by Stephanie Laurens

Lord of the Privateers by Stephanie Laurens
Book 4 in The Adventurers Quartet
ARC, e-Book, 512 pages
MIRA
December 27, 2016
★★★★☆

Heat Level:

Genre: Historical Romance, Adventure, Regency

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

Revel in the action, drama, intrigue and passion as the Frobishers— with help from Wolverstone, the Cynsters and many familiar others— steer the adventure to a glorious end.

Unstoppable determination
Widely known as the lord of the privateers, Royd Frobisher expects to execute the final stage of the rescue mission his brothers have begun. What he does not expect is to be pressured into taking Isobel Carmichael—his childhood sweetheart, former handfasted bride and current business partner—with him. A force of nature, Isobel has a mission of her own: to find and bring a young cousin safely home. And along the way, she hopes to rid herself of the dreams of a life with Royd that still haunt her.

Unfinished business
Neither expects the shock that awaits them as they set sail, much less the new horizons that open before them as they embark on a full-scale rescue-assault on the compound deep in the jungle. Yet despite the support of his brothers and their ladies, Royd and Isobel discover that freeing the captives is only half the battle. To identify and convict the conspirators behind the illicit enterprise—and save England from political disaster—they must return to the ballrooms of the haut ton and hunt the villains on their home ground.

Unforgettable love
But having found each other again, having glimpsed the heaven that could yet be theirs, how much are Royd and Isobel willing to risk in the name of duty?

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens delivers the thrilling conclusion to her acclaimed series THE ADVENTURERS QUARTET, a passionate Regency-era drama where intrigue and danger play out on the high seas and in exotic tropical jungles, ultimately reaching a dazzling climax in the glittering ballrooms of London.

In Lord of the Privateers Stephanie Laurens brings us the conclusion of the adventure that began back in book 1, The Lady’s Command. Royd Frobisher and friends head back down to Africa to execute the mission to free the captives at the mine and then follow that up with exposing those in England who are backing the entire mission and bring them to justice. The action/adventure has been an element that I have repeatedly thought that Laurens does well in this series. I found myself looking forward to those parts and I believe that is why I found that I enjoyed books 2 and 3 the most. Those two books were primarily all action, all the time. If you look at this quartet it really covers one story arc throughout and thus the first book provides exposition and the last the conclusion, so they do get a little bogged down with more quiet elements.

While each new book brings the reader a new couple to root for and love, I found that it took a lot longer for me to get behind Royd and Isobel than I have the other couples. These two have SO much baggage and hurdles to get over. However, I loved that this was a second chance story, as they had been nearly married several years ago. Laurens has brought us couples in very different situations and relationships status throughout this series which I found refreshing.

I felt that this novel took a long time to get moving and could have used some paring down (and a second look at the page count reaffirms my belief of this). There is always a period of getting to know the characters, but this was primarily accomplished through internal dialogue here and made me wish for something, anything, to happen. I know they have a lot that they need to digest dealing with each other again after 8 years, but this was definitely a case of too much telling, and not enough showing. It would go on for pages and then we would go through even more from the other character’s perspective and all that has happened is they are standing in the cabin looking at each other. I didn’t notice this issue in any of the proceeding novels in the series, so this was even more out of character here. I also felt that the novel could have easily resolved a few chapters earlier than it actually did, specifically on the boat trip home from Africa. There was a really nice beat where the relationship story and the bulk of the action story nicely had a pause. I get that the author wanted to bring us back into England and discover who the backers of the illegal mining activity were, but I didn’t feel like I needed it and it would have helped with the length issue.

By this point, we have quite the cast of characters, and for once I am actually glad for one of those cheat sheets at the beginning of the book. We now have not only all four of the Frobisher brothers, but the women that have come into their lives throughout the series, and also some friends and family who have made appearances in other Laurens novels, especially when they are plotting to catch the backers toward the end. It was a lot to handle, but it was easy to keep track of the main characters and I just let the others become fluff. I can say that I am interested in looking into The Black Cobra Quartet whose events are mentioned in passing quite often and the multiple series that involve the Cynster family members, so the author did a good job of linking interest with her other series.

As a whole I enjoyed the series. I like the action and romance element and appreciated that Laurens relies more heavily on the adventure story and uses the romance to build the characters and the story. My biggest gripe with the series overall is that each book is not self contained; there is no sense of resolution at the end of each novel. They aren’t exactly cliffhangers, but you certainly HAVE to read them in order and I wouldn’t be able to have just read the first and felt ok to move on. I had to know what happened to the captives even though I didn’t enjoy the first book enough to normally have picked up the next in the series. While this certainly works for the author as it keeps a reader acquiring the books, it doesn’t leave me with a good feeling because I almost felt strong-armed into having to finish the series.

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Also by Stephanie Laurens:

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

The Lady’s Command (Book 1)
[My Review]