Helpful Score: 3
Liked this one a lot and thought it the best one yet of the series. For starters, it has more fun and adventure and... swashbuckling!
Second, the steamy sex scenes for which LS is famous and which I skipped for the most part as it was same o same o, was taken care of the first few chapters. With that out the way, the plot picked up fast with the h/h and friends on the run and one step ahead of the villains. They did encounter real dangers and came out of one very tight nail biting scene quite victorious, albeit with cuts and bruises.
Third, h/h knew almost right away that they were fated to be together. About 3 quarters into the book, they already knew they loved each other and that they would marry. No mushy soul-searching revelations at the end.
Fourth, no BIG MISUNDERSTANDING, which is one of my pet peeves as it sometimes gets so convoluted, taking up much of the book that the romance suffers.
Fifth, the h/h in this book are commoners. They are not snobs, are down to earth, no-nonsense and practical. I'm a little tired of LS' usual blue-blooded h/h's, who at times I find too perfect.
I can't wait for the last 4th installment. I hope that one tops this.
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Hero is a bastard of an earl. He's also an orphan and has no family. I think this is LS' first. It's sweet that he found a ready-made family with the heroine, who takes in children orphaned from shipwrecks and schools them in trade. She's got a big house, a sizable estate on an island she pretty much owns. She's also a businesswoman, runs a shipping line and in fact captains her own ship!
Second, the steamy sex scenes for which LS is famous and which I skipped for the most part as it was same o same o, was taken care of the first few chapters. With that out the way, the plot picked up fast with the h/h and friends on the run and one step ahead of the villains. They did encounter real dangers and came out of one very tight nail biting scene quite victorious, albeit with cuts and bruises.
Third, h/h knew almost right away that they were fated to be together. About 3 quarters into the book, they already knew they loved each other and that they would marry. No mushy soul-searching revelations at the end.
Fourth, no BIG MISUNDERSTANDING, which is one of my pet peeves as it sometimes gets so convoluted, taking up much of the book that the romance suffers.
Fifth, the h/h in this book are commoners. They are not snobs, are down to earth, no-nonsense and practical. I'm a little tired of LS' usual blue-blooded h/h's, who at times I find too perfect.
I can't wait for the last 4th installment. I hope that one tops this.
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*S
**P
***O
****I
*****L
******E
*******R
********S
*
*
*
Hero is a bastard of an earl. He's also an orphan and has no family. I think this is LS' first. It's sweet that he found a ready-made family with the heroine, who takes in children orphaned from shipwrecks and schools them in trade. She's got a big house, a sizable estate on an island she pretty much owns. She's also a businesswoman, runs a shipping line and in fact captains her own ship!
Karen H. (warbler43) -
Helpful Score: 1
I'm going against the flow here by saying this book had no redeeming value whatsoever! I normally love everything Stephanie Laurens writes but IMHO, this was not one of her better works. Other than the fact that she wanted to use all 8 of the Bastion Club guys to act as guards for the couriers, I see no reason why she even wrote this book. It added absolutely nothing to the overall Black Cobra story. In fact, it could have been left unwritten entirely and no one would have missed it.
I didn't care for the heroine at all. I thought she had a very high opinion of herself...calling herself Liege Lord of her home and the people it contains and later likening herself as a virgin queen similar to Queen Elizabeth I. Only in her dreams! The hero was alright and maybe I would have liked him better in a different story altogether.
There were a few things that I thought were just too much...
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....the hero was fighting 2 cultists on a ship during a storm. He was severely slashed by the sword of one cultist, then all three were swept overboard....then he found a piece of wreckage to hang onto...then he was hit in the head by the ship's spar as the ship capsized and knocked unconscious....then he washed up on a rocky shoreline along with the 2 dead cultists...then he was found by the heroine's young wards....well you get the picture. To top all that off, the heroine stitched up the gash in his side and bandaged his head. He obviously had a concussion because he remained unconscious throughout this whole process. The heroine, concerned because he was still so very cold, decides to crawl into bed with him...to warm him up! Well, she falls asleep and is awoken in the night by the hero having sex with her while he is still unconscious! Yeah, right! I'm sorry...it was just too much!
I rate my books 1-4 stars....I gave this one 2 stars and that was a stretch!
I didn't care for the heroine at all. I thought she had a very high opinion of herself...calling herself Liege Lord of her home and the people it contains and later likening herself as a virgin queen similar to Queen Elizabeth I. Only in her dreams! The hero was alright and maybe I would have liked him better in a different story altogether.
There were a few things that I thought were just too much...
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
A
L
E
R
T
....the hero was fighting 2 cultists on a ship during a storm. He was severely slashed by the sword of one cultist, then all three were swept overboard....then he found a piece of wreckage to hang onto...then he was hit in the head by the ship's spar as the ship capsized and knocked unconscious....then he washed up on a rocky shoreline along with the 2 dead cultists...then he was found by the heroine's young wards....well you get the picture. To top all that off, the heroine stitched up the gash in his side and bandaged his head. He obviously had a concussion because he remained unconscious throughout this whole process. The heroine, concerned because he was still so very cold, decides to crawl into bed with him...to warm him up! Well, she falls asleep and is awoken in the night by the hero having sex with her while he is still unconscious! Yeah, right! I'm sorry...it was just too much!
I rate my books 1-4 stars....I gave this one 2 stars and that was a stretch!
I was eager to find out what happens in the ongoing saga having already read #1 and #2. I didnt particularly like the fact that the first 150 pages or so is one sex scene after another. We didn't get to the action or story until around the middle of the book. Ironically enough, there's very little to no sex in the second half of the book. In my opinion, toss out the majority of the first half and sit back and enjoy the ride for the 2nd half!
I enjoyed this book, the series is fun and I would recommend it.
Stephanie Laurens needs to develop a new formula though. Although I enjoy her characters in this book, and she also brings in the people from her last stories, it seems that this book reads almost to the same page the development of the plot as the last book. So it is patently apparent what will happen and when it will happen. All in all a good read, but not a keeper.
Stephanie Laurens needs to develop a new formula though. Although I enjoy her characters in this book, and she also brings in the people from her last stories, it seems that this book reads almost to the same page the development of the plot as the last book. So it is patently apparent what will happen and when it will happen. All in all a good read, but not a keeper.
The best one yet!
This was the best of the quartet series so far! Typically steamy, and tied neatly to the first 2 quartet stories
Karin A. (Jerseygirltoo) -
One of Laurens's best. Unlike the first two in the Bride series, the title is not a misnomer. This heroine is brazen, intelligent and intrepid, and the hero is her perfect match. I loved both of them.
Shelley C. (sdgirl) -
very different from the previous two .. i am excited for the final book to see how it all ends
