Product Description

The men of the Bastion Club proved their bravery secretly fighting for their country. Now their leader faces that most dangerous mission of all: finding a bride.

As the mysterious leader of the Bastion Club known as "Dalziel," Royce Varisey, tenth Duke of Wolverstone, served his country for decades, facing dangers untold. But as the holder of one of England's most august noble titles, he must now take on that gravest duty of all: marriage.

Yet the young ladies the grand dames would have him consider are predictably boring. Far more tempting is his castle's willful and determinedly aloof chatelaine, Minerva Chesterton. Beneath her serene faÇade lies a woman of smoldering sensuality, one who will fill his days with comfort and his nights with sheer pleasure. Determined to claim her, he embarks on a seduction to prove his mastery over every inch of her body . . . and every piece of her heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20656 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-28
• Released on: 2009-07-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061246371
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Erotically specific yet emotionally touching and infinitely romantic, this electrically charged, danger-tinged romance deliciously concludes Laurens's Bastion Club series." (Library Journal )

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens began writing as an escape from the dry world of professional science. Her hobby quickly became a career. Her novels set in Regency England have captivated readers around the globe, making her one of the romance world's most beloved and popular authors. Laurens lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and two daughters.

Customer Reviews

Bastion Club novel - Dalziel's Story
Stephanie Laurens' Bastion Club series of novels have generally been good reads, and 'Mastered by Love' was no different. Focusing on the spymaster, Dalziel, it follows his first few months as the new Duke of Wolverstone following the unexpected death of his father. Estranged for sixteen years, Dalziel/Royce regrets that he didn't have a chance to repair matters with his father, especially as his work as a spymaster had finished and he would shortly have been returning home.

When Royce returns to his home, Wolverstone, he finds everything ably managed by his chatelaine, Minerva Chesterton. He remembers Minerva as a young girl when he left, one who followed him around; she has grown up rather considerably in the intervening sixteen years and runs his home ably. When society requires Royce to marry, he is given a list of possible brides. However, he very quickly realises that Miranda is the woman for him - only will he be able to persuade her?

What was particularly good about this book was the way in which Stephanie Laurens described Royce taking up the mantle of duke and learning how his estate works, relating with his tenants and carrying out the daily business of a duke. His relationship with Minerva was believable, if occasionally requiring a few stretches of imagination. What didn't work for me was the sub-plot of the baddie, the final traitor that Royce has been hunting; very little book space was given to this part of the plot so it felt rather rushed, as if it were included just to create some kind of dramatic tension at the end. Still, overall it was a good enough read, with some nods toward historicity even if the behaviour of some characters felt a little unlikely.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

Excellent in many ways but........
Finally, after so many wonderful stories we come to Dalziel. And that may be the source of some of my difficulty with the finale. Expectations that are raised way too high to be met. I like Dalziel so much that of course I expect much of his story. Fortunately I was very satisfied with his lady. Minerva Chesterton was raised by his parents from the age of six and for the last eleven years she has served as Wolverstone's chatelaine. But she has been fascinated and infatuated with Royce nearly all her life. As a little girl she followed him all over the estate and even got a bit of early sex education when she was eight by spying on him with the blacksmith's daughter. She loves every inch of Wolverstone and its people. Since Dalziel has been banished for 16 years she knows more about the running of Wolverstone than he does. She has also made deathbed promises to his parents to bring him up to speed and see him settled as Duke. There could be no better duchess for Wolverstone than Minerva.

My problem was with the plot. Dalziel is told that he must marry immediately because Prinny is so short of money that he is tempted to kill Dalziel so he can take back all his estates and his money. This is the thanks he gets after serving for so many years! I thought this was the most ignorant plot device I have ever read bar none. How can Prinny possibly pull this off since the whole ton knows about it? Nevertheless all the grand dames tramp out to Wolverstone to demand he marry immediately. They actually make up a list of women and tell him to pick one right this minute. This is Dalziel we are talking about. I expected him to raise one eyebrow and give them the Ducal glare. Let's not forget that Dalziel has not socialized in 16 years so doesn't really know any of the current crop of women. He was just expected to choose a woman and announce her name without asking her how she felt about it either. The grand dames were so adamant about it that they actually sat on their suit cases and threatened not to leave Wolverstone until he obeyed them.

Every time these woman made a new demand I was just outraged. Completely outraged. Dalziel would NEVER stand for such a thing. But Ms. Laurens has him meekly agree to let them know the name within one week. I really hate it when an author has a character act completely out of character. Not only was the plot device too stupid for words but Dalziel would never have tolerated being given an ultimatum from anyone, much less a pack of meddlesome women. This almost ruined the story for me. Dalziel had to rush his romancing of Minerva because these women kept sending messages about what they were going to do next if he didn't comply. And he never makes a peep about how dare they, or what right did they have, or who did they think they were or anything else. Is this the Dalziel we know?

I just had to close my mind to all that and concentrate on the developing love story. That was reasonably satisfying, more or less the typical Laurens. There were no surprises. You know the man is going to be surprised to find himself falling in love and the woman is going to refuse to marry just because he took her virginity. Many times I was reminded of Devil's story, probably one of my favorite Laurens novels, second only to his father's story. Just because I don't think the author was completely true to the character we know as Dalziel doesn't mean the book isn't worth reading. This is just my personal opinion and shouldn't keep anyone else from enjoying the latest offering from Stephanie Laurens. (Unless you're as outraged as I was, then all bets are off.)

Several reviews have also mentioned disappointment with the way the last traitor was handled. I felt the same way but this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story the way the above mentioned ultimatum did. Actually the resolution of the traitor was kind of thrown in at the last minute. The identity of the traitor is revealed to us early in the story. He seems so weak and ineffective that you will find it hard to believe he has evaded the great Dalziel and the Bastion Club members for so many years. The last traitor also leads me to my last complaints about the book. These are spoilers so don't read the next paragraph if you want to be surprised.

The end of the book feels very rushed. Minerva ends up actually saving Dalziel's life yet he never mentions it or even thanks her. Also thrown in at the end--Dalziel has guessed that their lovemaking has had the predictable result but Minerva never tells him the happy news nor is that discussed between them. These are conversations I would have liked to hear. With so many complaints you may wonder why I still give it four stars. It IS a good book and I doubt Laurens many fans will be disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high and others will not have any problems with the plot devices. I didn't think her rating should suffer just because I believed Dalziel would have acted differently than she did. Too bad we can't ask Dalziel! It is a testament to Ms. Laurens skill that her characters come so alive for us and that we grow so attached to them as to argue about how they would behave.

Good but I Wish there were More
I love the Cynsters and the Bastion Club! Dalziel was my favorie from the start. You just knew he would have his own story and that he was so much more than he appeared. I won't go into the plot, others have done that very ably, but I will comment on the characters. I liked that Devil Cynster was in a number of the Bastion Club books. All of these men are presented to us as Alpha male macho brute studs, dangerous but very elegant and brilliant. The Bastion Club wives and Minerva are strong intelligent and beautiful, and their men make it clear their minds are more important than the physical beauty. I still enjoy this formula that Stephanie Laurens uses. I enjoyed this book, but was slightly disappointed as regards "the last traitor". It seemed like there should have been more. I like the erotic tension between Minerva and Royce; and the stress the grand dames bring to the situation, but I don't quite understand how they could force someone like Dalziel/Royce to pick a wife in the way they did. Fortunately, the author saved this situation by not making Royce cave to their demands. He picks his bride in his own way, and to some extent in his own time, if not the time he had originally hoped to have for such a selection. I felt in some ways, the grand dames helped direct him to Minerva.

Visualization is really important to me. I picture Devil and his brother and cousins as the same kind of men as the Bastion Club members, and especially Dalziel/Royce, being like Devil. So . . . what in the world were they thinking when they came up with a cover that depicts a 37 year old godlike hunk of dangerous intellignet man and Duke as something that looks more like a foppy teenager? I hate this cover! It made me question my visions of these men and wonder if I really understood what the author intended these men to represent. I was the second person in line when one of the local Barnes & Noble stores opened the morning of the 28th. The other customer and I as well as two of the clerks had the same reaction to the cover, "So where is Dalziel/Royce??", "What WAS Stephanie thinking?". This was one of the WORST covers of all time!

I hope we will see all of these characters again in some other stories. They are all too good to just end. Over all, this was a very good read.