The Lady’s Command by Stephanie Laurens

Posted 5 January, 2016 by Heather in Blog, Blog Tour, Book Review, Heather, Heather Book Review / 1 Comment

I received this book for free from the in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Lady’s Command by Stephanie LaurensThe Lady's Command by Stephanie Laurens
Published by MIRA on December 29, 2015
Genres: Adult, Adventure, Historical Romance, Mystery
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
4 Stars

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.

 Lovehistorical

From reading the back cover copy for The Lady’s Command, I didn’t really know what to expect of this historical romance. Would it be set on the high seas? Would there be pirates? Would it be mostly set in English society with a husband who feels out of place? I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up my Kindle and started reading, especially when the couple were already wed before the opening pages–how refreshing!

Declan Frobisher comes from a shipping family, and he captains a ship that deals with specialized cargo. He’s more of an adventurer when needed, and his family has had an agreement with the English crown for years that they will help when called on for special assignments. He fell in love with Lady Edwina Delbraith rather easily, who comes from a noble family full of headstrong women and equally crafty and resourceful men. Once they’d wed and the London society came to accept to mysterious Declan as worthy of Lady Edwina, he figured that she’d be the wife he’d always pictured: staying home safely in England, doting on their children while he captained his ship.

But he underestimated Edwina’s willingness to put herself out there to make sure that they have a marriage as equals. He loves her wit and the easy way that she reads and interacts with all types of people. She loves his caring, sweet nature, but never thought to ask exactly what kind of shipping he did. When he’s called upon to sail to West Africa to look into four missing soldiers, she stows away on his ship even though he’s asked her to stay home. And so their adventure begins where they look into the mysterious disappearances of not only men, but women, and children as well while under the guise of traveling for their honeymoon. Lady Edwina fits in well with the society women and knows how to infiltrate the upper tier easily, while Declan has many investigative talents that he uses to prod the military men and the government officials, along with the shipping workers, to gain information.

I give The Lady’s Command a four out of five. This story was basically two parts: a husband and wife’s strengthening relationship as they got to know one another better and an adventure/mystery as they tried to find out what happened to the missing people. The cast of characters was large but Stephanie Laurens handled it well. I had no problem remembering any of the characters. While lighter on the romance and heavier on the mystery, I liked that their time aboard the ship sailing to and from West Africa wasn’t drawn out. The pacing was well done and flowed nicely. The mystery is however, not wrapped up completely. This is a four book series, so the cliffhanger will move answers into book tow. The next book will feature Declan’s brother Robert, and I’m definitely looking forward to that release in April!

About Stephanie LaurensStephanieLaurens

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens began writing romances as an escape from the dry world of professional science. Her hobby quickly became a career when her first novel was accepted for publication, and with entirely becoming alacrity, she gave up writing about facts in favor of writing fiction.

Laurens’s novels are set in the time period of the British Regency, and her settings range from Scotland to India. Laurens has published fifty works of historical romance, including 29 New York Times bestsellers. All her works are continuously available in print and digital formats in English worldwide, and have been translated into many other languages. An international bestseller, among other accolades Laurens has received the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award for Best Romance Novella 2008, for The Fall of Rogue Gerrard.

Her continuing novels featuring the Cynster family are widely regarded as classics of the genre. Other series include the Bastion Club Novels and the Black Cobra Quartet. For information on upcoming releases and updates on novels yet to come, visit Stephanie’s website.

Stephanie Laurens’ TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:tlc

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

Heather_signature

Heather

The following two tabs change content below.
I'm a PhD chemist who loves sarcasm, music, and books-paranormal, mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, and romance. Most of my free time is spent at the martial arts studio these days--whether practicing Combat Hapkido or reading books while watching my son's Taekwondo classes, or even working up a sweat with Kickboxing for fun. Goodreads

Latest posts by Heather (see all)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Divider

One Response to “The Lady’s Command by Stephanie Laurens”

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge