The Edge of Desire
When Christian Allardyce left to fight on the continent, he left confident that Letitia Vaux would wait for him until he returned to claim her as his own. However, during the twelve years Christian spent spying for the crown, Letitia married another man - an apparent love match, which shredded Christian's heart. But, when Letitia comes to Christian for help in solving her husband's murder to exonerate her brother Justin, both Letitia and Christian receive surprises that will change how they see each other and their shared history.

But will actually knowing what was behind each others actions be enough to understand each other or will it drive further a wedge between their hearts?

In this seventh installment of the Bastion Club series, The Edge of Desire is a good conclusion to this sensual and suspenseful romance series and it whets the appetite for more by finally giving a significant clue as to who Dalziel really is! This is the story of Christian and Letitia, characters that I found to follow the mold of the previous characters in the series while at the same time establishing some marked differences in their unique behaviors. For one, the explosive passion between Christian and Letitia becomes a contest for power within the relationship, but in the end, they end up seducing each other. Also, while making the environment more authentic, these characters show a more marked, yet unrepentant, class consciousness along with a sense of superiority that bleeds into their actions and reactions to other characters, a trait that had not been so strongly pervasive in the previous books in the series. Christian comes across as a charming, yet insensitive rogue, a quality that is brought home to him when he realizes that at the moment of Letitia's greatest need, he was unavailable. Letitia, however, does not endear herself to the reader with her tantrums, which are readily dismissed as the famous "Vaux temper," along with her manipulations within the "Ton," which is imbued with so much power and presence as to, almost, become a character on its own. That said, Stephanie Lauren has once again created a sensual story beyond compare with The Edge of Desire. It will wrap you up with every exchange and leave you eagerly awaiting for the hinted stories of interesting characters - like Dalziel. Pick up The Edge of Desire for a fun and entertaining read, perfect for a lazy day under the sun.

Sabella
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

difficult read
WOW..... I FOUND THIS BOOK TO BE A DIFFICULT READ. EXCEPT FOR THE SEX(WHICH SEEMED A TAD DRAWN OUT AT TIMES) THE STORY WAS VERY SLOW TO START AND I FOUND MYSELF PUTTING THE BOOK DOWN ALOT.I JUST COULDN'T GET INTO IT. THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS,CHRISTIAN AND LETITIA, WERE IN LOVE IN THE PAST AND WANTED TO MARRY BUT THINGS WENT WRONG AND THEY HAVEN'T HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER IN 12 YEARS. THEY BOTH FELT BETRAYED BY THE OTHER AND WOULDN'T EVEN AKNOWLEDGE EACH OTHER IN PUBLIC. BUT WHEN LETITIA NEEDS CHRISTIANS HELP, ALL THE ANGER AND HURT WASN'T ENOUGH TO KEEP THEM FROM THROWING THEMSELVES AT EACH OTHER AND HAVING SEX THE THIRD TIME THEY MEET TO TALK ABOUT THE MURDER. WHAT ALSO STRUCK ME AS ODD IS THAT HER HUSBAND WAS JUST KILLED,GRANTED THEIR MARRIAGE WAS NOT A HAPPY ONE, BUT EVEN SO,THE CHARACTERS CARRY ON AS THOUGH ITS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE FOR THEM TO BE CONSTANTLY HAVING SEX,NOT EVEN GOING OUT OF THEIR WAY TO HIDE IT(EXCEPT FROM THEIR HOUSEHOLD STAFF???). YOU WOULD THINK THEY WOULD WANT TO HIDE IT FROM THEIR FAMILY AND THE "TON" UNTILL THE TIME IS RIGHT AND NOT JUST THE HOUSEHOLD STAFF, BUT THEY DIDN'T AND EVERYONE ACTUALLY SEEMED TO APPROVE OF THEIR BEHAVIOR. IN FACT,OTHER THAN TRYING TO FIND THE REAL MURDERER, THATS ALL THEY DID WAS HAVE SEX,THERE WASN'T MUCH ROMANCE AT ALL. I ALSO FOUND IT REALLY HARD TO READ THIS BOOK AT TIMES. THE WAY SHE HAD HER CHARACTERS TALK, THE WAY SHE HAD THEM PHRASE THINGS WAS ODD AND AT TIMES CONFUSING TO FOLLOW. LASTLY,THIS BOOK IS MORE OF A WHO-DUNIT MYSTERY THAN A ROMANCE.SO IF YOU DONT MIND THE ROMANCE ASPECT OF THE BOOK BEING SECONDARY TO THE MYSTERY,YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS BOOK. I PREFER MORE ROMANCE IN A ROMANCE BOOK.

superb second chance at love historical whodunit
Lord Christian Allardyce and Lady Letitia Vaux were in love with plans to marry once he returned from the war against Napoleon. However, while he risked his life, her father forced Letitia to marry for money; as he wasted the family funds on horrific speculation. When he returned from overseas in 1815, Christian is stunned and vowed to never marry; he signs on with six former "government" workers who knew that the adventure was over; these comrades in arms formed the Bastion Club whose perquisite for joining is to never marry. Ironically since chartering the club last year, his six "brothers" have said I do.

In 1816, Letitia sends a note to Christian begging him to help her brother Justin who is accused of killing her spouse of eight years Randall. Although he hates her, he never stopped loving her; to his chagrin, he agrees to investigate. As they work together, prideful Letitia tries to hide from her sleuthing partner that she still loves him and never stopped thinking of him even when she was with Randall.

This is a brilliant last of the original magnificent seven Bastian "brothers" tale. The story line is a fast-paced Regency romantic mystery in which the lead couple remains on THE EDGE OF DESIRE while following false leads, clues to nowhere and increasingly the evidence point to her brother's guilt. Stephanie Laurens is at her best with this superb second chance at love historical whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Hunt for a murderer
What starts off as a rather slow book developed into something that was interesting and enjoyable, if flawed in places. Lady Leticia Randall's husband is murdered and her brother Justin is the only suspect - he was at the house that evening and has fled the scene, leaving behind bloodstained clothing at his rooms. Yet Leticia knows Justin wouldn't have killed Randall and so she goes for help to one man she can trust, her former lover, Christian Allardyce, the 6th Marquess of Deane.

Christian and Leticia's history is complicated. Everyone thought they would marry but twelve years before Christian went off to serve King and country and whilst he was away Leticia married Randall. They've barely seen each other since but Christian immediately comes to Leticia's aid.

As they begin to search for clues to the murder they discover that Leticia really didn't know a great deal about her husband. As his private affairs are slowly unpicked Leticia and Christian find that he is a man of many secrets and that it will take more expertise than they have to get to the bottom of them. At the same time as the search for the truth of Randall's murderer, Christian has to try to convince Leticia to trust him and to come to see that her place is by his side. But if they get too close to the truth of the murderer, might they not be risking their own safety?

This was a surprisingly long book and it moved quite slowly. The interest built step by step as the layers in the plot were brought to light. After the first few chapters the book settled into a rather uneasy format where we followed Christian and Leticia's murder investigation during the day and then spectated on their bedsport at night, then on to the next day. As the book made progress we spent more time on the investigation and less on the romance and this was rather an improvement. As far as the romance side went, it was understated in some ways as it was a rekindling of love between people who had been incredibly close in their past. The characterisation of both Christian and Leticia was sparse at times - Leticia has a temper, we learn, and Christian is very controlled and calm, but this reader never felt like she really got to know them.

Although I did enjoy this book I was rather dubious about some of the behaviour of the main characters in that historical context. The lead couple spending pretty much every night in bed in each others' houses, with Lady Randall a widow of just a few days and still theoretically in deep mourning, felt rather too unlikely. Where were all the servants in a Marquess's house who would normally have noticed this kind of thing. It appeared necessary for Laurens' romance side of the plot but it all felt a bit too modern for the Regency period.

Despite this the rest of the book was a good read and I didn't guess the murderer until the end when they were revealed. Although part of a series this book worked well on its own and set up the reader for the next and last in the series, featuring Royce Dalziel.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008