Customer Reviews

Beyond Seduction (Bastion Club)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beyond Seduction starts hilariously with an interesting and fun hook. Very playful in the beginning, the romance does take some time to really build. Teasing us into just glimpses of the individualistic nuances of her characters, Laurens livens up a rather insipid meeting of her romantic leads. Once compatibility plays into the picture, the usual possessiveness most Lauren heros exhibit masterfully comes into play.

Gervase Tregarth, may be the fifth Earl of Crowhurst, a former spy for the British government and a force to reckon with all the matchmaking mammas in London, England, however, these skills are of no use to him when he cannot ever spend longer than a week in London before being summoned home to clean up some mess or another unknown vandals in his home town keep causing. After discovering it's not worth running back and forth, Gervase just gives up and decides to combine his Earldom duties and wife hunting into one. Looking around the community, he stumbles upon Madeline Gascoigne, someone he has known for years but never really assessed as a woman. Once he does, the idea sticks with him so much so that he becomes obsessed with determining their compatibility.

Madeline, on the other hand, quite at ease with her spinster role and guardianship of three young brothers doesn't really look upon Gervase's interst with much enthusiasm. Of course, most romance readers know how much this turns off the high and mighty Earl. Not a wit, of course. Soon the entanglements of two strong, stubborn individuals has the whole town keeping mum about their future as earl and countess. The final decision will be Madeline's to make and with her brothers' lives at stake, how can she refuse?

This book does borrow characters from the former Bastion Club books as well as hinting at the futures for Dalziel and Christian and the ever present traitor that always pops up in these books to cause trouble. In fact, it sounds like both these men will get their own books and readers are finally close to discovering the true identity of the enigmatic Dalziel. My bets on the traitor and Dalziel are relations of some sort... cousins, brothers even. Also, one of the other readers mentioned a tin mine scam. The details of this character and the result of his misdeeds are continued in the Cynster novel, "A Taste of Innocence."

A fun, romantic read, "Beyond Seduction" delivers where it should. Granted there are times when it dragged with a bit too much character development, but overall the plot, conversation, characters and humor flowed easily and entertainingly for anyone just coming into the series. However, it is a must read for those who have been following the Bastion Club series because it offers new insights and future intrigues for the upcoming books.

While this was a good addition to the series, I found myself questioning just how entertaining it is. The beginning caught my attention but then it didn't. For one thing, it is difficult to believe that Gervase had known Madeline for years and never really felt a thing and all of a sudden there is an attraction? Not exactly believable, then again the fact that Madeline, a very intelligent and mature woman, never even considered using some type of birth control is not either. As she was spinster age,an affair is something but a kid coming from it is just scandalous.
Then there is the characterization of Gervase, who began to be a generally nice guy and a hero many people would like but then quickly started lacking to be seen as one. I mean he wouldn't let Madeline leave before she agreed to an affair? A: Madeline could have done something to get out of it and B: that is not a hero, that is a jerk. A determined hero would just find another way. Then after that he thought just the physical components would create love each other and "show" he wanted to marry her. No one would be able to get that message- that is where words are needed, words he gave too late.
It is another typical Bastion book: hero has affair with heroine to convince of compatibility and somehow that creates love on its own and they marry, and they coincidentally get along every other way which is way too much of a coincidence. Okay, so this physical component is important but there is more to a relationship than that, Laurens has plenty of time to give the characters more of a personality. Or maybe she should just cut back period cause there was a considerable amount of drag in the novel and frankly sometimes it is just better to get to the point.
What I honestly really want is just to see a relationship that is grown on something more than just sex. Like A Rogue's proposal-that was enjoyable because you got both strong character's personalities and the physical part of it. A great balance, one Lauren has lost throughout the years.

"Beyond Seduction" was certainly beyond my liking!

My first Stephanie Laurens novel was Captain Jack's Woman. I fell in love with that story and from then on continued with her novels. Devil's story, Scandal's story, and all the Cynster Novels. By the time I finished her last Cynster novel I stopped reading her books.
This is the first one I picked up in 2 years and it is no better than I remember!
What happened to the real Stephanie Laurens of "old"? She has disappeared.
Her Bastions series is dull and since the twins Cynster novels, her newer books fall flat. What I remember of the queen of seduction scenes and love stories has disappeared somewhere out there.
I hope she returns!

Never have I read a better book than Captain Jack's Woman and I fear
..... never will again!

Strong and powerful Gervase is looking for a wife, but his sisters don't want him looking in London. Independant and willfull Madeline is raising her brothers and running the estate until the oldest can take over. At first they only see each other as local landowners with common interests. Stuck in the country for the summer, his sisters convince Gervase to look at Madeline differently and then it begins. It only took a short time for him to convince her to let him seduce her. And once he did, she was a goner, as was he. Danger and a kidnapping bring them to London where the Bastion Club serves it's secondary purpose(solving crimes apparently). Then racing back to save their village from the evil "traitor" from previous books. I was a little annoyed towards the end when both were acknowledging their love for the other, but didn't believe they could be loved. Any idiot could see they loved each other, the other characters even say so. They get married and live happily ever after (of course).

If you've read the other Bastion Club novels, you will enjoy this book. A little bit of Bastion Club excitement, with Dalziel appearing in the second half of the book. This time, only one previous member makes an appearance and the others are barely mentioned. The elusive "traitor" is seen and named to the reader, but unbelievably gets away yet again without being identified.

The antics of Gervases' sisters in this book made me laugh. You just know they are being set up as strong independant future heroines. And Madeline's brothers are normal little boys growing into strong domineering men. Maybe once the Bastion club members are all married, the younger siblings will spin-off into their own series?

All in all I really enjoy reading the books in this series. Even if the current book isn't the greatest, you've become a part of the world in which they live. Their friends and family are your friends and family. You keep reading the not so great books just to be a part of it all one more time. So buy the book and get caught up with your friends from the Bastion Club. And get a quick little peek into Christians' and Dalziels' futures.

While Stephanie Laurens writes good fiction and her plots are interesting and play out reasonably well (this book being no exception), I was made to feel very uncomfortable by the relationship between the two main characters. There are so many inconsistencies that the relationship is impossible to believe. I, for one, believe that believable characterizations are vital to a story and, no matter how interesting the plot or subplot, no book can be good without it.

Gervase is a pleasant, courteous person. He loves his family, fulfills his responsibilites, is a good friend and citizen. Throw in rich, handsome, and titled. So far, so good.

Madeline is a confident, competent, consciencious, loving, wealthy, responsible, and attractive young woman. Not titled but confident of her place in the world and in society.

So why do these two people engage in such a sick relationship?

Gervase is consciously looking for a wife. Why doesn't he make his intentions clear to her instead of implying to her that his only goal is getting her in bed.

Why does Madeline allow the constant manhandling (I'm not talking of innocent hand holding or stolen kisses, but escalating serious liberties being taken with her person and her clothing?) She is not in a position where she has to put up with it to avoid consequences. She not only could avoid it but could stop it. Why doesn't she?

I don't know who irritates me more. Gervase who treats her disrecpectuflly in a way inconsistent with the way he treats everyone else (and goes as far as to think on p.140 that he "felt denied of his lawful prey.) or Madeline who employs authority, common sense, and self-respect in every other aspect of her life and acts like a complete idiot in this situation.

Maybe its the author who alternates a scene of plot serious development with a scene of semi-consentual sexual abuse which, in her vocabulary or opinion, apparently passes as "seduction."

Well done character development and I ejyoyed waiting for how they would encounter the traitor and other members of the club was as always wonderful. I liked the way the romance developed and the part her brothers and his sisters played as well. the Bastion Club is an excellent series of people I like. Each of the men have strong character, and a true understanding and attention to those arround them. Men we would all love to know. Loved it! Madeline was a bit dense in seeing Gervase's goal, but that was what made it wonderful. Enjoyed another excellent Stephanie Laurens book.

I usually like this author well enough, and while the writing was fine, characters somewhat interesting, and the story line had enough subplots to pull it along, it still seemed to drag somewhat. There was a good bit of detail that I couldn't seem to care about, and I didn't fully believe the reasons the main characters were making the choices they made, the usual problem being that they were too smart to be that dumb in their social understanding. Toward the last 1/4 I found I began to skip over descriptions. But, I finished it and it had a number of satisfying scenes, the hero was a good guy which I usually like, and the rest of the alphas show up, which helped, toward the end.

Read one book in the series and had to order the rest. Love the series (if you read historical romance with a little mystery) you'll enjoy this author

Received book in good condition and in a timely fashion. Lauren never fails to deliver.

A strong heroine to match a strong hero, two sets of precocious siblings, a couple of bad guys, some left-over war intrigue to challenge the spying skills of a former spy - how could that go wrong? Let me tell you the ways:

Gervase Tregarth, Earl of Crowhurst, has been attempting to find a wife, but has repeatedly been called back to his estate to deal with one calamity after another ~ all caused by his 3 younger sisters, who are afraid he will bring home a spoiled London wife who will promptly banish them to live with an elderly aunt. Out of frustration, Gervase swears to marry the first suitable lady he meets, providing she is not uncompatible in any way. He figures he's safe, since he gets to decide what is compatible and besides, no suitable ladies reside in the area. Is he ever wrong! He knows, of course, that Madeline Gascoigne lives nearby at Treleaver Park, but he has only recently returned to the Castle after years spent spying for the Crown, and thinks of her as a unique person who capably runs her younger brother's estate, not as an eligible lady - until his sisters prod him into considering the possibility. Then he begins his campaign, and the next 200 pages are dedicated to his seducing her into his bed often enough so that passion will convince her to consider marriage.

Here are the causes of my disappointment in what should have been a great story:
1) Where in this seduction is the hero's respect for the heroine? He used sex as manipulation - that's not love.
2) In all other areas, Madeline's strong personality and sense of responsibility come through loud and clear, but she allows lust to wipe out all other considerations? It doesn't fit. And she doesn't expect or want marriage, so where was her concern about pregnancy?
3) Although there are some strong hints earlier, the villains of the story don't appear until nearly 200 pp. into the book - which also happens to be when the story became more interesting. It is often the secondary characters that strengthen a story.
4) This may be nit-picking, but two terms were very off-putting to me: his agatey eyes (really?!) and the use of library-cum-study; why not just one or the other, we'd get the idea. I can't quite envision him saying, 'Please come into my library-cum-study', so why describe it that way?

I will be reading Christian's story, since I want to follow the spy intrigue to the end. At one point in this series, I was hoping that Dalziel's story would be added to the six as the appropriate ending, filling in all the holes in their spying careers, but not if it's as painful as the first half of this one.