Customer Reviews

Captain Jack's Woman (Bastion Club)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really wanted to like this book. I've read several of Ms. Laurens Regency novels and thoroughly enjoyed them; this, however, is a much larger book -- both in size and scope. Then I got into it, and I thought, Oh, no! Not another spunky, young, heroine who brings the mature hero to his knees, because she knows better about everything than he does.

Oh, no! 'Tis not that way at all. This is a wonderful, swashbuckling period piece for (dare I say it?) intelligent readers of whichever sex who should happen to pick it up. It's quite true that Kit Cranmer is indeed a spunky heroine, but not so terribly young -- early to mid-twenties. And Captain Jack, now Lord Hendon, is indeed a mature hero, who brings Errol Flynn to mind in the blink of an eyelash.

Kit has come back from an unhappy stay in London to stay with her grandfather, and promptly wanders her way into a smuggling den based on the coast facing France. The captain, home from the wars, is enlisted in a war against the smuggling of spies, but of course, first he must discern those smugglers from the ordinary contraband variety.

Lots of laughs jump right off the pages of this delightful book, right along with sexual tension that is believable, for a pleasant change. And LOTS of it, plus the real thing. This is a very sexy book! Ms. Laurens deserves all the accolades she's accrued for this wonderful book, and I'll be part of the long line-up anxiously waiting for her next one.

I've read most of Stephnie Laurens work and it's still a toss-up to me as to which hero is the sexiest. Up til now, it was Sebastian in the Devil's Bride (Bar Cynster series), but Captain Jack (aka Lord Hendon) takes my breath away. On a scale of 1-10 for sensuality this is definitely a 10!

Sensuality aside, I really liked the story! Lady Kit is fresh and alive. On a midnight ride,dressed as a lad, aboard her fabulous Arabian mare Delia, she inadvertently saves a small smugglers gang from being caught by the revenue men and becomes their leader, unbeknownest to them that she is a woman! After a few well devised and successful smuggling ventures, she runs into Captain Jack and becomes engaged with him in, of all things, a sword fight! Still disguised as a lad, Captain Jack is wondering why the slight lad is giving him uneasy thoughts.

Well, and so it goes. The story is really quite good. Quite a lot of interaction (sex) between the two main characters, once Captain Jack figures out who Young Kit is. I love the strength and arrogance of Captain Jack, who really has a way of taming the beautiful, wild and passionate Lady Kit - very steamy sex scenes.

If this was Ms. Laurens debut novel, it is no wonder she went on to such great success with her later entries! A definite keeper and one to be re-read and savoured again, and again.

I love Stephanie Laurens but I haven't been able to do more than skim this book. It has been pointed out to me that this is a reprint and so was probably written before her wonderful Cynster series. If I had know that before I tried to read it I would have been more open to the book, since I have seen just in Stephanie Lauren's Cynster series how her writing style has improved. Don't read it if you are expecting a book like On A Wild Night or All About Love. You should be able to read it, and probably enjoy it, if you realize from the start that this is an earlier story in her writing life. Some of the other reviews I have read about this book have pointed out that there is very little talking between characters. You read most of the story in their thoughts. I agree with this and it may have been why I had difficulty reading it, since most of what I enjoy is the verbal interaction between characters.

At the beginning of the book, the main character, Kit, seems to finally be a heroine who has some backbone and is willing to stand up for herself. She dresses up as a boy so she can be the leader of a small group of smugglers and seems to have strong beliefs and morals (like against smuggling "human cargo"). But the minute she gets near "Captain Jack" she loses all rational thought. There isn't one decent conversation between her and him after he figures out she's a girl during the entire book because the minute they get near each other, she forgets everything except having sex with him. From the minute he touches her, her eyes glaze over and they end up in bed together (or on a table or the floor, or the ground...) You can't go thirty pages in the book without them making love. She never realizes her "Captain Jack" is really her neighbor Lord Hendon even though there's evidence of it right under her nose. Finally, she's shot, her grandfather finds out what she's been about and forces them to marry. The first thing her husband does is take away her favorite horse Delia, because she's "too fast and the grooms can't keep up with her" and gives Kit a old, slow, gentle mare instead. She tries to protest, but guess what, before she can voice her opinion, he gets near her, she loses all thought, and they end up in bed. After that, she quietly gives into his will, any time she doesn't like something he's done to change her life, he seduces her into shutting up about it. All the while, he's still been secretly leading their old group of smugglers, and smuggling spies even though he knows Kit would hate it. Although he has a good reason for it, he refuses to tell Kit what it is. Kit runs away to get his attention, but he can't even find her because he's never listened to a word she's said and has no idea where she would go. When they're finally reunited, she rushes back to him and asks to be taken home, but he decides to ignore her to "punish" her for making him worry about not knowing where she is. I could barely finish this book. The heroine went from being wild and likeable to submissive and bidable with only small sparks of her earlier fire. The hero thought the world revolved around him and even toward the end, still thought his wife should listen to him all the time, and only be wild when he wanted it. Don't waste your money.

I really enjoyed this well written fast paced book. I thought all the characters in this story interesting, not just the lovers Jack and Kit. I also got the impression that these two adventurous souls were meant to be together. They were going to meet and marry it was only a question of when. It just so happens they meet with blades drawn. It's wonderful romp, this book is a definite keeper. After my 25 years of romance reading Stephanie Laurens is a wonderful new voice.

I loved the idea of this book, and it had all the potential to be great, but it just sort of fizzled and died. I thought that it was pretty sexist too, Captain Jack was too shovanist for me and the heroine played right in to that. YUCK. But despite the absence of two characters who were equals and him really respecting her, it was a fun read, just not as great as it could have been if the hero and heroine had been better developed characters.

ok, basic story is a woman meets a many that she believes is a smuggler and predictably falls in love with him. he believes she is illegitimate and she believes he is a smuggler, not the high born noble that he really is.

the story started off decently, with jack being a typical overbearing male, but with kit holding her own, at least most of the time. however, as soon as they had sex, she turned into an idiot. she couldn't think when he touched her, and she let him get away with ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING because as soon as he touched her she 'lost her mad' and couldn't remember what she was going to tell him.

he got even more overbearing as the story went on, and instead of her dealing with it in a way that allowed her to keep her independence, she just bows to him. also, her cousins who had stood up for her against her aunts and uncles suddenly decide they don't have the guts to stand up to her husband or to help her. please, some continuity in the characters.

in my opinion the ending ruined the book. i liked kit until the end, and didn't mind jack - he was perfectly redemable - but the ending made me dislike both of them. i didn't care whether they ended up together, and kinda hoped she would leave him and never come back.

as a side note - i did kind of think there was a lot of sex as well. not that i have a problem with sex per se, but it seemed like it was just to fill the pages. to be perfectly honest, they were wasted pages, because the scenes lacked (at least to me) lacked any emotional impact.

so, if you are a laurens fan, i would recommend this book, especially to give you a background for some of her other books. however, if you haven't read her before, don't start with this book.

I admit I've been disappointed in the last few of Ms. Laurens books I read, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this story so out of her usual story line.

Kit is a high spirited young lady who resolves not to marry convinced she'll never find love. The ladies in her small home town plot to get her involved with Lord Hendon the area's most eligible bachelor and newly returned war hero. Kit is bored with the slow life and starts taking moonlight rides on her horse Delia dressed as a lad. She stumbles over a small smuggling gang and leads them out of danger when the watch almost catches them. She finds herself surprised when they make her or "the lad Kit" the leader of their gang. Soon a much larger gang takes over and she finds herself falling for their handsome leader Capt. Jack.

Capt. Jack is really the pseudonym of Lord Hendon who is working undercover for the government to bust the real leaders behind a gang who is smuggling in spies from France. When his gang takes over the smaller gang, he almost immediately figures out Kit is a woman and falls for her, vowing to make her his mistress. He believes she is the illegitimate daughter of one of the local gentry and seduces her. When he finds out who she really is he vows to make her his wife. He doesn't however tell her the truth about who is he is really working for and she is worried when the gang starts bringing in spies.

What is so great about this story is they take two characters who are head strong, but allow them to show their softer sides without ever appearing weak. Kit is the headstrong granddaughter who gets involved where she shouldn't, but she never comes across as spoiled or unlikable. Actually for once, the heroine is the perfect blend of sassy and smart and actually has some common sense. She is one of the best heroines in any book I've read yet. Jack is the man we all dream of having, he gets you all bothered just looking at you. He respects Kit more than most heroes in the regency books but sometimes still falls into that I'm the man , you're the woman trap. His strength is he does recognize that he and Kit are equals. If Ms Lauren had all books this refreshing , with original characters she'd never leave the best selling list.

I kept feeling it just gets better! Never boring. Not many scenes on board ship. They mostly stick to land. He's a spy posing as a smuggler -- she is smuggling - in breeches/disguise. Lots of excitement. Funny. Sexy. Kit tortures the Captain with her curiosity. He doesn't guess she's an innocent legit lady. A+ for sexual tension. It's my favorite by this author, though it's not said to be her best.

This is kinda the beginning of the Bastion Series; but before the 'club' was created. We meet Tony from "Gentleman's Honor."

Oh, dear. So many people recommended this book, saying that they had delayed reading it because of the cheesy title, but it was wonderful. In a word, no.

Sure, Laurens is the queen of the panting, highly explicit sex scene, but this book took even that to the point of ridiculousness. Not that that's too hard to do. My biggest beef with this book is that the strong, independent heroine became a total wimp every time the hero came near her. Their relationship was about sex not love; I can't see them making it as a lifetime couple. Jack always has to have the upper hand and Kit always gives in the moment he touches her.

Silly.

The first books in the Cynster series are Laurens' best -- you know, the ones before she starts getting repetitious.