Customer Reviews

The Lady Chosen (A Bastion Club Novel)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This was my first Stephanie Laurens book. Although I did like Ms. Lauren's clear writing style and evocative love scenes, I was a bit disappointed overall in both the story and the characters of the first of the Bastion Club Series, a premise I had high expectations about - seven bachelors negotiating the mine field of Regency London while looking for acceptable wives.

Actually, my expectations of reading about this Bastion Club provided my first disappointment. Something that I had looked forward to was the interaction between these seven gentlemen sworn to help each other in their individual quests to find wives, yet this episode's hero, Tristan Weymiss, never involved the Bastion Club in his pursuit of the strangely reluctant Leonora Carling. If not for the prologue where the entire situation was explained and set into motion, the Bastion Club and six of its seven members would have been completely ignored altogether.

The story, in a nutshell, involves Tristan Weymess, Earl of Trentham, who meets his lovely next door neighbor, Miss Leonora Carling, and finds himself drawn into the job of solving the riddle of mysterious burglaries that Leonora and her family have been experiencing. Naturally he finds himself attracted to the self-made spinster Leonora, who returns his attraction; indeed, enough so that she determines to seduce Tristan, or rather, allow him to seduce her. However, once the two lovers have consummated their relationship, Leonora strangely refuses Tristan's request for marriage, and he becomes the pursuer as she tries vainly to run from the bond that's developed between them.

Sadly, I found neither the hero or heroine to be very interesting. Leonora was supposed to be this independent women, yet nothing except her small attempts to solve the mystery herself showed me why this was to be so. She set out to seduce Tristan, and once she'd accomplished this goal, turned into a completely different character; cold, distant and spurning his pursuit to marry her.

As for Tristan, he simply did not stand out as a hero to take one's breath away. We are told on several occasions of the "possessiveness" he feels toward Leonora, but I never quite felt such to be the case. Except for his obvious fury after she is attacked, he really takes no steps that prove to me he has such a protective instinct. We learn very little about his inner workings, and he comes off as rather generic.

I felt as if this were actually two different books pieced into one. The beginning and ending appeared to be about an independent, somewhat reclusive spinster and the straightforward war hero who attempts to help her solve a mysterious burglary, seducing her in the meantime. Then, after finally making it into the bedroom, the two take their cat and mouse game into the ballrooms of the ton, and Leonora seems to become a completely different type of woman. A good portion of the book focuses on her refusal to marry Tristan for reasons that I expected to be sound and perhaps even shocking, only to discover are as bland as the character of Leonora herself.

Which leads me to Leonora's reluctance. For a woman bent on not marrying this nearly perfect man, her reasons, once explained, proved to me far too flimsy and transparent. Apparently, the death of her parents left her with the inability to trust or rely on anyone, and for that reason she felt unwilling to place her trust in a husband. However, nowhere in the story was any inkling given that the death of her parents had caused her undue distress, and once she internally admitted this reluctance to herself, the problem seemed to disappear. I felt like Leonora's refusal to marry was a very thin conflict set up to keep these two lovers apart when really there was no other reason at all.

The seduction of Leonora was done quite well if not somewhat formulaicly, with each interaction between the two would-be lovers jumping a carefully-measured fraction until the ultimate consummation. I liked that Leonora didn't play the coy virgin but rather admitted to her attraction and her desire to have Tristan "initiate" her into the pleasures between a man and a woman. Once she gave into his deal to prove that the attraction between them would not diminish but only increase, she very unashamedly enjoyed the physical aspect of their relationship.

The a-plot, or mystery about the burglaries, held no appeal to me whatsoever. Indeed, I found myself skimming the longer passages that dealt with this completely uncompelling plot which didn't even provide reason enough to inspire the supposed "possessiveness" Tristan felt for Leonora. I didn't care at all who was burglarizing Leonora's home and felt no compulsion for the mystery to be solved. Like Leonora's inner struggle with trust, the mystery felt more like an invented story crutch to throw these two together in the first place. I wondered quite frequently why there were no police officers involved in solving these attempted crimes.

I'm sad that I didn't like this book better because I don't know that I'll continue with the Bastion Club series. Maybe I need to try one of the Cynster books instead.

I am Stephanie Lauren's biggest fan, have devoured everything she has written so far, she is without doubt the most sensual of romantic writers.
It hurts me to have to say how disappointed I was with this novel. Instead of a steady build up of sexual tension as is her wont, the characters in this novel were devoid of any charm or sensuality. I didn't feel in the least bit interested in either of the main characters, I found their relationship unrealistic and boring and the story wound around their relationship just as boring. The excuse given for the lady not wanting to get married (to a rich, handsome, fascinating earl) was just pathetic. I usually finish her novels in one sitting: this one I put down so often, I debated returning to it but eventually finished it only out of respect for SL.
The formula was so predictable, the language likewise. It was as if someone else - Ms Lauren's editor or assistant - wrote the book in the style of her other books but completely missed out on what makes SL so exciting. No tension, no sensuality, no steamy sex, predictable and so boring. Truly a waste of time.
Oh Stephanie, please inject your old magic in future books. I'll try the next one, of course, but if that is of a similar vein, I'm giving up.

although it is hardly Laurens' best. No, my major problem with this book is Lauren's recent style affectations. For some inexplicable reason, Laurens has decided that fragments are infinitely better than complete sentences, and so she writes in fragments to the extent that it is often difficult to follow her train of thought. Then she tops it off with a multitude of one-sentence paragraphs. Take these examples:

"Couldn't turn away.
The connections slowly clarified in her mind.
Tristan, she knew, wouldn't turn her away. Wouldn't refuse her.
With him, she'd be safe."

(elementary stuff, that.) OR

"She was where she belonged. In his arms. With love between them." (gak!)

And those are some that actually make sense. In addition, Laurens has developed the habit of reusing and overusing pet words and phrases. The words and their attendant emotions lose their impact and often become downright silly.

Tristan and Leonora are a nice couple, fairly well drawn, especially Leonora, even though I hated that she broke her promise to him. (Yeah, she explains it away as meaning something else, but I didn't buy it.) I'm still not sure how Tristan is different from the rest of the Bastion Club members; they all seemed of a piece in this book. Frankly the setting up of the club is rather boring.

The artist's rendering of Tristan is totally yummy, but the story lacked due to the pitfalls of Laurens' adopted style and her penchant for overly-detailed, almost clinical love scenes. This book pushes Laurens, once a favorite, farther down the list of authors to read...she's nowhere near the top now. If you want to read it, borrow it; don't waste your money.

Stephanie Laurens does it again. I don't know how she keeps her writing going strong, but she does. I have been a long time fan and was excited about the thought of a new series. I wasn't disappointed.

You can pretty much get the idea of the story above in the Editorial Review or the back of the book.

Tristan is a strong and complete character. He has been working as a spy during the wars and isn't used to needing/wanting someone else in his life. But he appreciates, cherishes, and respects Leonora.

Leonora Carling, the girl next door literally, is a strong female who knows her worth and what she really wants out of life. Her intelligence keeps her even with Tristian. A trait that he admires.

The development of their relationship is steady and complete. You can see it evolving into a realistic thing. The mystery keeps this book going even past the romance portion of this book. This "partnership" works at solving the mystery of why someone wants in Leonora's her house.

Devil Cynster (Devil's Bride) even makes a quick appearance in this book. That was wonderful to see some of her old character. I definitely recommend this book to old fans and new fans alike. If you like a good regency romance with a good plot, you will definately enjoy this one.

This book is going on my "keeper" shelf to stay and re-read as often as possible.

Don't get me wrong, I love all of Stephanie Lauren's books! But there was something about 'The Lady Chosen' that didn't do it for me. I felt like I didn't really know Leonora. In all her other books I could see the characters, picture them as if they were real, but not with 'Chosen'. I also felt it was a little to long. How DID Tristan know about all the little havens for him and Leonora at those balls. He's been away and out of society for a long time. This book would never keep me from buying another Stephanie Lauren's title, I just thought it impersonal and a bit repetitive.

This book follows the same format that the Cynsters series. There is nothing wrong with that, I loved the Cynsters, but the formula of the strong, independent woman who doesn't want to get married, even when she is head over heels in love with the hero, and the "always perfect", confident alfa male needs some renovations, because it is getting a little old.
I think the book needed some more drama, more conflict between the main characters. Other than her refusal to marry him, and him trying to convince her, there was no real emotional conflict. No misunderstanding, no longing, nothing to keep them apart, nothing that would melt your heart.
The best parts of the book for me were the love scenes (this are always hot, in the true Stephanie Laurens style), the brief appearance of Devil Cynster (I hope the rest of the Cynsters continue to appear in this new series), and the scenes were Dalziel appears. I think he is a character with a lot of potencial. He reminds me of Jo Beverley's Rothgar. I would like to read his story. He seems to be a misterious and fascinating character.
All considered the book was not bad, it is well written and believable. Maybe it's just that I expected more of one of my favorite authors.

This book was so boring and mudane I didn't even finsh it. One reveiwer mentioned how many time the heroine could incline her head haughtly. A lot apparently because I got sick of the first one hundred times. I just hated this book. I did not feel a damn thing for the main charcters, like I would a Cynster novel. I will not read another Basiton Club book again. I will stick with her Cynster novels. I believe the next one is Simon Cynster.

Stephanie Laurens burns up the pages in her latest release THE LADY CHOSEN, first book in her new series entitled "WELCOME TO THE BASTION CLUB".

Ex-military men brought together by various circumstances and all needing to marry form the Bastion Club as a place of refuge from the demanding ton. This story is of Tristan Wemyss, Earl of Trentham who needs to marry in order to inherit his wealth. The men of the Bastion Club buy a home for their club in a quiet neighborhood and Tristan oversees the preparations. He first encounters Leonora Carling in her gardens. At first he watches her, admiring her from afar, and then meets her and finds himself immediately immersed in a mystery.

Leonora Carling, a woman past marrying at the age of 26 years old, is both lovely and intelligent. Someone has been trying to break into her home and other homes that share a wall in the neighborhood. Tristan and Leonora, with a common goal of catching the culprit find themselves tracking leads together. In doing so, their fiery attraction sparks and ignites.

The story takes a turn as the couple explores their newfound attraction and their affair finds themselves in all sorts of compromising situations - most notably on a Mahoney desk! Tristan is in hot pursuit to have Leonora as his wife, his "Lady Chosen", however she resists and refuses his offer of marriage. She long ago had set aside any plans for marriage and cherishes her independence and freedom to act as she wishes. Surrounded by academic men who rely on her to run the household, she has become set in her ways and marriage ideas put to rest long ago - until Tristan. But Tristan is not one to not get what he wants, and he wants Leonora.

The story clearly jumps from a mystery to a passionate affair quite abruptly. The focus of the story pivoting suddenly in this manner is almost like reading two stories in one. Once the love affair consummates the mystery of the break-ins, so crucial in the first few chapters, falls to the wayside. Ms. Lauren's deftly picks up soon after, but a meshing of these two storylines or at least a more subtle turn would be my only complaint to this wonderfully entertaining story.

Stephanie Lauren's has written a sizzling and sexy story of passion and love. The characters jump off the pages, and their attraction undeniable. I'm looking forward to the next in this series, due on September 2003, entitled A GENTLEMAN'S HONOR which will tell the story of Anthony Blake, Viscount Torrington and his bride.

**Cynster fans will be surprised and delighted to see a brief appearance by Devil Cynster himself in LADY CHOSEN.

Usually, these sort of books make me stay up all night to finish. I knew that this wasn't going well when I kept thinking, "oh, I should go to sleep" and when I looked at the clock, I realized it was an hour before my bedtime!

The plot is ho-hum and the main characters are quite annoying. Well, Leanora is annoying -- Tristian is not well sketched enough to be annoying. He's just "blah". I had no interest in the two of them getting together - and, frankly, there was no reason for them NOT to get together. The only conflict in the book was the break-ins taking place in their neighborhood and that plot was not compelling at all.

There were certain things I didn't understand -- Leonara just casually walks everywhere by herself, without a chaperone and justifies it by saying she is 26. Well, I'm not history expert but I don't think that the rules were lax on older women back then - most novels set in that period state that only widowed women were allowed freedom to travel without chaperones - and even then it was frowned upon.

The mystery is so-so and not very engrossing - in fact it just detracts from the Tristian/Leanora story. The book is also way too long -- I found myself skimming through pages of dialogue about the mystery, etc.

The reason I have to give it 2 stars is because I did actually finish the book (which I cannot say for all books) and because I enjoyed the premise - 7 men coming back from war and thinking that the Ton is worse than Waterloo.

I will probably may try to read at least one more "Bastion Club" book, but only because I can get them all from my library. I would never buy this set.

I like most of my fellow reviewers must admit that although Ms. Laurens is a author that pick up simply because her name is on the cover I must also admit that if I had read the previous reviews I might not have jumped right out and gotten the book.

The story was just a little too long (I'd say at least 100 pages too long) and took too long for the story to develop. I was excited about the fact that Tony from "Captain Jack's women" was going to finally get his story within this series and since I so enjoyed the Cynster series I eagerly looked forward to this one.

The chemistry between Tristan and Leonora just was not there and I also wondered what the attraction was for either one of them. Both characters seemed one dimensional. Tristan had so much potential and so I was sad that he just didn't come alive for me like her other characters. I admit that the reason I kept turning the pages was I was waiting for the story to pick up and the sparks to fly between the two main characters. I also kept reading because Ms. Laurens took the time to write the story I figuered the least I could do was read it.

If you are new to Ms. Laurens don't let this review or others about this book scare you off. She is a very talented author and well worth reading. This is just not one of her better stories.