Customer Reviews

Mastered By Love (Bastion Club)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Finally, after so many wonderful stories we come to Dalziel. And that may be the source of some of my difficulty with the finale. Expectations that are raised way too high to be met. I like Dalziel so much that of course I expect much of his story. Fortunately I was very satisfied with his lady. Minerva Chesterton was raised by his parents from the age of six and for the last eleven years she has served as Wolverstone's chatelaine. But she has been fascinated and infatuated with Royce nearly all her life. As a little girl she followed him all over the estate and even got a bit of early sex education when she was eight by spying on him with the blacksmith's daughter. She loves every inch of Wolverstone and its people. Since Dalziel has been banished for 16 years she knows more about the running of Wolverstone than he does. She has also made deathbed promises to his parents to bring him up to speed and see him settled as Duke. There could be no better duchess for Wolverstone than Minerva.

My problem was with the plot. Dalziel is told that he must marry immediately because Prinny is so short of money that he is tempted to kill Dalziel so he can take back all his estates and his money. This is the thanks he gets after serving for so many years! I thought this was the most ignorant plot device I have ever read bar none. How can Prinny possibly pull this off since the whole ton knows about it? Nevertheless all the grand dames tramp out to Wolverstone to demand he marry immediately. They actually make up a list of women and tell him to pick one right this minute. This is Dalziel we are talking about. I expected him to raise one eyebrow and give them the Ducal glare. Let's not forget that Dalziel has not socialized in 16 years so doesn't really know any of the current crop of women. He was just expected to choose a woman and announce her name without asking her how she felt about it either. The grand dames were so adamant about it that they actually sat on their suit cases and threatened not to leave Wolverstone until he obeyed them.

Every time these woman made a new demand I was just outraged. Completely outraged. Dalziel would NEVER stand for such a thing. But Ms. Laurens has him meekly agree to let them know the name within one week. I really hate it when an author has a character act completely out of character. Not only was the plot device too stupid for words but Dalziel would never have tolerated being given an ultimatum from anyone, much less a pack of meddlesome women. This almost ruined the story for me. Dalziel had to rush his romancing of Minerva because these women kept sending messages about what they were going to do next if he didn't comply. And he never makes a peep about how dare they, or what right did they have, or who did they think they were or anything else. Is this the Dalziel we know?

I just had to close my mind to all that and concentrate on the developing love story. That was reasonably satisfying, more or less the typical Laurens. There were no surprises. You know the man is going to be surprised to find himself falling in love and the woman is going to refuse to marry just because he took her virginity. Many times I was reminded of Devil's story, probably one of my favorite Laurens novels, second only to his father's story. Just because I don't think the author was completely true to the character we know as Dalziel doesn't mean the book isn't worth reading. This is just my personal opinion and shouldn't keep anyone else from enjoying the latest offering from Stephanie Laurens. (Unless you're as outraged as I was, then all bets are off.)

Several reviews have also mentioned disappointment with the way the last traitor was handled. I felt the same way but this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story the way the above mentioned ultimatum did. Actually the resolution of the traitor was kind of thrown in at the last minute. The identity of the traitor is revealed to us early in the story. He seems so weak and ineffective that you will find it hard to believe he has evaded the great Dalziel and the Bastion Club members for so many years. The last traitor also leads me to my last complaints about the book. These are spoilers so don't read the next paragraph if you want to be surprised.

The end of the book feels very rushed. Minerva ends up actually saving Dalziel's life yet he never mentions it or even thanks her. Also thrown in at the end--Dalziel has guessed that their lovemaking has had the predictable result but Minerva never tells him the happy news nor is that discussed between them. These are conversations I would have liked to hear. With so many complaints you may wonder why I still give it four stars. It IS a good book and I doubt Laurens many fans will be disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high and others will not have any problems with the plot devices. I didn't think her rating should suffer just because I believed Dalziel would have acted differently than she did. Too bad we can't ask Dalziel! It is a testament to Ms. Laurens skill that her characters come so alive for us and that we grow so attached to them as to argue about how they would behave.

Stephanie Laurens' Bastion Club series of novels have generally been good reads, and 'Mastered by Love' was no different. Focusing on the spymaster, Dalziel, it follows his first few months as the new Duke of Wolverstone following the unexpected death of his father. Estranged for sixteen years, Dalziel/Royce regrets that he didn't have a chance to repair matters with his father, especially as his work as a spymaster had finished and he would shortly have been returning home.

When Royce returns to his home, Wolverstone, he finds everything ably managed by his chatelaine, Minerva Chesterton. He remembers Minerva as a young girl when he left, one who followed him around; she has grown up rather considerably in the intervening sixteen years and runs his home ably. When society requires Royce to marry, he is given a list of possible brides. However, he very quickly realises that Miranda is the woman for him - only will he be able to persuade her?

What was particularly good about this book was the way in which Stephanie Laurens described Royce taking up the mantle of duke and learning how his estate works, relating with his tenants and carrying out the daily business of a duke. His relationship with Minerva was believable, if occasionally requiring a few stretches of imagination. What didn't work for me was the sub-plot of the baddie, the final traitor that Royce has been hunting; very little book space was given to this part of the plot so it felt rather rushed, as if it were included just to create some kind of dramatic tension at the end. Still, overall it was a good enough read, with some nods toward historicity even if the behaviour of some characters felt a little unlikely.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

I struggled to finish this book in the hopes it would get better. The first hundred pages were an excellent set up for a compelling book. Over the Bastion series, Dalziel was set up as a complex and interesting character - a master of manipulation and strategy. In the opening pages of Mastered By Love he's also a sympathetic character, rushing home after his estranged father dies unexpectedly. Minerva is established as a capable and mature person, the estate's second in command. It would seem the reader is about to embark on a tale of emotional complexity. She's not.

There are about a hundred or so pages of less than erotic sex. Dalziel decides, for no real reason, that he cannot be honest with her until she's granted him complete physical submission. Ok, whatever - so she does. For pages, and pages, and pages. He feasts on breasts and she turns "sopping wet" and it's all boring as anything while the story grinds to a complete halt. What about the last traitor? What about the allegedly dire (and actually both plausible and interesting) plot from the crown that's forcing Dalziel to marry? It's lost in crimson silk sheets and the declarations of ducal beds and possession.

Then it's the last fifty pages and time to cram all the plot points in. Who could the traitor be? Well, since only one non-employed, non-befriended male character is mentioned by name, I wonder...... Right, but the traitor only gears up in the last pages where he swiftly puts his plot into action and talks endlessly through the whole thing. "First I'll rape her, then I'll kill her, no I'll cut her to pieces, no, I'll...." Seriously. Just like that. And it is preceded by all the past heroines saying her man won't tell Minerva he loves her until her Life Is In Peril. So duh, he HAS to kidnap her or they will Never Know Love, right? While the villain is doing everything but wringing his hands and declaring "MwaHaHa!" rescue is attempted! Which leads our villain to whisper ALL HIS OPTIONS into the heroine's ear. No, seriously, he does. Down to when he could or could not reload his firearm. This is supposed to be proof of his insanity, but is the final nail in the "Oh for ...." coffin of the reader's interest and suspension of disbelief.

Filled with verbal tics (First you'll tire of reading the word Varisey, then crimson silk sheets, then....) and laughably staged peril, this end to an otherwise decent series is just a chore. Pages and pages and pages of detailed sex substitute for a rich and involved story. In it's place, the author delivers several pages where Dalziel just tells Minerva things. I don't have the book in front of me, but it reads like "He told her of his work, of the long hours, of the danger, of the friends he made and the bonds they shared, of the setbacks, and trials" (Hey, all of that might have made a great book!) And she's all "Wow, I really understand you now and love you even more!" At one point, in bed, she actually asks if the gift he wanted to give her was really the sex they just had. Yes, she does. I've read every book by Stephanie Laurens but I think it's time for us to break up. If Mastered By Love had been my first book by her I would have never picked up a second. And that's sad, because we've spent some great time together. (The final Cynster novel was almost the last book for us, maybe it's better to read her series without finishing them?)

I love the Cynsters and the Bastion Club! Dalziel was my favorie from the start. You just knew he would have his own story and that he was so much more than he appeared. I won't go into the plot, others have done that very ably, but I will comment on the characters. I liked that Devil Cynster was in a number of the Bastion Club books. All of these men are presented to us as Alpha male macho brute studs, dangerous but very elegant and brilliant. The Bastion Club wives and Minerva are strong intelligent and beautiful, and their men make it clear their minds are more important than the physical beauty. I still enjoy this formula that Stephanie Laurens uses. I enjoyed this book, but was slightly disappointed as regards "the last traitor". It seemed like there should have been more. I like the erotic tension between Minerva and Royce; and the stress the grand dames bring to the situation, but I don't quite understand how they could force someone like Dalziel/Royce to pick a wife in the way they did. Fortunately, the author saved this situation by not making Royce cave to their demands. He picks his bride in his own way, and to some extent in his own time, if not the time he had originally hoped to have for such a selection. I felt in some ways, the grand dames helped direct him to Minerva.

Visualization is really important to me. I picture Devil and his brother and cousins as the same kind of men as the Bastion Club members, and especially Dalziel/Royce, being like Devil. So . . . what in the world were they thinking when they came up with a cover that depicts a 37 year old godlike hunk of dangerous intellignet man and Duke as something that looks more like a foppy teenager? I hate this cover! It made me question my visions of these men and wonder if I really understood what the author intended these men to represent. I was the second person in line when one of the local Barnes & Noble stores opened the morning of the 28th. The other customer and I as well as two of the clerks had the same reaction to the cover, "So where is Dalziel/Royce??", "What WAS Stephanie thinking?". This was one of the WORST covers of all time!

I hope we will see all of these characters again in some other stories. They are all too good to just end. Over all, this was a very good read.

From Stephanie Laurens first 'Bastion Club' novel, I've been fascinated by Dalziel. Finally, in "Mastered By Love", I get his story and it's a doozy. Why and how he became a 'shadow' in society and head of the British spies makes for a wonderful read and the woman he falls for is not at all what he expected.

Minerva has been the chatelaine of Wolverstone Castle for many years now. Informally adopted by the Duke's family after the death of her parents and raised with all the privileges of their name and family, she's never forgotten what she feels she 'owes' them. She was always fascinated by the heir, Royce, and her life lost color after his banishment. But deathbed promises are no small matter, and Minerva promised BOTH of Royce's parents (at separate times) to stay and help Royce settle into the Dukedom after his long absence. Of course, one of his first tasks MUST be to ensure the succession and once he marries, Minerva plans to leave. If she can only keep her heart safe until then!

Royce...how strange to use that name again after all this time. But oh, this is NOT how he imagined returning home would be. His plans were already made, but his father's sudden death means his learning curve will be steep and painful. How could he have forgotten Minerva? Well, in his defense, he doesn't remember her looking like THIS! But he knows his duty and it's to marry some cold, dutiful peeress who will breed his heir and a spare and then live their own life without bothering him. But after seeing his Bastion Club operatives find love and happiness, why does this plan seem so wrong? And even if he changes his mind, can he convince Minerva? And don't forget, there's still that last traitor to catch!

If you enjoy Laurens' writing style, you'll love "Mastered By Love". She does tend to be a bit wordy (!), but I still mainline her books as soon as they're released. This one may not be my favorite Bastion Club book, but it's close. Royce is such a complicated character and his relationship with Minerva is every bit of everything he had coming. Their attraction and the dilemma of tradition resonate on every page. Laurens can write breath-taking love scenes, if a bit long, but then again, sometimes longer is better, eh?

I was a bit disappointed with the sideline story of the last traitor. For something that played so largely in earlier books, it seemed a bit of a sidenote here. The majority of the book is ALL about Royce and Minerva and the danger of the traitor is really only expressed towards the very end and wrapped up fairly quickly. For Cynster fans, Devil makes a few appearances! Dalziel/Royce's 'wooing' is not to be missed and even with its quirks, this book will go on my keeper shelf with the rest of the Bastion Club series.

I have to say this last volume in the Bastion Club series was, for me, more than somewhat disappointing. Like others, I have been waiting for the culmination of the series with Dalziel's own story and the unmasking of the last traitor.
I found the book to be slow and wordy, and the actual identity and motives of the traitor to be unworthy of the rest of the series. He, the traitor, appeared to me to be a of very weak character and just not capable of the type of treasonable plotting that had taken place earlier.
While this book successfully tied up all the loose ends of the series, I found the final 'bundle' to be messy and less than convincing.

On a different note - I also found the book physically difficult to hold, with the stiffer half front cover and then the very thin secondary cover. The second one, not the first, needed to be of the heavier weight in order to be able to hold it comfortable in one's hand. There was nothing to grip!

As in many of the previous reviews, I was disappointed by this book. After waiting many years for Dalziel's story and the resolution of the traitor, I honestly felt cheated. The book was well worth reading - and I did enjoy it - but so much was left out. I enjoyed seeing Devil, but missed the rest of the Bastion group. In each of the prior Bastion novels, we had appearances - and assistance - from one or more of the other Bastion club members. In this book, the club members only appeared at the end (with the exception of several of the Bastion wives - which was enjoyable, I admit) and it was very brief. One of the club members did appear (Jack), but only as a delivery method for some of the wives and was not instrumental in the plot.

What was the Bastion club member's reaction to finding out who Dalziel was? That was a key portion of the story line throughout the prior books. But there is nothing about that and we are left to fill that in however we wish.

There was no suspense in this novel - the traitor was barely a hiccup and seemed to be thrown in just so that the issue could be resolved. And he was not believable at all - very ineffective and I really couldn't see him being responsible for several years worth of out-smarting Dalziel. The only "suspense" per se, was how Dalziel reacts to the order from the ton's female leaders to wed immediately. Not very believable - nor was his reaction to hearing that Prinny was thinking about annexing his heritage.

And what happened to Dalziel?? This was not the same Dalziel that I had grown to love from the previous books. The few situations where his original personality could have appeared were only spoken of in the past tense. For example: " `...I always thought our husbands treated him with a respect that was somewhat overstated - as if they credited him with more power, more ability, than he or any man could possibly have.' ... `After seeing him in action downstairs, I've revised my opinion.' .... ` It was more of a case of everyone being suddenly reminded of the Wolverstone family emblem - that it has teeth.' " I would have loved to have read that conversation.

All in all, it was worth reading, but I was surprised that it was so superficial. I'm used to more from Ms. Laurens' books.

Really, I expected that at least Dalziel would have a slightly different story from the others of the Bastion Club. It seems to me that all these men are interchangeable and all their love interests ditto. And enough already with the ten+ page romantic interludes. A paragraph would get it across to me. If I don't skip Ms. Laurens' love scenes and try to read them I get all mixed up in what on earth is going on where and frankly don't really even care.

At long last, Stephanie Laurens has released the conclusion to her popular Bastion Club series. Mastered by Love is the story of Dalziel, aka Royce Varisey. The head spymaster who directed the Bastion club members from Whitehall during the conflict with Napoleon.

For such an aggressive man, I found the story surprisingly passive. Aggressive emotionally--and sexually-- perhaps but passive in terms of the action that normally infuses the Bastion Club novels. The suspense and danger was thrown in at the very end, but the focus was on Royce's struggles to adjust to being a duke--and to convince his bride of choice to accept him.

I have a weakness for finale books and must have the obligatory glimpse of characters from previous installments to make a series feel complete. Laurens delivers that with glimpses not only of Bastion club members but also a few main Cynsters.

Although I really loved Minerva, I found the other characters a little too shallow compared to Laurens's normal characterization. That, combined with the lack of suspense and intrigue normally found in the series, adds to a twinge of disappointment . The romance, though, I considered a bit better--more compelling--than some of the previous installments.

Readers who enjoy the Bastion Club series primarily because of the action will likely be disappointed. But for fans of the series, it's worth reading just to see Royce as himself--and to watch someone normally so supremely confident have to work his way through uncertainty and emotional vulnerability.

Others have stated all the obvious reasons this last in the Bastion Club series lacks the buildup over the years on Dalziel's character. Oh well, with all the good authors of old falling by the wayside and delivering shabby work, it's no surprise this author has joined them. Won't be buying more of her books.