Customer Reviews

Rogues' Reform

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

 

 

This book is actually 3 separately titled novels by Stephanie Laurens. The first "The Reasons For Marriage" (1994): Jason, Duke of Eversleigh has finally determined that it is time that he wed. His future bride should be intelligent, able to hostess large gatherings with ease, run his households with efficiency, willing to stay in the country, bear him an heir and a spare, and allow him to return to his previous lifestyle in London. Easy right? Well he found that and more in Miss Lenore Lester. She has been managing her father's and brother's financial affairs, hostessing all of their parties, and running their estate for eleven years. When Jason meets Lenore, he finds that she's the perfect woman to be his Duchess, but what he finds out is that his 'reasons for marriage' are not all they're cracked up to be, and when he falls in love with her, they matter not at all.

In "A Lady of Expectations" (1995), Jack Lester decided that it's his turn to take a wife, only he wants someone like his sister Lenore, a perfect hostess, attractive, and comfortable to live with. But, he must find one soon, before the matchmaking mammas find out the the Lester fortunes have been restored! He goes to a party given by Lady Asforby, an old family friend, and meets Sophia Winterton and sees his destiny. Sophie feels his gaze from the other side of the room and is captivated, until she finds out that he needs to marry an heiress, which she is not, and fights his attentions all the way. How will he convince her that he doesn't need an heiress, that all he needs is her?

"An Unwilling Conquest" (1996) finds Harry Lester running from the Season and from the matron's who want him for their daughters. What he finds instead is an upturned carriage with the most beautiful pair of blues eyes that need rescuing. When Mrs. Lucinda Babbacombe sees the strong hand reaching into the carriage to pull her out, she is struck by a sensation she has never felt before. Being a widow and fairly experienced, this confuses her, until she realizes that he feels the same reaction and is fighting it. How does she face this 'unwilling conquest' and make him understand that what they feel is magic and they will be together forever? Only love will show the way, together with a few interfering friends and relatives!!

I loved this book...being that I'm a very fast reader, a book of this length was a wonderful way to really 'sink' my teeth into. I love Stephanie Laurens, anything she writes is a keeper!!

Very good - three distinct love stories set in Regency Englandfocused on the pursuit of marriage by commanding heroes facingdetermined resistance. Smart, engaging, passionate - overall, a good read.

If you like romances with strong characters (think Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz, Julie Garwood), you should enjoy this. However, I would suggest a more recent effort, "Devil's Bride", if you've never read Laurens before.

For long-time fans, this novel is a re-release of three previously published titles about the Lester family (Lenore, Jack, Harry): Reasons for Marriage (1994), A Lady of Expectations (1995), and An Unwilling Conquest (1996).

I have mixed feelings about this anthology. First and foremost I must state that Ms. Laurens is an excellent writer and an extremely consistent one. I have yet to read anything of hers that was out and out bad. The three stories contained in this book were well written and enjoyable to read...(Here comes the "but")...but they were short Regency style stories and not usually what I expect from her. After reading and being kept mesmerized by her Cynaster series, (all full length books), I was a bit disappointed in the content of each of the Lester stories. Each account had some sort of MISUNDERSTANDING and I got very frustrated by this. At one point I just felt like screaming and saying, "damn it, just TALK to one another and you'll solve all your problems! ".

The Lesters were reluctant to marry and these are their stories, which are basically about how to convince them otherwise. This led to a bit of a monotonous dialogue, and plotline. We had the three plotlines that could be written about: the female who doesn't want to marry but a male suitor who needs to start a family, a male who doesn't really want to marry but has to for family reasons, and the male who doesn't want to marry at all but falls in love nonetheless. In each story the hero and heroine have a problem communicating. The plots are very thin, revolving around the marriage issue, with a little suspense thrown in for good measure. I am just used to intricate plots and wonderful sensuality in Ms. Laurens books and I found both lacking here.

I had not realized that these were all previously released stories and just rereleased in this anthology. By all means, pick this up for short reading bursts (like at the beach or a trip) because the writing is better than 95% of the books out there, just do not expect the typical (later) Ms. Lauren's fare.

Stephanie Laurens fans who have looked for the Lester family stories for years are in luck, as ROGUE'S REFORM is a 3-in-1 combo book showcasing the Lester family. Long out of print, many fans have been unable to locate copies of these books and consequently will be very pleased with ROGUE'S REFORM. Although these stories don't sizzle as much as Lauren's other series, the Cynster family stories, they are very nice regencies.

Rogues' Reform is a collection of three of Ms Laurent's earlier works. These older novels are so hard to find, and I've never read one of the titles in this trilogy. The novels, The Reasons for Marriage, A Lady of Expectations, and An Unwilling Conquest, tell the stories of the Lester family. Written with Ms Laurens' usual humor in a Regency setting, the adventures of Lenore, Jack and Harry are hard to put down. A definite bargain at the price! Just the thing to whet your appetite until the release of #5 (A Secret Love) in the Bar Cynster series in July. Happy Reading!

Rogues' Reform contains three complete novels by the Bar Cynster author. For accuracy of the period, there are few authors to beat Stephanie Laurens, and although less 'raunchy' than her later books, each book is a delightful read. They individually chronicle the journey into love and marriage (or in the case of the first book, "The Reasons for Marriage" the other way around) of the Lester sibblings, Lenore, Jack and Harry. "A Lady of Expectations" is Jack's story, Sophie is the lady in question, looking for a wealthy husband as she is no heiress. The best of them all is "An Unwilling Conquest", which is Harry's story. Leaving town to avoid the machinations of match-making mamas following the revellation of the fortune recently inherited by the two Lester brothers, Harry determines he won't fall into any woman's clutches. Ah well, not two miles out of Newmarket, on the way to the races, he meets Lucinda Babbacombe. All in all, a lovely read.

The three novels in this collection were all published by Mills and Boon, the UK imprint of Harlequin, in the mid-90s, and I had actually read them then and noted Laurens as one of the better exponents of the Regency short novel. As a result of re-reading them in this collection I have now ordered her Bar Cynster series; I can only hope that it's as good as these and that she hasn't fallen into the trap of sacrificing sex scenes for historical accuracy.

The collection concerns three members of the same family: the Lesters, who have fallen on hard times. Jack, the oldest and heir to the estates, Harry, and their sister Lenore.

My favourite of the three is The Reasons For Marriage, in which Lenore finds herself the choice of Jason, Duke of Eversleigh. She can't imagine why he's sought her out and wants to marry her, but to Jason it's simple: she isn't a silly debutante, and she understands the demands of running an estate and a large house. She's not interested in spending months on end in London either, so he thinks he can leave her in Eversleigh Abbey while he enjoys himself elsewhere. Lenore agrees eventually, and assumes that there is no chance of love in a marriage like this in which Jason has made his reasons for wanting her so clear. But during an idyllic honeymoon, she begins to hope that perhaps his feelings have changed... And so does Jason, but he lacks the courage to put his feelings into words.

There is some wonderful angst in this book, made even better by the very satisfying lead-up to the ending. I loved it!

Then there's A Lady of Expectations, Jack's story. Jack is no longer poor, but as yet the secret isn't out. He wants to find a bride before all the marriage-minded mamas find out about his new-found fortune and descend on him with predatory intent. One day, out riding in the country, he spies a beautiful young woman with golden hair, and determines to make her his. Sophie is attracted to him too, but her guardian makes it plain to Jack that he is not to rush her. She is to have her Season first, before he ties her down. Sophie, however, believes that the reason he is holding back is that he desperately needs to marry money, and she has none. Some misunderstandings, lots of romance and a degree of sensual tension, and lots of traditional Regency atmosphere - lovely!

Finally, there is Harry's story, An Unwilling Conquest. Harry, having watched Jack walk willingly into matrimony, is determined to stay well away from eligible young women and their matchmaking mamas. So he heads off to Newmarket, only to find himself rescuing a couple of damsels in distress. Lucinda, a beautiful young widow, arouses his protective instincts, and he finds himself, very reluctantly, offering his services to her in the conduct of her business. In fact, not only offering, but insisting! And he can't help finding himself irrestibly attracted to her. Perhaps a discreet affair will do? But then he discovers that he's actually taken her virginity. When he offers to marry her purely as recompense, however, Lucinda rejects him out of anger and hurt. She loves him, but will he ever come to love her in return?

A great Laurens anthology, which is well worth acquiring.

This is 3 novels that were originally Harlequins released in the U.K.; (1) 'The Reasons for Marriage', (2) 'A Lady of Expectations', & (3) 'An Unwilling Conquest'. They are all Regency romances about the Lester family. I read the 1st one last spring, the story of Lenora the oldest sister & honestly don't remember it all that well. I do remember that although I enjoyed it, it didn't impress me enough to go ahead & start the second one.
Well, maybe I'm just in a different frame of mind, but I totally enjoyed the 2nd one, A Lady of Expectations. It is not really what I expected from SL, but since I was not all that impressed with her 'Once Upon....' books, that's quite alright. This one was a light read, the sensuality was much more subtle but totally enjoyable. The humor wasn't lol funny, it was also subtle - but made me grin often. It did contain the big 'communication problem' & misunderstaning plot - but this one didn't annoy me like most of them do.
I loved Jack (our hero); his determined wooing of Sophie was wonderful. His personality was so easy to fall in love with; although he was totally confused by Sophie's abrupt change of attitude, he still treated her with respect & I just loved the very mature way he handled everyone around him. Sophie was a mature & very responsible lady & with one goofy exception, she also treated Jack with respect & tried to maintain their friendship even when she thought she couldn't possibly marry him.
Also included in the story was a cute side story about Sophie's cousin & her beau, along with a small problem to handle. I do wish that the other 2 Lester's had been a little more prominent in the story, but at least there were a number of secondary characters that added a good touch to the story. I think I'll be putting this one on my keepers shelf. If you can enjoy subtle humor, sweet romance instead of sex, & small problems instead of huge ones, then I believe you'll enjoy 'A Lady of Expectations'.

ROGUE'S REFORM, as a display of Stephanie Lauren's forte in historical romance is unjustified, because I am sure she can do better than this. The plot stringed by 3 stories of the Lester family is crepe-thin and monotonous except for the last story of Harry Lester, which featured an intelligent and feisty widow Lucinda in AN UNWILLING CONQUEST, redeemed the faltering plots evident in the other stories. The 2 other stories namely the Reasons of Marriage and A Lady of Expectations, aims for a Jane Austen style romance - but fails disappointingly to captivate without a trace of humour and satire. It is immensely shallow for a story to be dragged - when the problems between the couple was just communication. There is no excitement and this book literally put me to sleep with its verbose language.

The trademark sensuality? I think this book is sterile of that - and the forgettable stories have a lack of traits to distinguish themselves. Which was a pity - the third story held more bone and grit, with both Harry and Lucinda playing the seduction game with wits that sparkle. If there is anything that needs reforming, the other two stories should be in my consideration. ROGUE'S REFORM needs a major surgery in terms of its plot and prose.

I had read so many reviews regarding the writing skills of Stephanie Laurens, that I finally decided to part ways with other romance writers that had not been living up to their (and mine) usual standards to give this one a try. Maybe I should have not started exploring her work through this book, or expected three great reads for the price of one. Three early novels from Ms. Laurens compose the collection: "The Reasons for Marriage", "A Lady of Expectations" and finally "An Unwilling Conquest." What seems to tie these stories together is the fact that they all deal with the misapprehensions of the three elder Lester siblings to enter into the holy sacrament of marriage. What really makes them relate is their inability to truly engage the reader into the lives of the main characters.

In order of appearance, Lenore and Jason's story has been done so many times that one tires of always reading the same plot line and obstacles that stand in the way of happiness. Everything could have been solved a lot sooner if the characters only trusted and confided in each other more, and expressed their thoughts and emotions.

For Jack, Lenore's elder brother, and Sophia, same rule applies. Communication is severely lacking in these relationships and stories. All the characters seem to have been cut with the same scissors to fill a remarkably look-a-like pattern. Although in the first story Jack and Harry make their appearance, one does not like them very much because they do not seem to have any redeeming qualities at all. And I thought that since they were all siblings, I would be getting to know them better in the ensuing stories, since character development was missing for all. Not a chance, we readers were deprived of that innate right. They do mention them casually, but nothing that would serve our purpose.

Last, Harry and Lucinda's stories, the best one of the lot, partly because communication did not represent that big an issue, but a looming threat that dared to want to rob the witty widow's very live. This was an adventure and worth the read, although don't get your hopes up, it is not 5 star rating material either.

This does not mean I will stop reading Ms. Laurens' books, since I already have in store the daring and so very acclaimed Cynster series. I hope these books will prove me wrong in my assumptions.