They proved their bravery fighting for His Majesty's Secret Service and were rewarded with brides of great beauty and breeding. But one member of the Bastion Club has remained a bachelor . . . until now.

"Christian, I need your help. There is no one else I can turn to . . . L."

When Christian Allardyce, 6th Marquess of Dearne, reads those words, his world turns upside down. Lady Letitia Randall is a woman like no other, and the day he left her behind to fight for king and country was the most difficult of his life. He never forgot the feel of her lips against his, but never expects to see her again. Yet now she seeks his help, and Christian knows he will not resist her plea.

Letitia believes that Christian abandoned her when she needed him most, and she hates to call on his aid. But to clear her brother's name, she has sworn to use every weapon at her command, even if it means seducing her ex-lover. Yet all the while, Christian is waging a war of his own—a campaign of pure pleasure and sweet revenge that will take them both beyond the edge of desire.

Customer Rating:
Summary: excellent
Comment: Stephanie Laurens is an intelligent writer who holds your interest while keeping the romance alive. I recommend the complete Bastion Club series.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not so great...
Comment: I am usually a huge Stephanie Laurens fan. However, in this one book, I am not.

The female character is very hard to like. She is made out to be highly rude and obnoxious. The whole "Vaux" mentality to me makes her very unlikable.

Also, the thousands of references to "the Vaux" got really old by about the 12th page. I almost didn't finish the book I was so disappointed.

So, pick up anyone of her other books and you will have a great read. This one, not so much.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: As a long-time fan of Stephanie Laurens, I have read all the Bastion Club books out of a sense of loyalty but I'm glad this one is the next to last as the slow pace, one-dimensional characters and obvious plot devices are not consistent with her better writing elsewhere.

Like another reviewer, I thought the sex scenes were way too long and boring. Even more boring were the constant, and I do mean constant, thoughts of the hero and heroine about their willingness or unwillingess to cede control to the other. Enough already! The worst was the structure of the last two-thirds of the book: the hero and heroine go out to interview actors in the drama, then come back to repeat it all to the Bastion Club members, then they all discuss what they have just learned, then they say what needs to be done next, then they do it, then recount it....etc. You get the picture, repetitious beyond belief. At times, I thought I was reading Dickens who was paid by the word.

I thought the information about Dalziel at the end was one of the few redeeming elements of the book; regular readers have been waiting long enough to find this out! On the other hand, I wasn't able to buy into the conspiracy of silence about him which, as described, reminded me of the prohibition against saying the name of G-d in some religions. As it turned out, what we find out at the end doesn't seem to be consistent with that great and deep veil of secrecy. But perhaps the last book in the series (due out in fall 2009) will clarify this point.

Bottom line: Save your money and read the story of Devil in the Cynster books (the best of the lot, in my humble opinion).

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Last Bastian of the Club
Comment: I am a big fan of the Bastion club and I eagerly awaited this last(?) book. I know we have at least one more. The muddle of misunderstanding and betrayal - on both sides - seemed just not quite up to the usual standards but I found both our hero and heroine people I would have liked to know. The Vieux temper - and its susequent consequences makes you wonder if they just liked the dramatics. I certainly did. But as always you have Daziel and the others helping out the new couple and finally we see that the club has done what it was started for. I will be sorry to see it go...if it goes. Worth the time and the puzzle.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Would you mind writing a full sentence, please?
Comment: I like romance novels, especially after a long week at work. I grabbed this one from my mother's stash and settled in to relax.

It is, however, somewhat difficult to relax when all you can concentrate on when reading a novel is that the author clearly has a problem writing full sentences, or fractured sentences that make precious little sense. I have yet to finish the book, but I would venture to guess that a fairly large chunk of the novel is fashioned from these fractured sentences. The characters are difficult to empathize with, and the Vaux anger management issues are done to death within 50 pages. We get it, you yell a lot. Let's move on, shall we? Perhaps we can talk about something pertinent, like the dead guy and why no one noticed his various blatant shortcomings.

Add to all of that the fact that Letitia is, as other readers have stated, really kind of irritating, and this is not a book I would recommend. Christian's alright, if occasionally stupid. I suppose I'll finish the novel, if only for "closure", but Ms. Laurens missed the mark on this one.

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