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Mastered by Love

A Bastion Club Novel

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Mastered by Love

By: Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
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About this listen

The men of the Bastion Club proved their bravery secretly fighting for their country. Now their leader faces the most dangerous mission of all: finding a bride.

As the mysterious leader of the Bastion Club, known as “Dalziel,” Royce Varisey, tenth Duke of Wolverstone, served his country for decades, facing dangers untold. But as the holder of one of England’s most august noble titles, he must now take on the gravest duty of all: marriage.

Yet the young ladies the grande dames would have him consider are predictably boring. Far more tempting is his castle’s willful and determinedly aloof chatelaine, Minerva Chesterton. Beneath her serene façade lies a woman of smoldering sensuality, one who will fill his days with comfort and his nights with sheer pleasure. Determined to claim her, he embarks on a seduction to prove his mastery over every inch of her body - and every piece of her heart.

Stephanie Laurens began writing as an escape from the dry world of professional science. Her hobby quickly became a career when her novels captivated readers around the globe, making her one of the romance world’s most beloved and popular authors. She has been writing for more than twenty years and is a New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author.

©2009 Savdek Management Proprietory Ltd (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance Heartfelt

Critic reviews

“An outstanding story of love, honor, and commitment. The characters’ behavior reflects the deepest meanings of these words. The depth and intensity of their feelings show what romance and love really mean.” ( Romantic Times, Top Pick)
“Laurens brings her Bastion Club series to a splendid conclusion with the story of the club leader’s own romantic comeuppance. Composed of equal measures of sexy romance and dangerous intrigue, Mastered by Love is irresistible.” ( Booklist)
“Erotically specific yet emotionally touching and infinitely romantic, this electrically charged, danger-tinged romance deliciously concludes Laurens’ Bastion Club series.” ( Library Journal)
All stars
Most relevant
Really great book, with a really excellent couple of protagonists and a fun plot when I read it on its own a few years ago. Having now read some of the others that precede it in the series I would have preferred a bit more of a ‘criminal tracing’ plot and a little less sex.
For this rendition I had to work to get over the narrators terrible simpering and or sneering female characterisations though. No woman comes off well, but the way he portrayed the men was all good. Having read the paperback of this book years ago, Minerva comes across much better when reading her words rather than hearing them via this particular narrator.

Excellent story but narrator ruins all female characters

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This was the story I was looking forward to the most out of all in this series but unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment. I thought there was going to be a really exciting plot and Royce would be investigating to try and catch the last Traitor, but there wasn't a plot at all except for the last hour of listening. It dragged on and on with Royce trying to seduce and win over Minerva. I do like the sex scenes very much but basically, that's all this story contained. So it got a bit boring. The best part was the last hour after 14 hours of mainly sex and everyday life at the castle. The previous book of Christian and Letitia was my favourite.
The narrator was much better this time.

A bit of a disappointed

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I love Stephanie Laurens books - super sexy - so happy to listen to it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The story of the hero and heroine and the development of their relationship very strong.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

When telling the story the narrator was good but the voices of Royce and Minerva were painfully wrong. It just doesn't do them justice. Far too fruity.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

It is a shame that voices were so off.

Great story, voices wrong

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A very good story, with lots of tension and a satisfying culmination of the search for a traitor which has run through the series.
However, cook
Lately ruined for me by the narrator - he really cannot do women. If the heroine and other female characters spoke in the manner given them by the narrator I would have thought the hero would have been more likely to have arranged their deaths rather than the traitor’s. Such a shame and made the book really difficult to engage with at times

Ruined by narration

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The story was okay, and I liked both of the leading characters and their interplay but the narrator was just awful. He just cannot do female voices without them sounding like either elderly pantomime dames or Emily from Little Britain (a comedic transvestite man for those who don’t know). Some of his male voices were also questionable - Devil Cynster sounded like a fribble. :-O. On the whole this was extremely irritating. As was the pronunciation of the name Dalziel. It would not have taken much research to know that this sounds ‘D L’ not ‘Dazeel’. Bring back Simon Prebble., an excellent voice actor who does both male and female voices magnificently.

Good story, shame about the voices.

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