After the disastrous final installment of The Bastion Club series (Mastered by Love), I was reluctant to dive into the new Laurens' series, The Black Cobra Quartet. I bought this book at the grocery store on a whim and figured....What the heck, I'll give Stephanie another chance!
Well, lo and behold, Stephanie Laurens got her mojo back! The suspense part of this book is absolutely riveting. I adored the prelude to this book, which takes place in India, 1822. It made me remember one of the reasons I used to love SL so much....she is truly a gifted writer. The beginning of this book, which is purely setting the stage for the suspense portion of the story and has nothing to do with the romance, is superb.
Laurens does not disappoint with the romance part of this book either. There is a terrific chemistry between the hero (Del) and heroine (Deliah) right from their initial meeting. (I can't believe SL's editor let her get away with those names! Are you kidding me?). Deliah is SL's best type of heroine...feisty, determined, strong-willed and sexy. Their first love scene is great--a scorcher! In fact, I found all of the love scenes to be sexy and emotionally fulfilling, something that had been lacking lately in her novels.
Other strong points of this novel: including old favorite characters (the Cynsters, the Bastion Club guys, their wives), lots of action-packed scenes with swords, pistols, assassins and thugs, and incredibly emotionally satisfying love scenes at the end (especially when Del professes his love for her and proposes....sigh! so romantic!!!). My only complaint was that the book seemed a little short, and the climatic scene at the end when Larkin is confronted in the church was sort of a let-down. But who really cares? Stephanie got her mojo back, and I for one am a happy, happy camper. Grade: B+
Penelope
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