THE EDGE OF DESIRE

By Stephanie Laurens
AVON (2008), 433 pages, $7.99 (paperback)

There are two problems with reading books written by Stephanie Laurens.
First, she’s wordy, often taking a page when a couple of sentences would do – especially with the more steamy scenes. (Thirteen pages?)
The second problem is despite often having to muddle through the wordiness, Lauren quickly hooks you and forces you care about the plight of the characters, therefore sentencing you to read the entire book.
The good news? You’re ultimately glad you did.
“The Edge of Desire” marries off the final member of the Bastion Club. This was a group of seven men, all former spies, who after the war return to London (around 1816) with the need to find wives. They weren’t interested in the "hen-witted flibbertigibbets" paraded on the marriage mart and they refused to be trapped into marriage by conniving matrons.
So each man found his true love, his soul mate, on his own.
Christian actually met – and fell in love with – his future bride before he went off to fight the war. Letitia loved Christian as well, and promised to wait for him.
But she didn’t.
What will confuse readers – and certainly confuses Christian as well – is that Letitia is just as angry at Christian as he is at her. But she does explain about 127 pages into the book.
The book opens when Letitia appeals to Christian for help. Her husband has been murdered and her beloved brother is the top suspect.
Letitia is much more upset about her brother’s plight than her husband’s fate.
To spare her brother from being wrongly prosecuted for her husband’s murder, and to save her family from ruin, Christian and Letitia team up to find the real murderer.
In the process, they tumble upon quite a mystery – and into several beds.
Letitia realizes just how little she knew about the man she married, and what they discover while seeking his murderer shocks her. And what Christian discovers about his past with Letitia is just as surprising.
While unraveling that mystery, they fall in love in again. But Letitia is afraid of being hurt by Christian again – and Christian is afraid he won’t be able to convince Letitia to take a chance on him again.


Overall rating: 3-plus of 5 hearts. It’s not a book you’ll sit down and read cover to cover. But you will keep going back to it, wanting to unravel the mystery with Christian and Letitia, and waiting for them to embrace their happily-ever-after.

Hunk appeal: 10-plus. Even though Christian unwittingly messed up years earlier, he doesn’t hesitate to accept the blame and take measures to make up for his mistake. He’s protective, heroic, patient and passionate.

Steamy scene grade: XXXXXX. So much that it fogs up the rest of the book at times.

Happily-Ever-After: Good. The bad guy is discovered and thwarted, and Christian and Letitia end up together. And while Christian may be the last of the club members to marry, the gang is most likely to show up again when the mysterious Dalziel finds his true love.

Also this week …

NORTHERN LIGHTS

by Nora Roberts (2004 hardcover, 2005 paperback)

Nora Roberts’ website reports that Lifetime Movie Channel has decided to make four more of her books into movies for 2009. Her latest book, “Tribute,” is being considered along with “High Noon,” “True Betrayals,” “Midnight Bayou,” “Carnal Innocence,” and “Northern Lights.”
“Northern Lights” gets my top vote, ranking as an all-time favorite.
The come alive on the pages. Roberts takes readers a the small Alaskan town in the coldest part of winter, and you may find yourself getting up to grab a blanket while reading.
Nate is "escaping" to Lunacy as he runs from his past. He’s the sheriff.
Meg is a tomboyish loner, a gruff, self-sufficient no-nonsense woman who is perfectly content to remain snowbound alone at her remote home with only her dogs for company.
When a body is found, Nate begins to unravel a mystery from the past - a mystery that involves Meg somewhat. While he sleuths and adjusts to living in Alaska, he slowly falls in love with Meg.
She's not particularly thrilled at first. But the idea grows on her.
My second vote goes to “High Noon.” Roberts does a masterful job of entwining Phoebe and Duncan's romance while spinning a suspenseful story of an evil man's plot to destroy Phoebe. This book is actually more of a suspense novel than a romance story, but romance readers won't feel cheated.
The book I’d vote off the list is “Midnight Bayou," the only Roberts’ book I don’t like. The book’s niche is reincarnation. OK for a while, but it got to be a little much. Perhaps my romance mind just isn't liberal enough.