The Lady By His Side by Stephanie Laurens Series: Devil's Brood Trilogy #1
Published by Savdek Management Pty Ltd on March 9th 2017
Genres: Historical
Pages: 350
Goodreads
FINAL DECISION: Good story, good romance, but I wish there was more on the romance and less on the mystery. These were highly anticipated characters and I wish there was more about their journey. That being said, I understand it is more difficult to write stories about well-adjusted happy characters so I appreciate that their story needed more.
THE STORY: Sebastian Cynster knows that it is time for him to find a wife because the women in his family are never patient about helping the men along if they need it. Just when Sebastian comes to that realization, he is asked by one of his friends, the heir to the Duke of Wolverstone, to help make contact with a peer who might have information about a plot against the country. Sebastian, however, needs a cover for attending the house party where he is to make contact. For that, he approaches another family friend, Antonia Rawlings to help provide a cover. Although the two grew up together, Sebastian has not had much contact with Antonia for years. He finds himself unexpectedly attracted to her. As to two work together to investigate the plot, they find themselves drawing closer.
OPINION: I enjoyed this one but the mystery story was predominate here and by necessity there was a lot of backstory to set up in order to begin the trilogy. As a result, I didn’t see much conflict in the relationship between Sebastian and Antonia. Everything was nice between them (as might be expected between two family friends where the relationships are so intertwined) and I liked them as a couple, but there wasn’t much tension between them.
There was also less hot sexiness between them — probably because Sebastian wasn’t going to act the rake with Antonia. I did like the book however, and I thought the mystery was filled with interest and tension. I thought this one is working out better than many of the other series with the same overarching mystery format. Plus, what is not to love about having two characters infused with so much history find love together. My only real negative is that I wish we had seen Devil and Honoria in the book. Missed them greatly.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book has a plot that is not resolved in this book. Although the romance is completed, there is an ongoing storyline that will be pursued by the next couple in the series.
CONNECTED BOOKS: THE LADY BY HIS SIDE is the first book in the Devil’s Brood Trilogy. It is also intimately connected with the long running Cynsters series. This book however, can be read as a standalone.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.