#1 New York Times bestselling author of the beloved Cynster novels, Stephanie Laurens takes you on a fresh journey with THE ADVENTURERS QUARTET, a daring Regency-era adventure laced with mystery, tropical heat and passionate romance!
The Daredevil Snared
The Adventurers Quartet, #3
by Stephanie Laurens
He has something to prove
Captain Caleb Frobisher, hedonistic youngest son of a seafaring dynasty, wants to be taken seriously. Seizing the next leg of the covert mission his brothers are pursuing, he acts decisively and effectively in securing the mission’s objectives. But responsibility has taken root, and he remains in the jungle to ensure the mission’s ultimate goal.
She will risk everything
Katherine Fortescue fled a life of poverty and came to Freetown as a governess, only to be kidnapped and forced to oversee the child workforce at a mine. Guarded by well-armed, well-trained mercenaries, the captives have lost all hope of escape. Then Katherine meets a handsome man—a captain—and he brings the sweet promise of rescue.
Together they will face the future
The sadistic mercenary who runs the mine has other plans, but Caleb’s true strength lies in extracting advantage from adversity, and through the clashes that follow, he becomes the leader he was always destined to be. The sort of man Katherine can trust—with her body, with her life. With her love.
Race with THE ADVENTURERS as these passionate daredevils lead the way to the stunning and dramatic conclusion.
Review:
The Daredevil Snared grabbed me from the very first page and didn’t want to let me go! I was swept right away into Caleb and Kate’s story, sitting on the very edge of my seat and hoping against hope that the captives would be able to stretch out their work in the mines until their rescue arrived. It all felt so gritty and real that it was as if I was right there with them–hiding on the rock ledge and watching over the camp with Caleb, going down into the mines and plotting ways to delay the inevitable with the men, painstakingly separating the rock from the raw diamonds with Kate–I experienced it all.
The romance is lovely–Kate and Caleb have awesome chemistry–though at the same time just knowing that Dubois, a truly scary villain and the leader of the mining camp, wouldn’t hesitate to use one of them to get to the other almost makes you want to encourage them to keep everything on the down-low. Because, yeah. I shudder just thinking about that guy. It pains me that he’s still around for book 4–he needs to get his in a major way in the final book, or I shall be very put out.
This is book 3 in the series, and though I hadn’t read the first two–yet!–I had no problem picking the story up here. It definitely helped that Ms. Laurens gives us a “who’s who” at the beginning–there’s a lot of people involved, and it was easy to forget who all of them are and how they’re connected–I turned to it quite a bit as I read. So…it was an okay place to start the series, but since the resolution of the overall mining-camp-with-English-captives plot won’t be until book 4, (this one isn’t a “cliffhanger” per se, but we definitely haven’t gotten to the true HEA yet–geographically our hero and heroine haven’t moved much from where they started at the book’s beginning) I’d recommend starting with book 1 since there’s time. The Daredevil Snared definitely won’t be a “this is the only book in the series I’ll read” book.
But…we have to wait until December for the final book ( Lord of the Privateers )? Inconceivable! Though at least it does give me time to get caught up and read books 1 and 2, ( The Lady’s Command and A Buccaneer at Heart ) so there is that…
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble
About the author:
Stephanie Laurens was born in Sri Lanka, which was at the time the British colony of Ceylon. When she was 5, her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she was raised. After continuing through school and earning a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in Australia, Stephanie and her husband moved to Great Britain, taking one of the last true overland journeys from Katmandu to London.
Once in London, Stephanie and her husband both began work as research scientists in Kent. They lived in an area surrounded by history. Their own cottage was built in the 16th century, while next door were the protected ruins of an early Roman villa, and nearby was a 14th century castle.
After four years in England, Stephanie and her husband returned to Australia, where she continued to work in cancer research, eventually heading her own research laboratory. One evening Stephanie realized that she did not have any more of her favorite romance novels to read. After years of thinking about writing her own novel, during nights and weekends for the next several months, she began crafting her own story. That manuscript, Tangled Reins, was the first of her books to be published. After achieving a level of success with her novels, Stephanie “retired” from scientific research and became a full-time novelist. Her novels are primarily historical romances set in the Regency time period.
Stephanie and her husband live on peaceful acreage on the outskirts of Melbourne. If she isn’t writing, she’s reading, and if she’s not reading, she’s tending her garden.
Connect with Stephanie:
Stephanie Laurens’ TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
Monday, June 27th: Reading Reality
Tuesday, June 28th: From the TBR Pile – excerpt
Wednesday, June 29th: The Sassy Bookster – excerpt
Friday, July 1st: A Chick Who Reads
Monday, July 4th: Bewitched Bookworms
Tuesday, July 5th: A Bookaholic Swede – excerpt
Wednesday, July 6th: The Maiden’s Court
Friday, July 8th: Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Tuesday, July 12th: Becky on Books
Wednesday, July 13th: A Holland Reads
Thursday, July 14th: Books a la Mode – excerpt
Friday, July 15th: What I’m Reading
Monday, July 18th: Broken Teepee – excerpt
Monday, July 18th: Buried Under Romance – excerpt and review
Tuesday, July 19th: Beverages and Books
Wednesday, July 20th: Diary of a Stay At Home Mom
Thursday, July 21st: Black ‘n Gold Girls Book Reviews
Friday, July 22nd: Moonlight Rendezvous
Monday, July 25th: The Romance Dish
Tuesday, July 26th: The Reading Wench
I do love getting caught up in a new series … but I do hate waiting for the next book to come out! LOL
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
I know, right? At least this time I can go back and read the first two 🙂