The Reckless Bride (Black Cobra #4)

The Reckless Bride is the final book in Stephanie Laurens's Black Cobra Quartet. Four soldier are travelling separately back from India to England to deliver evidence that could stop the reign of the Black Cobra.

Captain Rafe Carstairs is the last of his group to return to England though he left first. When the group split up and left Bombay, none knew where the others would travel on their paths back to England. Carstairs has the longest journey but so far has not run into any of the cult members out to stop him.

Once he and his man reach Europe he has to decide how to proceed. His instructions, sent by Wolverstone - a man who has the power to see that the evidence is heard - tell him where to land on English soil, but before then his route is flexible.

It is in Budapest when Rafe meets up with Lady Esme Congreve who is traveling with her great niece Loretta Michelmarch. The women have lost their guard and Rafe needs them for camouflage.

Together they travel up the Danube River to the Rhine on their way back to England. Combining a historical romance with enough detail that readers will wish to hire a boat to follow those two rivers, Laurens has brilliantly completed her series. It is a must-read for fans.

Laurens, Stephanie. (2010). The Reckless Bride. New York: Avon Books.

The Brazen Bride (Black Cobra #3)

The Brazen Bride is the third book in the Black Cobra quartet by Stephanie Laurens.

This swashbuckling tale of the third member of four soldiers carrying a letter from India to England to stop the reign of the savage cult of the Black Cobra begins with a shipwreck.

Lady Linnet Trevission of is used to things washing up in the coves surrounding her house. The isle of Guernsey, a British Channel Island, has seen its fair share of storms. But this time the storm has delivered a man. And with the help of her household, Linnet brings him home to be tended.

Logan is lucky to be alive. He has sword wounds, a concussion, and no memory beyond his first name.

While he regains his strength he enjoys the company of the woman who not only runs the house, but is basically the queen of the island.

Once his memory returns, he must set aside his feelings and continue his duty. Luckily, Lady Trevission has the means to help him. Though the plot follows a similar path as the other books, as they each have to reach the man who will help them destroy the Black Cobra, this book is (so far) the best in the series.

Laurens combines the historical with romantic suspense to create a must read for fans. Her set up in this series brings together members from her two other series, which readers always love. And her story is creative, imaginative, and a brazenly good time.

Laurens, Stephanie. (2010). The Brazen Bride. New York: Avon Books.

The Elusive Bride (Black Cobra #2)

The Elusive Bride is the second book in Stephanie Laurens's Black Cobra Quartet - about four soldiers racing home from India with evidence that will end the terrible reign of the evil Black Cobra. Each man is to take a different route, either with the original evidence or a copy of it, and return to England.

Major Gareth Hamilton is returning to England via the diplomatic route. His job is to dispose of as many of the Black Cobra's cultists as he can to pave the way for those behind him.

When he reaches Aden in what is now Yemen, Major Hamilton see a woman he knows - the very woman who brought the evidence he is carrying. The meeting is no accident. Emily Ensworth has intercepted Gareth in an attempt to travel back to England with him. She is sure he may be the "one" for her.

What Emily does not know is that the Black Cobra will stop at nothing to make sure that they do not reach England at all.

Laurens has created a wonderful story of travel in early 1800s. As far as regency romance novels, this one is unique as it includes so many different cultures as Emily and Gareth travel across the Middle East, across Europe, and home to England. Characters from her other book series make appearances in this series which will delight fans.

Laurens, Stephanie. (2010). The Elusive Bride. New York: Avon.

The Untamed Bride (Black Cobra #1)

The Untamed Bride by Stephanie Laurens is the first book in her Black Cobra Quartet.

The Black Cobra is a notorious pirate who, with his cultists, has been terrorizing villages in India. Five special forces soldiers of British East India Company have been tasked with finding him and ending his reign. But when they find that the Black Cobra is an Englishman they know they have to tread carefully.

Working with Dalziel from the Bastion Club series, they devise a plot to bring evidence back to England - once they find evidence that will hold up in a British court. Each man will take a different route back so that the Black Cobra will not know who has the true evidence and who has a copy.

This first volume in the series follows Colonel Derek Delborough from India back to England to deliver his evidence. But as he lands on England with his household from India he finds that his family, having heard of his return has volunteered him to escort a woman from the docks back to his home county.

Of course the last thing Del needs is to add a woman to the dangerous game he is playing. But the woman is not what he expects. Deliah Duncannon is returning to her family home after taking care of her uncle's estate in Jamaica. She is more that capable of taking care of herself and resents that society dictates that she has to travel with Del and on his schedule.

Laurens has written a great historical romance taking all of the elements readers love about her series and adding an exciting new plot device. Characters from both her Bastion Club and Cynster series appear and play important roles in the story. Fans of her other series will be thrilled to see old favorites again. Laurens takes the proscribed gender roles of the time and fills her books with women who will not sit idly by while there is action afoot.

Laurens, Stephanie. (2009). The Untamed Bride. New York: Avon Books