The Lady Chosen by Stephanie Laurens

⭐⭐⭐💫

The regular Rake Appreciation Society book for July is The Lady Chosen by Stephanie Laurens. This is the first book in her Bastion Club series. If you haven't heard of RAS, it's hosted by Jenn and Crystal. I was able to use this to cover prompts for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo for high tea and Summer of Swoon for no people on the cover on board 2.

Tristan, the Earl of Trentham, is at the new club him and other former military men are creating. He is overseeing the renovations at the residence and has found himself entranced by the lady next door. Leonara plans to run into the new owner after being harassed by a solicitor to buy her uncle's place, two failed break-ins and being personally attacked. She approaches Tristan not sure if he was the man behind the situation. Tristan is not, but being a former military spy, he steps in to take point on the investigation. As the newly minted Earl, he is also looking for a wife. In his mind he had pictured a stereotypical debutante, but as they spend more time together, he can't see anyone other than Leonara as his Countess.

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this. I did switch to from the eBook to the audio about 40% in because I was running out of time to get it done before the live show. I think that was a good option in the end because I was able to speed it up a little bit and get through the slower parts. What brings this up from a 3-star to a 3.5 is the relationship between Tristan and Leonara. I know that there are downfalls with this book, but in my mind this is a romance and the main factors for my rating should be focused on the romance itself. I loved Tristan and how much he really pushed to be with Leonara. He fell first and really couldn't stay away from her as much as he tried. I did wish that Leonara didn't fight him as much as she did and I did get a little frustrated that she pushed him away for so long (after seducing him). That's why I'd give their relationship a 4-star. The tension was great between them and I 100% understand why people talk about the steamy scenes that Stephanie is able to craft.

With the small issues I had with their relationship and then the mystery not feeling worth the risk, I had to give this another ding rating wise. I wasn't able to figure out what the mystery was, but I feel like partly because it was so out there. Then we get an elder neighbor matron that ends up dying and after all this strife what the attacker was after was so, not really worth it. I don't know, it just didn't feel like the risk met the reward. If it was going to be that much I wish that the mystery was a little more pushed and really kept up the tension in that area.

I'm excited to finally pick up a Stephanie Lauren. She's been on my tbr for a while and I know that her Cynster series is highly popular (and has a lot of spin-offs). I definitely want to continue this and start her other series. She also has a lot of gorgeous stepbacks so I'd love to collect physical copies of her books as well. We'll see when I can get to them though.

Have you read The Lady Chosen?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Lady Chosen, Stephanie Laurens, 3.5 stars, 2 days, audiobook, 440 pages, published in 2003, traditionally published