Cornwall, England, Summer, 1816

Gervase Tregarth, 6th Earl of Crowhurst and Bastion Club member knows he must marry, but how can he find a proper bride if his three hoyden sisters continue to sabotage his estate, forcing him to return home from London? When the three somehow disable the mill, Gervase finds himself at his wit's end. It’s only now that his sisters make him aware of their greatest fear, that his London bride will turn out to be a scheming socialite who will pack them off to an obscure corner of England where they will be forgotten. To save his horse and his sanity, Gervase strikes a bargain with his sisters; he will remain in Cornwall for the summer and search out a bride, but if he cannot find one, he will return to London and they will not interfere in his quest again. Thus Gervase finds himself quickly pointed in the direction of the Honorable Miss Madeline Gascoigne.

Madeline has been caring for Treleaver Park, her family’s estate, since her father’s illness and death eight years ago, and caring for her three younger brothers, the eldest Harry, now fifteen, is the current Viscount. Although she is an unmarried woman, Madeline is a figurehead in their small community; her opinions are highly regarded and much sought after. With the unique ability to gather information throughout their community from both the men and women, there is nothing in the area that she is not privy to. Yet her duties have left a void in her life, and when Gervase comes to her with an interesting bargain of his own, Madeline decides to throw caution to the wind and become his lover.

What neither of them can foresee is that the mysterious gift from Madeline’s brothers on her birthday will bring an evil villain into their midst. While Gervase and Madeline dance to passion's call, danger lurks, and they will need to trust each other and work together to foil the villain’s plans.

BEYOND SEDUCTION is the sixth book in the Bastion Club series, and while it is slow to start, once it gets going it takes the readers into a world of deadly traitors, heroic spies, buried treasure, and murderous wreakers. The romantic setting of Regency England and the coast is enhanced by the descriptive style of Mrs. Laurens’s writing, and further enthralls the reader. Her characters are human and passionate, and the reader finds themselves smiling and shaking their heads at the antics of the two sets of siblings. I would recommend the entire series to anyone who enjoys the Regency era novels as well as those who enjoy a full-bodied romantic mystery; in BEYOND SEDUCTION you get both...

Erin Figueroa