Bastion Club Books In Order

Publication Order of Bastion Club Books

“Bastion Club” is a series of historical romance novels written by Stephanie Laurens the Australian romance author. Stephanie Laurens was born in Sri Lanka and moved to Australia aged 5 ,where she spent most of her childhood and youth. She got her Biochemistry Ph.D. in Australia before she immigrated to Great Britain with her husband, in one of the most interesting overland journeys that took the young couple from Kathmandu to London. In London, the two scientists worked as research scientists while living in a 16th century built cottage in a historical area of London. In fact, they were a stone’s throw away from an early Roman era villa, which perhaps explains why Stephanie got interested in the writing of historical romances set in the Regency Period. Stephanie Laurens would live in London for four years before going back to her homeland in Australia where she headed her own cancer research laboratory. Despite years of putting off writing a novel, she finally got down to it and penned her first novel “Tangled Reins” during her weekends and evenings. “Captain Jacks Woman” the first novel of the “Bastion Club” series of novels was first published in 1997 with the last title “Mastered by Love” coming out in 2009. Her other series of novels include the “Lester Family Saga”, “Cynster”, “Casebook of Barnaby Adair”, B”lack Cobra Quartet”, and “Cynster Sisters” series of novels among others.

Stephanie Laurens has always loved reading romances since she was 13. She would read and reread the novels of Georgette Heyer that her mother usually brought home from work. It was in England that she finally got historically romances imprinted in her brain, which cleared the path for her to become a historical romance writer. She stocked up with tens of Regency romances that she could never get in Australia or the US and spent most of her evenings after work reading them. After running out of her favorite Regency novels back home in Australia she decided to pen one herself. After attaining a lot of success with her first novel she decided to throw caution to the wind and became a full-time author, writing primarily in the Regency period. She had been one of those people that took forever to write a novel, but she finally finished her first novel mainly because she had a yearning to see how it would all end. “Tangled Reins” her first historical romance that was published by Mills and Boon eventually led to more than 50 novels in several series and single standing novels. Somewhere along the line, she discovered that being a research scientist was too much stress and that she loved writing Regency romances better.

The “Bastion Club” series of novels is set in a post Waterloo period England when most spies were out of a job forcing them back home. The core of the novels is seven former spies that had the skills of working behind enemy lands and infiltrating enemy lands who come together to put their skills to use. They are master strategists, fighters, and impersonators who by a stroke of luck bump into each other at a local tavern after running away from a pre-Season ball. The gentlemen are heirs to lands and titles though they are peculiar in that they are cousins or second sons that were never directly in line to inherit such immense wealth and power. A peculiar happenstance of the times they live in is that illness and war had taken many of the eligible bachelors of the country, leaving the men some of the most sought after husbands dodging determined debutantes and widows. The seven men come together in what they call the “Bastion Club” – the last bulwark for men of their kind, where they get to control their futures. They will not be forced, tricked or trapped to marry women they have not chosen, and will follow rules they set for themselves. They understand that just like in war, romance also requires sharing of information that can only be gleaned from trusted associates. The men purchase a cottage in Mayfair that is inconspicuous but near enough to all the action of London where they intend to conduct their business. They will interview and meet the prospective ladies and help each other select the best marital partner from among the tens seeking their attention.

“The Lady Chosen” is an enchanting novel of the Bastion Club series featuring the Earl of Trentham, Tristan Wemyss. The earl had never expected that he would be pressured into getting married within a year until his father told him he would need to if he is not to lose his inheritance. But he is not going to be pressured into taking a woman that is not of his own choosing and will not listen to the matchmaking mamas. The lady he has chosen for himself is Miss Leonora Carling, an enchanting beauty full of passion and spirit living in the house next door. Unfortunately for him, the last thing Leonora has on her kind is marriage. She finds his kisses tempting, but she had once fallen for such a man only to have her heart broken into hundreds of pieces. But Tristan is not one to give up on his quest to make her his wife, and when a stranger tries to scare the Carling family, he knows he has been given the lifeline he was waiting for. Acting as seducer and protector, will he finally convince his lady that he has what it takes to become her husband?

“A Gentleman’s Honor” is set just before the opening of the debutante season. However, even before the season opens, Viscount Torrington finds himself the target of almost every matchmaker in London, even as he has set his sight on one unattainable woman. Penniless and desperate, Alicia intends to make the best match for her beautiful younger sister by pretending to be a society lady named Mrs. Carrington. But before she can execute her plan, a moonlight walk throws a spanner in the walks when she is accused of murder. Tony Blake’s instinct and training tell him that despite the distraught beauty being found standing over the dead man found in the garden, she is not the killer. Using his connections in the police he can take charge of the investigation while his social connections means he can protect her in public. But he is not in it only for truth and justice as he is going to do everything to seduce the imperiled beauty even as he protects her from the law.