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  • The Lady by His Side

  • The Devil’s Brood Trilogy, Book 1
  • By: Stephanie Laurens
  • Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
  • Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (102 ratings)
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The Lady by His Side cover art

The Lady by His Side

By: Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
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Summary

Sebastian Cynster knows time is running out. If he doesn't choose a wife soon, his female relatives will line up to assist him. Yet the current debutantes do not appeal. Where is he to find the right lady to be his marchioness? Then Drake Varisey, eldest son of the Duke of Wolverstone, asks for Sebastian's aid.

Having assumed his father's mantle in protecting queen and country, Drake must go to Ireland in pursuit of a dangerous plot. But he's received an urgent missive from Lord Ennis, an Irish peer - Ennis has heard something Drake needs to know and insists Drake attend an upcoming house party at his Kent estate so he can reveal his information face-to-face.

Sebastian has assisted Drake before and, long ago, had a liaison with Lady Ennis. Drake insists Sebastian is just the man to be his surrogate at the house party - the guests will imagine all manner of possibilities and be blind to Sebastian's true purpose.

Unsurprisingly, Sebastian is reluctant, but Drake's need is real. And with only more debutantes on his horizon, Sebastian allows himself to be persuaded.

His first task is to inveigle Antonia Rawlings, a lady he has known all her life, to include him as her escort to the house party. Although he's seen little of Antonia in recent years, Sebastian is confident of gaining her support.

Eldest daughter of the Earl of Chillingworth, Antonia has abandoned the search for a husband and plans to use the week of the house party to decide what to do with her life. There has to be some purpose, some role, she can claim for her own.

Consequently, on hearing Sebastian's request and an explanation of what lies behind it, she seizes on the call to action. Suppressing her senses' idiotic reaction to Sebastian's nearness, she agrees to be his partner in intrigue.

But while joining the house party proves easy, the gathering is thrown into chaos when Lord Ennis is murdered - just before he was to speak with Sebastian. Worse, Ennis's last words, gasped to Sebastian, are "Gunpowder. Here."

Gunpowder? And here? Where?

With a killer continuing to stalk the halls, side by side Sebastian and Antonia search for answers, and all the while the childhood connection that has always existed between them strengthens and blooms into something so much more.

©2017 Stephanie Laurens (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Lady by His Side

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

very disappointing

I found this book boring from start to finish! both characters lack lustre and considering he was Devils son a big disappointment!
I won't bother with the next book in the series.
also the narrator was terrible. his tone and slowness made me dislike every character!
sorry not a good word to say about this book which is a shame as I loved her earlier books.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Mediocre mild porn

Unbelievably monotone reader made for a good sleep! Lacks any sort of historical accuracy or atmosphere and the story is both predictable and unbelievable. However if you are looking for some equally unrealistic light pornographic scenes and can tolerate the rest then they go on in tedious detail for some time.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Story

All of it it was very interesting one I will return to many times I’m sure

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Slow and disconnected story, massive cliffhanger

The murder mystery, the political plot and the personal relationship and soft porn section all seem to have almost no connection to one another, and everything is drawn out and overlong. Perfect for when you are listening to it at bedtime because if you fall asleep you don’t miss too much.
My first book by the author and probably my last, sad to say, as I really like novels and mysteries in a regency setting. Started off well but then scenes seem to just repeat, the story did not move forward smoothly but in sudden leaps, with long stretches of mot much happening in between. The personal story finds an ending but the mystery ends on a cliffhanger which I dislike, after having invested so much time in a story.
Not my cup of tea.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

So annoying it doesn’t conclude …

… with no idea what the next book is. Had there been a bit less soft porn the real story could have finished in this book.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Very drawn out

I found it very hard to get to the end of this book, mainly because the narrator was so awful, plodding and lacking in any animation.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Overly long

Took a long time to get to the point. I usually like romances where there’s a mystery underpinning the main two characters romance but this took forever even sped up! And the other house party guests seemed so underdeveloped, we barely know anything about them or invested in whether they are involved in the story or not. First time I’ve read anything by this author so maybe the characters appear in other books?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Strange experience

This is a spy story set in Regency times. There is trouble brewing in Ireland and Sebastian is sent to try and find out what’s going on while ostensibly escorting Antonia, an old childhood friend, to a house party where information will be forthcoming.
The narrator read beautifully ( I was reminded of Alvar Lidell who used to read the BBC news during the Second World War) but his voice wasn’t really conducive to the steamy bits of the story.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Verbose.

Murder, mystery, plot and romance but let down by very poor writing. Far too verbose, Antonia's character was annoying and the love scenes chronically bad. The narrator was also poor, in my opinion. I will not be getting the following books in the series.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Awful!

The plot was kind of fun but I rolled my eyes SO many times at the tired clichéd language, esp re romance and the lead relationship. It felt engineered and stilted and didn’t work. The worst book I’ve listened to on Audible by a long way.

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