The Lester Family Collection: An Unwilling Conquest \ A Lady of Expectations \ The Reasons for Marriage

Lester Family #1-3

by Stephanie Laurens

Be swept off your feet with the Lester Family Collection—three fan-favorite Regencies by #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens: The Reasons for Marriage/A Lady of Expectations/An Unwilling Conquest…

The Reasons for Marriage
Lenore Lester is perfectly content with her quiet country life, but the notoriously charming Jason, Duke of Eversleigh, is determined to loosen the hold she has on her heart.

A Lady of Expectations
Jack Lester seeks the perfect bride—one who is attractive and kind but who also loves him in spite of his wealth. But when Sophie Winterton enters his life, believing he must marry into wealth to run his family's estate, how will he convince her that she is the woman he desires?

An Unwilling Conquest
Self-proclaimed rake Harry Lester has no intention of being ensnared by the trap of marriage. But when he encounters Mrs. Lucinda Babbacombe, a beautiful, independent widow, he finds himself prisoner in the most passionate of traps.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Anthologies, M F Romance

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Stephanie Laurens was born in Sri Lanka, which was at the time the British colony of Ceylon. When she was 5, her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she was raised. After continuing through school and earning a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in Australia, Stephanie and her husband moved to Great Britain, taking one of the last true overland journeys from Katmandu to London.

Once in London, Stephanie and her husband both began work as research scientists in Kent. They lived in an area surrounded by history. Their own cottage was built in the 16th century, while next door were the protected ruins of an early Roman villa, and nearby was a 14th century castle.

After four years in England, Stephanie and her husband returned to Australia, where she continued to work in cancer research, eventually heading her own research laboratory. One evening Stephanie realized that she did not have any more of her favorite romance novels to read. After years of thinking about writing her own novel, during nights and weekends for the next several months, she began crafting her own story. That manuscript, Tangled Reins, was the first of her books to be published. After achieving a level of success with her novels, Stephanie "retired" from scientific research and became a full-time novelist. Her novels are primarily historical romances set in the Regency time period.

Stephanie and her husband live on peaceful acreage on the outskirts of Melbourne. If she isn't writing, she's reading, and if she's not reading, she's tending her garden.

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good collection of stories by Stephanie Laurens that are not steamy like her full-length novels. I really didn't miss the steamy love scenes. Ms. Laurens writes very good romance with lots of chemistry between her heroes and heroines. Her heroes are strong, dominant alpha types, that are usually a bit (or a lot) on the rakish side. My favorite was the story with Jason and Lenore, The Reasons for Marriage. Lenore is the on-the-shelf sister of the other two heroes. She feels as though she has missed her chance at marriage, but Jason takes an interest in her, thinking she will make him a good wife. He expects to have a convenient marriage, get her with child, and go back to the city and continue with his rakish pursuits. He actually has to do some serious convincing to get Lenore to marry her, even engineering her to be compromised in a mild way. There is a houseparty and he arranges for them to be caught kissing in the study and promptly announces their engagement. Although Lenore's brothers are quite the acknowledged rakes, they won't allow their sister to be used and abandoned, and demand the marriage to take place. Lenore has feelings for Jason, but is realistic enough not to expect a loving husband, and has reconciled herself to being the perfect, non-demanding wife he requires. The love scenes are all off-camera, but you get the impression that they both enjoyed their babymaking endeavors, although Lenore and Jason are both trying to stay detached. When Lenore tells Jason she is expecting, he finds that he is leaving somewhat reluctantly. Now that Lenore has the heir in the making, she is free to do as she wishes, including have discreet affairs of her own. She goes off to London, not to have affairs, but to prove that she isn't pining for her husband, but Jason finds himself very jealous at the attention she gets, even though he really shouldn't care if Lenore goes her own way. He finds he does very much, and sets out to claim his wife's love and attentions for his own. I really liked this story, to a degree that surprised me. I enjoyed the other two stories as well. Stephanie Laurens isn't an author I can read all that often, but when I do read her, I enjoy her writing. Rogue's Reform is definitely on my keeper shelf.

[OhWell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Regency romances, my guilty reading pleasure... Sometimes I'm in luck, other times I'm not. I do prefer a well written and at least somewhat suspenseful plot even in a regency novel. I was almost ready to give up after the first two of this bundle, with their boring story lines and repetitive phrases.

The Reasons for Marriage (Jason and Lenore): 2*. Jason and Lenore have a marriage of convenience, they end up falling in love but fail to communicate, an aunt has to intervene and get Jason to open up. And that's about it.

A Lady of Expectations (Jack and Sophie): 1*. How obtuse can a woman be?... Besides, Ned and Clarissa's side story was nothing more than a filler, the ending scene between the main protagonists was highly implausible for the time period, and to top it all, the editing of this ebook was non-existent. Clarissa's younger brother George is referred to as Gerald in a couple of places, when Gerald was Jack's brother. So annoying.

An Unwilling Conquest (Harry and Lucinda): 3.5*, and a pleasant surprise. I had started with the idea of just skimming through it, but found the plot much more engaging and the characters witty and charming. Instead of dismissing Stephanie Laurens's books as I had intended after the disappointment with "The Reasons for Marriage" and "A Lady of Expectations", I will probably give her Cynster series a try.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

In reading all three full-length novels compiled into this lengthy tome, it drives home how much this author (and I think other romance authors) rely on a certain convention to move the story along: the eyes. The eyes speak! Or so it would seem, based on these books. Rather than giving an internal monologue, or talking about facial expressions, or using dialogue (heaven forbid!), much of the emotion and actually a lot of the scenes are moved along with emotions and even opinions expressed by the characters' eyes. His eyes expressed his hatred! Superiority! Passion! Frostiness! Pride! etc., etc., etc. It got old, and just seemed lazy. It became distracting and it made it hard to enjoy or relate to the characters and the stories.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I liked this, especially the first one, but I had higher hopes for this author’s storytelling. I had thought she might become a new HR favorite for me, but I don’t think that’s the case.

There always seems to be something that’s just a bit off the mark for me in her writing… like a great deal of repetition, for example, or an extreme case of negative motivation (i.e. the MC just needs to get over this perceived barrier in their mind and then everything is resolved).

This bundle isn’t bad, but I had wanted a series that featured a tight-knit family with clever dialogue and instead these are essentially 3 stand-alone novels that hardly mention their family members, let alone highlight their relationships with one another.

[merilie Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Rogues' Reform Bundle

I really enjoyed this set of novels interconnected with a trio of siblings. It was an easy read without the angst i sometimes get tired of. A delightful way to pass time as I recover from a mean virus.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this trilogy. She really pulls you in with her writing...

[Neus Gutiérrez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Señora Laurens... hasta aquí nuestra relación.
No me gustan estas historias. No están mal, pero me aburro una barbaridad y soy incapaz de conectar con los personajes. Creo que es por el estilo de la autora, porque me resulta todo el rato lo mismo y es que no me apetece para nada seguir.

Lo siento, nunca mais.

[Rosemarie Grainer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun to reread, but confusing

I enjoyed meeting the Lester family again. However, I really don't understand what made them put the books in this collection in backwards order. The first book should be the last one and the last one should be the first. For someone who has not read this before, they will not realize that. That is the only reason for 4 and not 5 stars. The last book with Lenore, the sister takes place a year or so before Jack's story. Harry's story starts just at the same time as Jack's story is ending. Why would you package them in any other order? That being said, this is classic early Stephanie Laurens and a joy to read. Just read them in the correct order!

The pace for each story is quick, but not overly fast, if you know what I mean. The tone is hopeful and the storyline is character oriented with some action and some suggestions of steam, but no real detailed description. The characters are vibrant and engaging. The rake being converted into good husband material theme is also classic Stephanie Laurens. The Duke of Eversleigh and his friends the Lesters are definitely rakes, but show their true colors by the end of each story. Enjoy, but read these stories from back to front to get the most of them!

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read these early regency novels by Stephanie Laurens individually before, but it was refreshing to read them again as part of the eBook bundle. Laurens creates interesting characters and relationships, and it was a relief to not have to worry about skipping past the overblown initmate scenes.

[AndreaH · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring.
These three novels are about three regency rakes, two who need to get married, and one who drags his feet. The tales might have been more interesting if not read one after the other, but, hey , they're packed in one volume.
The rakes have avoided the ton, and nice women for ages, and after reading about picnic after ball, after picnic after ball, I'd be avoiding it too.
Way too much dancing and polite conversation.

[Merrilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was just as good the second time as the first.

Talk about being goal oriented, once Jason decides he has to get married to fulfill his ducal duties, he makes a list of what he requires in a wife. Once he has a candidate in mind, it’s like he is on a mission to get her to marry him. Of course since he’s not perfect, he messes things up and then can’t figure out what he’s done wrong. Will help come in time?

[Sylvain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be swept off your feet with our Rogue's Reform bundle -- three classic Regencies by renowned author Stephanie Laurens, for one low price! Bundle includes "The Reasons for Marriage," "A Lady of Expectations," and "An Unwilling Conquest,"

[Kayla Holthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

These got very long.... By the time I got to the end of the third one it seemed like there was just alot of boring filler... No adventure, no excitement... Just page after page of soirees and parties. Bleh!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lester Family novels in one book.
-The Reasons For Marriage, originally published 1994
-A Lady of Expectations, originally published 1995
-An Unwilling Conquesy, originally published 1996
Good selection of early Laurens reading.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compilation of three books

[Book Him Danno · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the romance and the story. Historical romance is always a nice way to spend the afternoon. I enjoyed the three stories. I'm a sucker for a happy ending and all of these fit the bill.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read -
Just added to my kindle - if it is anything like her other books, should be an easy read.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was three books in one and was wonderful...I'm going to have to find out if some of the other characters have their own books now of course.

[Karen Desmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

[Barbara James]

historical romance

[Bean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the Lester trilogy. Lenore's story was by far the best. The second one was painfully bad. The third was no where near as charming as the first nor as bad as the second.

[Christiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trudged through the first story, this library book is due in 3 days and I know I'm not going to finish it so I will shelve it for another time.... Sorry Stephanie Laurens :(

[Nancy Toy]

Good regency romances. Nice easy read.

[Angela]

29 February 2020: $3.99 on Kindle

[Renee Myrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful series

Loved this series! 3 stories each can be read separately but so much better that they are of siblings from the same family

[Patria]

3 Novels: The Reasons for Marriage, A Lady of Expectations, An Unwilling Conquest