Shannon C.‘s review of At Love’s Command (Brothers in Arms, Book 4) by Samantha Kane
Historical erotic ebook published 12 Dec 07

I have to qualify this review by admitting, again, that I am a Samantha Kane fangirl. This is mostly Lisabea’s fault [ed note: visit her blog today and every monday for Man lurve Monday], and now I’ve read everything on Ms Kane’s backlist. I was looking for a guaranteed good book to read while taking a break from studying, and finally decided to read this one.

At Love’s Command is set in Ms. Kane’s version of Regency England, which has an overabundance of bisexual men who hooked up during the Peninsular Wars and now are looking for the one woman to complete them. This premise works well for me, because I really like Ms. Kane’s men, so much so that I have my favorites that aren’t officially paired off and have actually considered sending whiny e-mails to the author begging for their books.

Anyway, the pair in question in this book consists of Ian Witherspoon and Derek Knightley. Unlike the heroes in Ms. Kane’s other books, Derek and Ian are already lovers. They met, surprisingly enough, during the war, and have been together ever since. The war left its scars on both of them, and now that they’ve been back in England for two years, Ian’s decided that they need a new start with someone capable of bringing them peace. And since Ian’s already betrothed to Sophie Middleton, it might as well be her that they marry.

Sophie, it turns out, really, really wants to get married. This is because her father is an abusive rat bastard and her brother Harold rapes her. Anybody else looks good, and she remembers thinking of Ian as her knight in shining armor when they first met. She figures since he’s already got Derek, he won’t want much to do with her except provide her with an heir, so her wedded life will be comparatively blissful.

Derek is opposed to the whole thing. He thinks that surely Sophie has to be manipulating everyone around her. He was perfectly happy with his life before Sophie came into it, and he is determined that she won’t take Ian away from him.

Needless to say, the three of them have a lot of issues to work out between them. And they do, with events following one another in a logical pattern until the end. Ms. Kane carefully paints each of her characters, adding depth as we get to know them. By the end I was totally convinced that Ian, Sophie, and Derek couldn’t live without each other.

Ian is great as the stabling force between Derek and Sophie. He realizes after he meets Sophie just how much she needs him, and he acts the perfect, chivalrous gentleman. I liked that he was exactly what Sophie needed when she first starts to come to her own, and I loved his patience.

I should have disliked Sophie. She’s shy, she’s been a victim all her life, and she’s terrified of everything. But then, I say that about all of Ms. Kane’s heroines, and somehow they turn out to really work for me. I loved watching Sophie grow into a confident woman, and I got the sense that she hadn’t done a complete 180 and become someone totally different by book’s end. In addition to her relationships with Ian and Derek, I really liked her interactions with the supporting female characters.

Derek, though, was my absolute favorite. He’s a big man who is really a submissive in the bedroom, a fact that I thought was interesting and a nice twist on the conventional tropes. He also feels things very deeply, and I loved his struggles not to care about Sophie. He was suffering through most of the book, in some form or another, but I loved that he wasn’t full of angst–just generally an abrasive smart ass.

As usual, Ms. Kane does a lot of the relationship development between her characters through sex scenes. And she manages never to lose track of who’s doing what to whom. Each scene felt necessary for something in the story, and I thought they were hot.

As for the extternal stuff? I really could have done without the creepily obsessed cartoonish villain, but then, I usually can. I also think I could have done with a lot less of the Very Thomas storyline, since I’m not sure that it was necessary for the rest of the plot. That being said, it was fun to see Kate and her husbands from the first book in the series, and my favorite secondary character, the Jewish dandy Daniel Steinberg, makes an appearance and shows a surprising amount of depth, so much so that I really, really want his book.

I enjoyed this book very much, and would highly recommend it to readers who like good M/M/F menage books. Ms. Kane is the gold standard by which I have come to judge menage stories, and this book is her best yet.

Grade: A-

You can read other reviews of this book from Sandy and Bev.

You can also read my takes on the first three books in this series:  The Courage to Love, Love Under Seige, and Love’s Strategy

     Summary:

     A child when they were betrothed, Sophia Middleton has been waiting twelve years for Ian Witherspoon to return and marry her. Preyed upon by her vicious father and older brother, Sophie longs for Ian to rescue her.

     Ian Witherspoon and Derek Knightly became best friends during the Peninsular War, and returned as lovers. Two more years pass before the desire for a wife and children prompts Ian to recall his little fiancée. Ian is determined to make a marriage work between the three of them. Derek opposes the marriage despite Ian’s determination, but how long will he be able to resist love’s command?

     Sophie’s vulnerability hides a core of strength and the combination enthralls and seduces both men. An apt pupil, Sophie learns trust and passion from Ian, and Derek tutors her in the ecstasy of surrender. Love will conquer their fears as they fight those who would tear them apart.

     Read an excerpt.