Major Logan Monteith and his four closest friends have been assigned to the task of beheading the Black Cobra – a villainous cult ravaging Indian villages – by taking down the cult’s leader.  When one of his friends sacrifices his life to secure a vital piece of evidence, Logan must carry a decoy copy of the evidence to England, while two of his friends do the same via different routes and a third carries the real thing.  But the path to England, and the Duke of Wolverstone who is the mastermind behind Logan and his friends’ trip, is fraught with peril.  While battling Black Cobra cultists aboard a ship during a storm, Logan is tossed overboard and finds himself shipwrecked and suffering amnesia on the small island of Guernsey.  Logan is rescued by the most unlikely of angels: the bold, beautiful Linnet Trevission.  Linnet runs her realm like the Queen Elizabeth of old, but Logan finds that he will do anything to become this virgin queen’s consort.  But when his memory returns and duty threatens to tear him from Linnet, will Logan be able to convince this brazen woman that they can have a future together?

The Black Cobra quartet gets more and more fascinating with each book!  The Brazen Bride is one heck of a ride from Guernsey to England, with two strong-willed protagonists who heat up the page like none of Stephanie Laurens’s characters have before.  The first half of The Brazen Bride is a refreshingly different, sensual romance, while the second half of the book is classic Stephanie Laurens.  I’ll admit, while I found Logan and Linnet interesting and likeable protagonists, what captured my attention the most was the book’s villains.  Ms. Laurens adds another layer to Alex and Daniel, two of the figureheads of the Black Cobra.  I won’t spoil what it is about them that intrigued me, for the surprise was half the fun.  I will say that this new side of them made them come alive more for me and I’m curious to see if any repercussions of the events in The Brazen Bride concerning the villains will appear in the final book, The Reckless Bride.

The Brazen Bride is the third book in the Black Cobra quartet and Ms. Laurens provides just enough information for readers who have not read The Untamed Bride and The Elusive Bride to follow along.  However, there are major plot spoilers for the first two books in The Brazen Bride, so I recommend reading the quartet in order.  Overall, I finished The Brazen Bride a well-satisfied reader, and I cannot wait to read the sure-to-be-stunning conclusion to the quartet, The Reckless Bride.