Lords of Misrule

Roundheads & Cavaliers, Book 4

By: Stella Riley

Narrated by: Alex Wyndham

Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Still tied to his desk in the Intelligence Office, Colonel Eden Maxwell has become increasingly disenchanted with both Oliver Cromwell and his own daily existence; and with the advent of new Royalist conspiracies, he despairs of ever getting away.

Then a brick hurled through the window of a small workshop sets in motion a new and unexpected chain of events. After all, who would want to hurt Lydia Neville—a young widow, giving work and self-respect to maimed war veterans considered unemployable elsewhere? But when the assaults in Duck Lane escalate, threatening the life and remaining limbs of some of Eden’s former troopers, finding the culprit becomes a personal crusade.

At their first meeting, Lydia finds Colonel Maxwell annoying; by their second, having discovered that he had arrested and questioned her brother in connection with the Ship Tavern Plot, she mistrusts his motives. On the other hand, it swiftly becomes plain that she needs his help…and has difficulty resisting his smile.

Solving the increasingly hazardous mystery surrounding Lydia is not Eden’s only task. Between plots to assassinate the Lord Protector and a rising in Scotland, he must also mend the fences within his own family and get to know his son. Life suddenly goes from mind-numbing boredom to frenetic complexity.

With reckless Cavaliers lurking around every corner and a government still struggling to find its way, Lords of Misrule is set against a time of national discontent and general failure. But readers of the previous books in the series can look forward to catching up with old friends as well as meeting new ones…while, against all the odds, Eden and Lydia find danger and reward in equal measure.

©2016 Stella Riley (P)2023 Stella Riley

Exceptional Ending to an Exceptional Series

After listening to the first book in the series, I bought the remaining three. And, it has been among the best I have ever listened to. The final chapter brought all the characters' stories together. I can't recommend this series or this book highly enough. Do listen to the books in order.

Food for the soul- loved it

I enjoyed every single morsel of this book in the Roundheads and Cavaliers series. Eden has had such a journey from innocence to cynicism to bitterness and to blocking all emotions. We start with Eden on a boring, dead end job , working alone for someone he does not respect. He no longer derives his purpose and the isolation makes him gradually start to seek a new life. He tries active service again but it is over all too soon and he is beginning to see that compromise is necessary for the sake of the nation. Into this turmoil steps Lydia, an independent widow who owns and manages her own business helping disabled war veterans and war widows make a living. Out of the blue, a focused attack by unknown people comes to disrupt her business. It is a mystery, why would anyone attack a business helping war wounded. Lydia reports the problems to Eden and against his will he is drawing to her company, trying to solve the mystery and protect someone who doesn’t think she needs protection. Despite the arguments, they are each intrigued by the other and enjoy the sparring. Suddenly Eden is participating in life and is forced to confront a myriad of emotions. The mystery itself is intricately woven into the story, forcing each to confront new ideas and working together brings closeness. Delightfully we have several characters from other series, most notably Nicholas, the one-armed Cavalier soldier that Eden has sheltered. Nick also becomes invested with Lydia’s workmen, and begins to work along side her people. Struggling with his own self worth after the loss of his arm, he finds purpose and friendship with both the men and Lydia’s family. He too must confront his emotions and ideas for the future. All of them working together creates a family and Eden is then able to reconnect with his family and that is a lovely story on its own. The characters Stella has created are complicated and thoughtful and the mystery ties them all together. The storyline keeps your attention and the wonderful narrational of Alex Wyndham works its magic to captivate listeners and leave them satisfied. It is a wonderful book written by a wonderful author and gives a wealth of knowledge about the English Civil War.

Another great read by Stella!

Part of the Cromwell era saga; lots of fun and intrigue set against a politically turbulent time. Wonderful narration as usual.

Perfect balance of ACTION, CONFLICT, & Romance

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I have every other Stella Riley book. Although much longer than most books, it never seems too long. The story never drags. There's lots of action, the perfect amount of conflict, and the perfect amount of romance. This book is simply perfection, and it's an added bonus that I actually learned things that I did not know about history without being bored due to the way the author expertly weaves all the historical facts into thw story details. This is the epitome of romantic historical fiction as it should be done. As always, Alex Wyndham is simply divine and the story could not possibly be performed any better!

Excellent, as usual

This series has been a delight to read and this installment is no different. I loved seeing Eden’s redemption and, while other reviewers are giving Lydia a bad rap, I think she is delightful and a wonderful female lead.

Alex Wyndham is unmatched. What a treat.

Another masterpiece

Stella Riley is amazingly talented at creating historical romances. Her stories are rich with historical events and interesting characters. Alex Wyndham is masterful at being life to SR’s stories. I’ve listened to all the books in this series-multiple times- and loved them all. This book gives Eden and his children a happy ending and allows the listener to visit with old friends from previous books. Thank you SR and AW for a delightful 18 hours of pure joy.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Carried away as usual by the absorbing story and truly exceptional writing by Stella Riley. Some long books could use severe editing, not Lords of Misrule. I was captivated every minute. Alex Wyndham’s consistent excellent performance rates the 5 stars I have given.
Riley’s books are among the few I purchase in Kindle and again when the long awaited audio is released.

History, romance and a family saga

This fourth book of the Roundheads and Cavaliers series is another mastepiece of weaving together the turbulent history of the English Civil War, a similarly turbulent romance, a dark mystery and the heartwarming background of the Maxwell family. Eden Maxwell works as a military intelligence officer assisting to put down uprisings and secret royalist plots, He also assists the more moderate leaders of the country in trying to bring tolerance, reason and compromise into a situation of discontent and upheaval. We see how Cromwell's Protectorate loses popularity and support, many Parliamentary leaders are disillusioned with the cause of fighting against tyranny as it seems to lead to the same sort of tyranny they had tried to remove, While Eden becomes more and more frustrated with his work, it brings him into contact with Lydia Neville, a widow with a reckless Royalist brother, narrow-minded and selfish in-laws who runs charitable businesses to give jobs to disabled soldiers and women without support. This results in Eden finding his heart that he had locked away after the betrayal of his first wife, falling in love with the independent, warmhearted and contrary widow and mending the relationship with his family, in particular with his children. On Lydia's part, she also falls in love the first time in her life (her first marriage was an arrangement of convenience), and it comes at a time when she begins to need protection quite badly as strange and dark things start to happen to her businesses and to her - as we find gradually out, done by a quite horrible villain. Luckily, Colonel Maxwell has all the instincts and abilities to protect and save Lydia, but these adventures, their frequent and turbulent clashes of personality and the scars Eden carries from his first disastrous infatuation take them on a roller coaster ride until their deep love and honour, willingness to help others, and the extensive supporting network of Eden's family, friends and the people from Lydia's businesses (who are as close to her as a family too) leads them to overcome their trials and tribulations and to have a satisfying happy ending.
Alex Wyndham, as always, is an excellent narrator who brings the characters into life, highlights the complex emotions, draws the listener into the adventure and in every way provides a satisfying listening experience.

Excellent

Wonderfully written and superbly narrated, this is a satisfying conclusion to the story and characters in this series of the English Civil War of the 1600s. (This book can be enjoyed by itself, without having read the previous ones.)

Fabulous series

I just finished the fourth book in this series and they have all been fantastic. Ms Riley’s characters come alive and you feel as if you are leaving friends when the book is done. I will say the descriptions do not do them justice. Wonderful stories, exciting and fascinating history, characters that you mostly love (some not so much!) and of course spectacular narration!! Alex is fantastic and it was his narration that led me to Ms Riley’s books!! I would love to see more in this series!