Book Review - The Black Lyon by Jude Deveraux

Book Description
Darkly handsome and rich beyond imagining, Ranulf de Warbrooke was the bold conqueror they called the Black Lyon. Feared by men and women alike, he had no match -- until he met Lady Lyonene, the green-eyed beauty whose fiery spirit matched his own. And she dared to love the man no woman could tame...

THE GREEN-EYED LYONENE

Through a whirlwind romance and stormy marriage, she endured every peril to be by his side. And when jealousy and vicious lies drove her across the Irish Sea and into grave danger, only one man could save her -- the Black Lyon. He alone could destroy the ruthless plot that had driven them apart, and renew the bond of love they had vowed would never be broken.
Darkly handsome and rich beyond imagining, Ranulf de Warbrooke was the bold conqueror they called the Black Lyon. Feared by men and women alike, he had no match -- until he met Lady Lyonene, the green-eyed beauty whose fiery spirit matched his own. And she dared to love the man no woman could tame...

***

April 11

The Black Lyon was a nice, fast-paced read with likable main characters. The story moved briskly and had a lot of events happening, but it ended up working. Lyonene was a strong character who had her faults, as was Ranulf, and they were wonderful together. I loved the scenes when they first met and the last half of the book the best. So some of the writing was flowery and maybe a bit dated to when it was written, but I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more in the Montgomery series.

Note: This does contain what today would be considered rape, twice. They're early on, they happen really fast, aren't described in much detail, and the hero doesn't even realize he does it the second time and he does show remorse. Maybe not what 'modern women' would like to see, but I didn't have much of a problem with it, and rape isn't something I take lightly. The heroine doesn't see herself as a victim, but as a wife just doing her duty. Sounds horrible to my 21st Century sensibilities, but somehow it made me not dwell on the rape and move on to the rest of the book. Other authors have done worse in books written in this time period (70s/80s), and having Lyonene react that way added a touch of realism to the Medieval time period.

4/5 stars