The Black Lyon by Jude Deveraux [Review]

The Duchess (Montgomery/Taggert Family #2) by Jude Deveraux
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: July 6, 2024

Montgomery/Taggert Family
1. The Black Lyon - Kindle
2. The Duchess
3. The Temptress
4. The Raider
5. Mountain Laurel
6. Sweet Liar
7. Wishes
8. The Princess
9. Eternity
10. Someone to Love
11. The Heiress
12. The Awakening
13. The Invitation
14. High Tide
15. A Knight in Shining Armor

Jude Deveraux
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Darkly handsome and rich beyond imagining, the bold English conqueror was called “the Black Lyon” for his lion like ferocity. He had no match among enemies, or women . . . until he met Lyonene, the green-eyed beauty whose fiery spirit equaled his own.

Through a whirlwind romance and stormy marriage, she endured every peril to be by his side, until vicious lies and jealousy drove her into danger. Now only the fierce Black Lyon can save her—for he alone has the courage to destroy the ruthless plot threatening to shatter the bond of love the Lyon and his lady vowed would never be broken . . .

Thoughts on The Black Lyon: Ahh, the beginning of the Montgomery line. Ranulf and Lyonene. This is one I read back in the day and I still didn't love how suspicious Ranulf was of Lyonene's intentions after they married, but the dude had a lot of baggage he needed to purge, so I get it. I didn't love it, but I get it.

So. Ranulf is the grim warrior who is completely surprised by his reaction to Lyonene the first time they meet. To be fair, Lyonene is also a little shocked by how hard and fast she falls for Ranulf. They marry pretty quickly, but between meeting Lyonene and the wedding, Ranulf gets hit by a bucketload of self-doubt. He starts questioning why a woman as beautiful and young as Lyonene would want a battle-scarred knight like him. Given his past, his doubts are understandable. Yet, he goes through with the marriage and their first couple weeks (or months? I dunno, I'm not great with time) aren't great. Then Lyonene lives up to her lioness name and forces her knight to see how much she loves him despite his utterly terrible temperament during their marriage.

BUT...nothing's easy for these two and a conniving woman starts chipping away at Lyonene's trust in her husband and that crack ends up getting her whisked away to be ransomed. Which Ranulf VERY MUCH does not like. Sure, things work out for these two in the end, but these two had a long, rocky road to their happily ever after.

Still, these two smoke when they're not fighting one another and, again, this is the start of the Montgomery line so that's neat.