Cold Hearted Lyon
Tabetha Waite
Historical Romance
Love doesn’t mean anything when no one wants it—until they realize they do.
Lady Catherine Cecil wants to strike out at her parents for an arranged marriage, but her target turns to the lady responsible for her recent union instead: Mrs. Dove-Lyon, the proprietress of the Lyon’s Den. When she contrives an opportunity to tarnish the Black Widow’s reputation for matchmaking, Lady Catherine is set on the course.
But that is before she meets her intended bridegroom.
Baron Benjamin Fontaine is a man Lady Catherine does not trust, nor does she consider him a friend, but a foe. However, when she learns that he also wishes to settle a debt with the Black Widow, she decides it’s time for the villains to work together. Already expecting a child Lady Catherine conceived with a former lover, the couple conspires to tackle one of London’s most notorious ladies.
Together, they have found a common ground, but who will be crowned victorious at the end of the day? Will Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s reputation be in tatters at long last? Or will love intercede and prove that it will not be denied, after all?
Uncaged Review: Lady Catherine Cecil is in trouble! Well, according to her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster, she is. Catherine is pregnant with a groom’s baby. The Duchess goes to Mrs. Bessie Dove-Lyon, the well-known owner of Lyon’s Den, a gambling den but also secretly a match-maker too. The Duchess pleads with Mrs. Dove-Lyon to find a titled gentleman husband to marry Catherine off to. Baron Lord Benjamin Fontaine actually accrues a debt at the Lyons Den. So, Mrs. Dove-Lyon proposes that in order for Benjamin to settle the score, he is to marry Catherine. When Catherine hears that she will be married to Benjamin, she is less than thrilled but goes along with it. Both Benjamin and Catherine do have plans to destroy Mrs. Dove-Lyon but falling in love with each other was never part of the plan.
These lovely little Lyon den stories just really make me smile! All of them are unique and written by different authors but well worth the read! This story might be a novella, but it doesn’t really seem like one. The characters are fully developed and the world, including the gambling den, makes me want to visit even though I shy away from places like that, but it’s great to imagine the world. Ms. Tabetha Waite writes beautifully of two broken characters that aren’t perfect. Catherine makes mistakes and learns that her mistake does have consequences. Sure, she probably didn’t think of them when she put herself in that position, but she didn’t have the foresight to see that at the time. At times, I did think Catherine did seem written a little bit too modern, yet I loved her for her impetuous, misguided ways. While Benjamin is the same in spirit, he becomes better as the book moves along. Overall, the book was written very well, and I enjoyed reading it, so I will definitely read another!
Reviewed by Roslynn Ernst
4 Stars
