I truly enjoyed this addition to The Lyon's Den. Betsy Dove-Lyon was much more diabolic in this story. Lord Pennington was the beast that needed taming with too much repressed feelings and a broken heart. Adriana had been dealt a bad deal the first go around in marriage and came out stronger, but damaged as well. Together through trial and error, a little help from Mrs. Dove-Lyon, and love they make an interesting book. Their story goes from cold to scorching hot. I look forward to reading Ashbury's book if he gets one.

I received this book from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for an honest review.

A Beast, A Widow, A Gut-Wrenching Love Story:
This is a very turbulent love story with an incredible ending.
I was captured by Montague and Adriana's gripping hate, and I do mean hate to love story.
I went through so many different emotions while reading this impassioned love story.
We followed them as they struggle to overcome, they're tragic pasts many insecurities, discovering passion, sweet honest heartfelt confessions that made my heart sing for them, a thrilling carriage ride, and more..
The last chapter or two were so gut wrenching it had me stopping to swear, yell, take a breath or two before I could go on. Thank goodness the end is so marvelous along with a thrilling HEA epilogue.
A wonderful story in a truly enjoyable series with strong and determined characters that will hopefully capture your heart as it did mine.
Mature Reader:

Mrs Dove-Lyon isn't playing games in The Lyons Puzzle this time! You don't mess around when she makes the perfect match for Adriana and Montague. But Adriana and Montague swirl down in a vortex of darkness, pain and tragedy and only time will tell if each one will be able to trust the other or will Mrs Dove-Lyon when the round? Sandra Sookoo has written a romance with flawed characters who manage to grow and yet retain their personalities which captivates you from the beginning until the very end. It's a rollercoaster ride full of letting the past go, sizzling passion, tale of second chance at love, great dialogue and with a strong plot that bring this read together perfectly that keeps you that keeps you turning the pages!

I really enjoyed this! I finished one of the other books in the Lyon's series a few days ago, Pride of Lyons, so when I saw this one up for request on Netgalley, I jumped at the opportunity. While I do think I liked Pride of Lyons a bit better, I still liked this one.

My one main problem with this was the dubious consent in the first spicy scene. I know that our MMC was meant to be the "worst man in London", but his actions in this scene just made me uncomfortable. They were addressed in slight ways, but I do wish this hadn't been included, as it served little to no purpose to the story.

Ignoring that, I enjoyed the dynamic between Montague and Adriana. The tension between them, and I loved watching them slowly reveal their histories. Its one of my favorite historical romance tropes, so I was happy to see it done well.

I'm really growing to enjoy this series, so I'll definitely be continuing to pick them up! I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have read almost every book in this series. It is about a woman, Mrs. Dove-Lyon who is a widow who runs a gaming establishment with a brothel upstairs. She creates matches with couples by way of the groom losing a wager. The books are written by one of six different authors. I have not read one book that actually makes sense. I do not know why books keep being written in this series.
Some of the books are actually pretty good, except when they are manipulated to fit the series parameters. This book is no exception. Except for where the characters deal with the widow, it is a pretty good book.. Why could they not just be a marriage of convenience that moves into love? I like those. But no, we have to see this story manipulated.
The hero is a 42 year old bachelor that has lost two of the women he loved and planned to marry in horrific ways. One was in his twenties, just before their wedding, and he lost her to a vagrant who attacked her for her purse and stabbed her in the chest. He held her as she bled out. The second was in his thirties. They had both contracted an illness and she never recovered. She has been 3 months pregnant and two weeks before the wedding he held her hand as she struggled to breath. He attended her funeral instead of their wedding. Life has been so cruel to this man. He resorted to anger and vices, and was known as the worst man in London.
The heroine is a 33 year old widow whose father lost the hand of her younger 19 year old sister in a card game. The heroine goes to Mrs. Dove-Lyon to offer herself for the bride and negotiates the hero to pay for her little sister's next two Seasons, but not give the money to her father. I still am not sure what the widow received except maybe more money from.the unsuspecting groom? Oh, and here is a good one. The heroine is rumored to have killed her first abusive husband. And she can't have children.
I think that this book had every cliche horrible thing that could happen, actually happen. I am not sure if I liked it. I gave it 3 stars because it kind of made sense. But as will all.the other books in this series, i would not recommend reading it. There was not enough positive things to want to share.