Enter the world of the most notorious gambling den in London, where matches are made... unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.

Can a booklover find love worthy of a fairy tale?

All Sibyl Clifton wants is to fall in love, like the heroines of her beloved storybooks. Can she find a hero worthy of a fairy tale at the Lyon’s Den?

Sibyl loves a good story. A passionate reader, she grew up falling for heroes and wanting to be like the dashing heroines in the stories her father would bring her from his travels. After his untimely death, she relied on these stories even more for solace.

Now in her twenties and on her way to becoming a spinster, Sibyl knows her mother despairs of her marriage prospects, and she, too, fears she will never find love. She wants her future husband to be a reader, but all her mother wants is a safe home for her daughter.

Enter Neville Heyter. When a chance encounter at a circulating library makes him cross paths with Miss Clifton, he is stunned. The young woman is beautiful, a keen reader, and… opinionated. He finds himself intrigued, especially when he sees her again at the Lyon’s Den, where Sibyl’s mother hopes to enlist the famous matchmaker to find her daughter a husband.

But Miss Clifton has a rival to Mr. Heyter’s affections, the daughter of the editor of a notorious gossip magazine who wants Mr. Heyter for herself. She longs for fame, attention—to be a young woman worthy of notice. So when an up-and-coming artist chooses Miss Clifton as his next model, his muse, in a gambit to help her attract a husband, Sibyl’s rival hatches a plan.

Amidst gossip, rumors, effusive singers, mysterious artists, and a grand debut at the Royal Exhibition, Miss Clifton begins to fall for Mr. Heyter. But this love will come at a cost, if her jealous rival has anything to say about it.

Will this pair of readers find love at the Lyon’s Den?

Tropes You'll Enjoy:

• He falls first
• Booklovers
• Dinner parties
• Getting handsy in the library
• Gossip columns
• Ruined reputations
• Storybooks and happily ever afters