Customer Reviews

The Lion's Lady

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lion's Lady is very entertaining and enjoyable. The aspect of an English child raised by an American Indian tribe and returned to England stirs the imagination. The embers between Christina and Lyon glow to a red hot fire. Suspense and humor are a bonus Ms. Garwood adds to her writing.

Be sure to read the entire series: 1. The Lion's Lady 2. The Guardian 3. The Gift 4. Castles.

I love all Julie Garwood books. I have all of them and I've read them so many times. My favorite books are RANSOM, THE SECRET, THE WEDDING, THE PRIZE. All of them are so romantic!

O.k., first let me start off by saying that Julie Garwood cannot write a bad novel. I have read almost all of them and have enjoyed every single one. This book was no exception. But, (you knew this was coming) this book was not at the top of my list. I just couldn't connect with these characters like I have with other characters of Julie's. I did not relate to Christina at all, but that is more my problem than the character's. I also felt as if the ending was very rushed. It went so fast, I had a hard time keeping up and wished for the sake of the characters, we could have had more conversation and interacting rather than just a quick third-person, matter-of-fact narrative. I don't want anyone to think I disliked the book. I enjoyed reading it, but just wished I had gotten more involved with the story-line as I have with almost all of Garwood's books. In the end, I do recommend this book. If you buy it, you won't be disapointed. I also HIGHLY recommned any of Garwood's mid-evil novels. Those are my favorites.

Also recommended: Honor's Splendor (Garwood), The Gift (Garwood) The Prize (Garwood), Castles (Garwood), Princess & Lady of Desire, by Galen Foley.

Great Book! I love it I've read it probably 30 times. Never gets old.

The story is about a girl named Christina, who was raised by the Native Americans. Her mother died when she was 2 while trying to escape from her evil husband. She kept a diary and Christina would read it when she got older.

Lyon is a jaded man whose dead wife had cheated on him with his brother. He is enchanted with Christina and her strange way of thinking.

They meet when Christina is forced to go to England with her aunt. All along Christina avoids telling him about her past for fear of putting Lyon in danger because her grandfather left her a whole bunch of money and both her real father and her aunt wants it.

I thought that the way she started most chapters with an entry from Christina's mother's diary was very nice. There were lots of witty conversations between Christina and Lyon, although I did find it a little annoying that Christina waited so long to tell Lyon about her past. And I love the ending! I think it was her best ending out of all the books I've read.

Christina Bennett has come to London to avenge her mother's death. She uses her European title of Princess Christina when she is presented to London society. Christina hides many secrets - particularly that she was raised by American Native Indians. At times, her presentation to and acceptance by London society seems a little stretched but it is such a great story that you overlook those little bits of non-reality.

Lyon, The Marquis of Lyonwood, is a cynical and hard man. He has the usually rakish views of English historical romance in that he does not believe in love or even expect to meet a woman that could mean more to him than the physical side of a relationship.

Christina and Lyon meet at a party and from the first glimpse, they know their attraction to each other is certainly unique. Although Lyon doesn't want a relationship with a woman beyond a mistress, he finds himself seeking out Christina again and again. Christina is unlike any woman he has ever met, she is rather blunt and does not fear or hide her fierce attraction to Lyon. Since Lyon has a lot of experience solving mysteries, through his secretive work for the English government, he senses when something is not truthful. And he senses Christina is not being entirely truthful when answering questions about her past. Lyon becomes almost obsessed with finding out about Christina's past and finds himself wildly attracted to her. Christina, in turn, is very attracted to Lyon but will not tell him her secrets because she must maintain her Princess front and knows she will return to America eventually.

This is my third Garwood book. I would have rated them all 5 stars but this is the best one yet. The humor is subtle but at times makes you laugh out loud. The story lines were interesting - even the secondary characters and the mysteries! I usually get easily bored with the mystery portion of a romance novel. More times than not, the mystery is poorly written and is an obvious ploy to extend the novel. But the two mysteries written in The Lion's Lady are just right. They take a page or two here and there but aren't boring when they appear.

The hero, Lyon, as usual, was a hero to dream about. There are never men like this. If there were, their wives would leave them. Dominance in personality is not a favored trait in a husband today. But this image that Lyon exudes is handsome, dominant, protective, yet very caring as a husband AND it is one of fairy tales. Romance writing certainly contains some aspects of a fairy tale and I think that is one reason I love reading well-written romance novels. I can enjoy Lyon just as he is written! He is a well-rounded romance hero with an appreciation for humor and a definite flair for being in charge.

Christina is a very likable heroine. She is a little too sweet at times but I have found that this is typical for Garwood's heroines. But Christina was so ornery and stubborn to boot! She lied - constantly - to Lyon. Fortunately, he considered it endearing because he understood her reason for it. She is only attempting to cover up her background and I think she is mostly truthful at other times.

It is so humorous how Lyon handles Christina's lies and her attempts to hide the truth by giving him vague answers to his specific questions. I love that Christina thinks of Lyon as a warrior. The relationship is certainly unusual for romance writing. There is none of the misunderstandings and bitter words so common in this type of book. We get to see their relationship from the beginning with an unusual twist. From the first moment, they both realize that their attraction to each other is strong and shared. They both attempt to avoid this mutual attraction in their own ways.

As Christina and Lyon's relationship develops, we get to experience many wonderful scenes in which they live out, day to day, their love for each other. It is refreshing to not have fighting and disturbances between the romance leads up until the end of the book. We are given time to relish their relationship.

The sensual scenes are a solid four out of five (see More About Me for rating guidelines) both in occurrence and specifics. These scenes are very well written and just fall in as one of the lovely aspects of the story. They help give the story substance and spice. But this is not a novel that depends on sensual scenes. However, we are happy that they are included.

This book is a keeper. When I pick this one up again for a second read - I will remember that not only is this book well--written, it is also spicy and very humorous.

This book failed to keep me interested, I had to put this one down. This rarely happens with me, but I just could'nt stay with this one! zzzzzzz

This is the first book by Julie Garwood that I have read. I was sorely disappointed with it. At first it was OK. The idea of a white child being raised with Indians was good. Once she gets to England it gets boring. I felt the book just dragged and dragged. It's obvious that Christina and Lyon are attracted to each other from the beginning. OK, then what???? We don't reaad of her father until the very end. All this build up about him and he has only a few pages in the end of the story. And what about her Indian family?? She could've at least gone and seen them. She sure had enough money to. So much for loving your family as she proclaimed to. I just couldn't get into these characters. I'm glad I took this book out of the library rather than have spent hard earned monry on it.

This has got to be my favorite book of all time and let me tell you, I have a collection of books that could rival most reader's collections. Instead of going to the library, I buy them just in case I want to read them over and over. This was one of those books. If you enjoy historical romances with some flare, this is definitely a book to read. This book got me hooked on all of Julie Garwood's books. I have every one. I can't complain about a single one of her books. She makes you feel as if you are right there. You can feel the emotions, the anger and the fear. Even in all of the suspense and thriller books I have read, I have never been as captivated by a book as I was this one.

I usually really enjoy reading Julie Garwood's books. Even her lesser works are enjoyable to read, as she depicts her characters so well that you really want to know what happens to them. The Lion's Lady started out well with the heroine, Christina, getting adopted by the Dakota Indians. Her real mother had escaped an abusive husband, the king of some unnamed tiny European nation. The mother leaves behind a journal for her daughter, explaining the mystery of her evil father's ways - which the reader gets snippets of with each chapter. Christina's adoptive mother, Merry, had agreed to raise Christina after her real mother saved the life of Merry and her son. Merry has every intention of returning Christina to her "people" when she is older.

The story then jumps ahead to England, where Christina has just been introduced to "polite society." She meets Lyon, the Marquis of Lyonwood and is immediately attracted to him. She learns from her grandfather's attorneys that she will lose control of her inheritance to her evil father if she hasn't married by her next birthday. Her nasty Aunt Patricia wants the money, so she devises a scheme to get Christina married off to someone she can control, someone who will sign over a huge chunk of the inheritance to the aunt just to be able to have the "prize" of Christina. Christina decides to take matters into her own hands and proposes to Lyon. The main plot deals with whether or not they will marry.

Unfortunately,I felt the story took off in too many different directions, leaving many loops in the story and getting "facts" as established by the author mixed up. It was so hard to follow along - lots of bits and pieces didn't add up. I was also disappointed that despite all the buildup of a return to America and the Indian family Christina left behind, we never see them again. This was still a fun book to read, but by the end I knew I wasn't going to keep my copy. Julie Garwood has written many outstanding romance novels - this just was not her best.