Review: The Lyon Returns (The Lyon's Den Connected World) by Kimberly Keyes

    

Print Length: 426 pages

Publisher: DragonBlade Publishing (October 22, 2025)

From Goodreads.com: A widow starting anew. A gentleman dodging the noose. Will their pretense of a marriage turn into a head-over-heels love?

To purchase the publishing house of her dreams, new-to-London Gwendolyn Barnes must find herself a husband. With no desire to wed again, the young widow pays an exorbitant fee to the notorious Black Widow of Whitehall for a husband who, she assures Gwen, is almost certainly dead.

Then her husband, shipping magnate and aloof son of a duke, Gideon Devereux, walks through the front door.

After reading of his marriage to an unknown bride, the date of which provides him a handy alibi, Gideon returns to London determined to discover who framed him for treason. He’s content to allow his farce of a marriage to the beautiful bluestocking to stand. He only sees two problems—Gwen’s stipulation the marriage remain in name only, and an ungovernable hunger for each other that neither can quell.

Secretly falling for the brooding and seductive Devereux, a wary Gwen vows to avoid a repeat of her disastrous first marriage. And with his enemies circling ever closer, Gideon’s inner demons whisper that their white-hot passion can never ignite into a forever love.

Can this made-for-each-other couple discover new heights of happiness in each other’s arms, or will the echoes of their pasts tear them apart?

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

What initially drew me into this story was its interesting, if slightly unbelievable, premise. A widow in need of a husband "marries" a man who is "almost certainly dead" only to have said husband show up, but instead of throwing her out, invites her to continue to ruse because she provides him with the alibi he needs to clear his name.

The characters themselves had depth and intriguing motives: first you have the bastard son of a Duke (with mixed heritage due to his Indian mother) who is very well known around town, then you have a widow determined to buy her own publishing company from a group with some pretty strict rules (her having a husband being the first of many with each more ridiculous than the last). Neither of them had any intention of ever remarrying after disastrous first marriages (each made for all the wrong reasons), which set the stage for some genuinely charming banter and undeniable chemistry early on. Unfortunately, that chemistry began to fade as the story progressed, replaced by repetitive arguments where Gwen would snap at Gideon for hovering, only to let him distract her from any meaningful conversation.

In fact, biggest issue with this story is that so much of it could have been resolved if Gideon and Gwen would have just opened their mouths and had an actual conversation instead of having sex. I place the majority of the blame squarely on Gideon's shoulders as that seemed to be his go to form of distraction whenever Gwen tried to broach a subject that he was uncomfortable with. And while I get that it was staying in character for him, having been subjected to his step-mother's disdain his whole life (causing him to think lesser of himself), and then allowing himself to be used as a plaything for bored widows of the ton (or at least that was my impression based on things that were said and the amount of mistresses that he had); but for me as a reader it just became frustrating. 

Of course there was the "eleventh hour drama" as I have come to call it in which key points that were obvious (at least to me), come into play, and our two characters finally have the courage to admit their true feelings (or in this case Gideon finds the courage as poor Gwen had already admitted how she felt only to have him rebuke her and belittle her feelings). 

On the plus side, despite this being a part of the Lyon's Den world (of which there are A LOT of other novels), I had no problems whatsoever understanding who the players were and their friendships to one another (where applicable). In fact, I was so intrigued by the premise of this world that I intend to check out some of the other stories from the other author's who have contributed to this world (as well as more from this author).

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.