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The Legend of Lyon Redmond

(Pennyroyal Green #11)

Julie Anne Long (Goodreads Author)

3.96 · Rating details · 2,930 ratings · 432 reviews

Bound by centuries of bad blood, England’s two most powerful families maintain a veneer of civility...until the heir to the staggering Redmond fortune disappears, reviving rumors of an ancient curse: a Redmond and an Eversea are destined to fall disastrously in love once per generation.

An enduring legend

Rumor has it she broke Lyon Redmond’s heart. But while many a man has ...more

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ebook, 384 pages

Published September 29th 2015 by Avon

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2015 Historical Romance (July - December)

265 books — 492 voters

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long

Best Character Driven Historical Romance

162 books — 94 voters

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· 2,930 ratings · 432 reviews

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Feb 03, 2015 sraxe rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish, written-review, 1-star, hero-not-celibate, adult, historical, edwardian-regency-victorian, romance, cheating-infidelity, third-person

Up until the 60% mark, I was honestly really enjoying this. I thought this would be a 5-star read for me. And then this happened:

There had been pleasure since then, some of it extraordinary, some of it memorable, all of it mindless, in the arms of other women.

Give me a fucking break. I felt so very I-was-rooting-for-you-we-were-all-rooting-for-you at this point.

The author even uses the ever-cliched "but he never loved any of them!!" business by saying it wasn't love with those women, that word w ...more

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Jan 31, 2015 WhiskeyintheJar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, historical, series, regency

5 stars, was there any doubt? I will say though, it's a 5 star rating put into the context of the journey you take if you read every book in the series. Taken on its own, I would have probably given it somewhere in the range of 4 stars.

Men will do things for women they wouldn’t otherwise in their right minds do.
No one knew that better than Lyon.

The Redmonds and the Everseas have been the staunch adversaries of Pennyroyal Green ever since 1066 and a cow argument, or so history murkily relay ...more

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Oct 02, 2015 Jill rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-romance-european

3.5 stars

A solid, but not outstanding finish to the Pennyroyal Green series, which has been generally good overall, some hits, some misses, with some really enjoyable reads and others like this one, pretty average.

My favourite remains A Notorious Countess Confesses - I like the trope - and also What I Did For a Duke, How the Marquess Was Won and It Happened One Midnight.

Briefly...Maybe I was expecting too much, but overall it was a pretty average read. I didn't feel a great lov ...more

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Mar 19, 2015 Sher❤ The Fabulous BookLover rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-read, cover-whore

**4 Can't Believe the Series is Over Stars**

The Pennyroyal Green series is a long series with some amazing books and one of my favorite HRs to date:What I Did For a Duke. Fans of this series have been waiting a mighty long time for Lyon and Olivia's happy ending.

I'm a sucker for second chance romance and I really liked the suspense in this story, the waiting of the moment when they finally meet again. The dialogue was witty, sensual and beautiful. I did feel like this was a bit wordy at times, ...more

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Oct 13, 2015 SidneyKay rated it did not like it

Shelves: romance-1820s-england

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Spoiler: They lived happily ever after...uh, then they died.

Many spoilers ahead. In case you don't know it by now, alllll those heroes and heroines who had happy endings in allll those historical romance books you've been reading over the years are now no longer with us. Of course, they never were because they are fictional, but that's beside the point. So just so you know, they are allll dead.

Where to begin - where to begin - ponder. Once again I find myself in the minority. I am confessing now ...more

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Feb 21, 2017 Jilly rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance

You know when you watch a television show and they do like a recap or walk down memory lane and you're feeling all cheated because it's not really a new show and you feel a bit tricked into watching it? They always tell you they are including new material or never before seen footage. Like that helps...

It was like that a bit.

We started this series knowing that Lyon Redmond has been missing for years because Olivia Eversea broke his heart. Then, in all of the subsequent books, we see Olivia turni ...more

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Jul 29, 2017 Zoe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I am very, very, very angry at this book.

That almost cost the book the 4th star. I am so disappointed. I can honestly say that I have never been this disappointed by a book before.

I need to calm down before I write a coherent review. Did I mention that I am disappointed?

OK I wrote a looooong review after I had cooled down my disappointment. Only to lose it all because of a cruel trick Google Chrome played on me. I don't know whether I have it in me to re-write all that, but I shall try.

Anyone I am very, very, very angry at this book.

That almost cost the book the 4th star. I am so disappointed. I can honestly say that I have never been this disappointed by a book before.

I need to calm down before I write a coherent review. Did I mention that I am disappointed?

OK I wrote a looooong review after I had cooled down my disappointment. Only to lose it all because of a cruel trick Google Chrome played on me. I don't know whether I have it in me to re-write all that, but I shall try.

Anyone who has been following the Pennyroyal Green series has been waiting for the epic romance of Lyon Redmond and Olivia Eversea. Lyon and Olivia, Romeo and Juliet, guileless, genuine budding young love, family drama, passionate confession under the elm (or was it oak? no matter, it was a big tree) tree, hope and despair, destiny and fate, unrequited love, you name it, Lyon and Olivia have got it.

But Julie Anne Long has got everyone's hope so high by leading us on for 10 books before we finally get to read about what really happened between Lyon and Olivia. What really happened, as it turned out, was an anti-climatic scene if I ever saw one. I asked myself really?? This was it?? I think what happened was significant. But the way it was depicted was anti-climatic. There should have been more anguish, more desperation (ah I love a little drama in my romances) and more longing. But instead, we got a very sweet story of 2 young lovers who believed love conquered all, which I thought was not all together a bad idea. But come on, this was Lyon Redmond, the larger-than-life Redmond heir, and Olivia Eversea, the one great love Lyon Redmond ever had. I expected so much more than a glimpse into their past and a rather boring reckoning on an island where Lyon and Olivia pretty much admitted that they loved each other right away.

And because this is the last book of a very popular series, Julie Anne Long had to wrap things up and bring everyone back. So we read about all the Redmonds and Everseas, even the romance of the last generation, which did not help Lyon and Olivia because it took the limelight away from a couple who desperately needed more page space for reconciliation as adults who have loved and lost, and been given a second chance at pursuing their one great love.

And Jesus Christ, what is going on with that epilogue??? I hated, hated that epilogue. And I do try to refrain from using such strong language in my reviews. But no I despised that epilogue. I am reading a historical romance. I do not want an epilogue about their offsprings a few centuries later. I honestly do not know what happened in the epilogue. I read one page and gave up in disgust. Why throw a contemporary element at me in my historical romances? I don't like it. I want to know more about Lyon and Olivia. I want to see them in their final show-down, how they give up a little bit of themselves for love. I do not want to read about some young woman in the 21st century going to Pennyroyal Green to do whatever. This is NOT a fitting ending to Lyon and Olivia. I rarely use such strong language in a book review, but what the hell was Julie Anne Long thinking? I am so bitterly disappointed. And that modern day epilogue made me angry. I do not want anything contemporary in a historical romance. If I wanted contemporary, I would have read a contemporary story.

And this is how I feel after having cooled down for a day. Imagine my bitter disappointment when I finished the book. I wanted to throw my kindle on the wall. I hated that epilogue. I have no other words for it.

I wish someone else would write another story for Lyon and Olivia. They deserved so much more. ...more

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Mar 30, 2015 Bips99 rated it did not like it

This has to be the most disappointing book of the year for me

... the back story of them falling in love felt like just a teenage infatuation .. nothing that would inspire years of waiting ... the reason they separated was lamely done ... And when they met (after 45% of the book i think) - it was just all about lust. They have like a 30 second conversation and poof! all anger gone .. and what was the epilogue all about ? ... To those who have followed the books, there was a hint of the idea that ...more

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Sep 18, 2018 StMargarets rated it it was ok

Shelves: second-chance, unrequited-love, hero-behaving-badly, historical, library-book, 2-star

I finally got around to reading this one and I can see why so many hated it. Turns out the big romance of the series - that endured for 11 books - was a case of teenage infatuation and the hero being angry the heroine wouldn't run off with him to live a life of poverty and danger.

When the hero finds out the heroine - after pining for him for five years - is going to marry a fine upstanding man, he kidnaps her, takes her virginity (with her willing consent) and then drops her off after a week, t ...more

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Aug 15, 2015 Joanna Loves Reading rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hr, i-own-nook, hr-geographical, z2020-hrbc-series-challenge

This is the book that the whole series leads up to. It delivers on intensity and magnitude of the tale. It’s a rare book for me where I don’t particularly like Olivia or Lyon but enjoy their story.

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Apr 17, 2016 ♥ℳelody rated it really liked it

Shelves: adventure-danger-suspense, alpha-hero, angst-forlorn-couples, be-still-my-heart, black-hair-blue-eyed-hero, overrated-as-shit, all-the-rage-historical, reviewed-by-me, time-jump, genre-historical-romance

What a difference a story makes. My second JAL book and much better than my last experience. Yes there were still typos abound but the overall writing was much tighter and cleaner and a couple that actually grabbed my interest. So there's that. While I enjoyed this there were a few things that definitely could have been better or had me scratching my head.

1. How old were Lyon and Olivia when they first met and fell in love? That unanswered question kind of drove me nuts. I really wish the autho What a difference a story makes. My second JAL book and much better than my last experience. Yes there were still typos abound but the overall writing was much tighter and cleaner and a couple that actually grabbed my interest. So there's that. While I enjoyed this there were a few things that definitely could have been better or had me scratching my head.

1. How old were Lyon and Olivia when they first met and fell in love? That unanswered question kind of drove me nuts. I really wish the author included it simply because of the 5 year gap and how much it's stressed that these two grew up and learned and how silly, young and naive they were. We get a hazy generalization that Lyon was in his early 20s when he first met Olivia...so that makes him roughly what....26? 27? when he returns? That strikes me as still pretty young and much younger than he comes across, especially given all the things he's done while away. As a lovesick young man he carried himself and sounded so much older. And yes some children grow up faster and are more mature beyond their years, but still. I needed ages. I have no clue how old Olivia was in all this. Is she around the same age as Lyon or younger? When ages aren't given it bugs me, I need something to go off of. And I *sometimes* let it slide but given the heft of this story and the long drawn out reunion, it would have helped and sharpened the edges of the character development. To me it's the same as not bothering with giving physical descriptions of your characters.

2. Either Lyon's ship has some serious magical components or Miss Long doesn't know her geography at all. Sailing a ship at full mast from England to Spain in ONE DAY is ludicrous and asking readers to imagine the ship can fly, Hogwarts style. This more or less screamed of the author running out of page time to pace out the h/hr's reunion in a more realistic gradual fashion. Which is a shame. But oh what a fun reunion it was!

3. I am a new reader to this series, meaning I did not read books 1-10, (book 1 was a DNF disaster). From my guess and some nosing around, these two's story and Lyon's sudden disappearance were milked, teased and dragged out through every book. That's a lot of build up. But the fact that the sole reason these two broke up and Lyon left Pennyroyal Green is exactly what rumors and song ballads speculated on for years just seemed.....underwhelming? Just a little. Ok more than a little. Olivia Eversea a.k.a the 'clever one', the most beautiful and coveted woman of the ton, did in fact break his heart. He did in fact run off and become (view spoiler). Welp...ok then. 😐 I was expecting a little more given the high stress it caused and dramatic tales spun over these two. I just thought there would be more to the story over what separated them. More to Olivia's flinching and wringing hands and refusing to speak his name for 5 years, more to why their story was made into a song for everyone to hear about and whisper about. More to Lyon's many colorful escapades that are illustrated and sold as prints in newspapers. This is just another example of the bigger you build something up, the bigger readers' expectations will be. Not saying I hated it or was invested in something bigger I just found it a little thin and falling flat.

4. Lyon was not celibate for 5 years. The horror! How dare he sleep with other women while the heartbroken heroine tried to move on with her life by getting engaged to another man. *scratches head* Am I missing something? Because I don't get why this ruffled feathers (not bashing any reviews here just a general observation) considering they BOTH moved on, tried to at least. Liv could move on but Lyon wasn't allowed to? Was he supposed to live like a monk? It's not considered 'cheating' when the 2 parties involved are in fact not together. (This is more an observation than anything to do specifically with the book).

5. That epilogue.

What kind of absurd ridiculous fuckery is that?? I didn't bother reading it but the caption itself said enough. (view spoiler) ...more

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May 27, 2015 Lizzy rated it liked it

Shelves: stars-3, historical-romance, read-2015, read-2020

It's rainig heavily outside, but I have just finished a light and enjoyable romance, so I could almost forget the weather outside! I quite enjoyed Lyon and Olivia’s beautiful love story, despite the slow beginning (in all likelihood inevitable). Often poignant, at time sorrowful, and at last triumphant. Nevertheless The Legend of Lyon Redmont was a great end to the Pennyroyal Green series.

‘I can’t remember the last time I so egregiously abandoned my manners. It’s just that I… that it seemed im

...more

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Sep 01, 2015 Jultri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: impossible-romance, estranged-for-years, angsty, keepers

My first reread of this epic end to an epic much-loved series. Still loving it. Okay, maybe this powerful tale of first love alternating with second-chance romance is not quite so perfect the second time around. Perhaps buddy-reading it this time has exposed a few incongruencies and minor character fallacies, but overall, it is still so sigh-worthy and moving. For that and JAL's superb writing, the 5 stars remain. I'll just add a few quotes to my original review below.

Oct 2015
Achingly beautiful, My first reread of this epic end to an epic much-loved series. Still loving it. Okay, maybe this powerful tale of first love alternating with second-chance romance is not quite so perfect the second time around. Perhaps buddy-reading it this time has exposed a few incongruencies and minor character fallacies, but overall, it is still so sigh-worthy and moving. For that and JAL's superb writing, the 5 stars remain. I'll just add a few quotes to my original review below.

Oct 2015
Achingly beautiful, sweet and heartbreaking at the same time, this final book in the series juxtaposed between the past back story of suppressed passions between the young star crossed lovers and the present reality 5 years later, of both still struggling to move onwards with their lives, knowing that they left their respective hearts behind. Just powerfully written with soul-piercingly gorgeous prose as the author fluently alternates between the points of view of the two magnetic leads. I confess only to have read half the books in the series, although most of these were quite good. This book though was in a class of its own. Ignoring the oddly incongruent epilogue, it was otherwise utter perfection in recreating the feelings of joy and uncertainty of first love, the plethora of emotions conveyed in a single light touch, a look, a word and the heartbreak of knowing your dream is out of reach. Reading it was just one endless sigh for me - and quite a few tears along the way.

She, in fact, hadn’t spoken those two words aloud to anyone for years. Oh, she supposed she’d resorted to the pronoun “he” once or twice, when it could not be avoided. As if Lyon were the Almighty. Or Beelzebub.

She closed her eyes against an onslaught of fury and yearning so painful it made her nauseous and she nearly swayed.

Fury was always the safest emotion when it came to Lyon.

He understood, all at once, the word “joy,” and why it was so small, just three letters. It was as simple and profound as a sudden flame.

“Oh, I’m certain the discussion will take at least three waltzes. It might even require a lifetime.”

His father considered excessive use of metaphor a character flaw.

He was a lively man? As lively as the song? This Lyon Redmond?” Was he lively? She did not want to think about Lyon during the final fitting of her wedding dress. No, he wasn’t lively. He’d been life itself.

He understood why Romans didn’t feed the lions before they set them upon the Christians. Hunger made one furious and untenable.

Her pillow was probably shocked at the attention she lavished upon it at night.

He stood next to the “O” he didn’t dare turn into “Olivia” with his knife. He didn’t need to. The word was carved on his heart.

Unfortunately for Isaiah Redmond, the apple really didn’t fall far from the tree. Lyon’s will was very like his father’s. Absolutely immovable. And when Lyon loved, it was forever.

“Funny, isn’t it, that the things we don’t say can become more important than the things we do say.”

“I was not withering. You are not the sun and the moon and the stars. Life can and did go on in your absence.”
“The nerve of life,” he said softly.
She stole a swift glance at him again, her eyes flaring, as if she, too, was remembering the things about him that had set him apart. Made him uniquely him. Made him uniquely hers.

“Why did you do it?” she whispered.
He was silent a moment, thoughtful. And then his mouth quirked at the corner. “Because you couldn’t.”
He said it gently. But deliberately. Ruefully. Laying those words out as if delivering a truth. Just the way he’d done the night he’d left: What if loving you is what I do best? It was indeed what he did best. He had gone and proved it. ...more

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Sep 03, 2015 Wollstonecrafthomegirl rated it liked it

This just hits three stars. I said that it was going to be tough for JAL to manage the follow through on this series and, for me, she hasn't managed it.

~Spoilers below~

JAL's set herself a gargantuan task. In only about 100,000 words [I think that the length of your average romance?!] she had to convince us Lyon and Olivia are in love and meant for one another to the extent they'd shape their whole lives around mourning the loss of one another for years. Then she has to find a plausible reason t This just hits three stars. I said that it was going to be tough for JAL to manage the follow through on this series and, for me, she hasn't managed it.

~Spoilers below~

JAL's set herself a gargantuan task. In only about 100,000 words [I think that the length of your average romance?!] she had to convince us Lyon and Olivia are in love and meant for one another to the extent they'd shape their whole lives around mourning the loss of one another for years. Then she has to find a plausible reason to split them up (because, really, if you loved someone that much, would you leave them?). Then she had to bring them back together and deal with everything that's happened in their absence, all at the same time as tying up the loose ends and explaining the Eversea/Redmond animosity.

The characterization and the actions of the H/h left me cold. Lyon leaving after dropping the bombshell on Olivia and asking her to runaway was, in my view, pretty weak. Give the poor girl a few hours to think about it, for heaven's sake. The whole animosity with his father and going off and being a pirate was underdeveloped and amounted to a few throwaway lines towards the end. Lyon's character never felt fully formed. He returned to Olivia imperious and angry and demanding and I took against him because I didn't buy into his reasons. He blamed her for their separation and I thought that was daft and shallow.

Olivia. I really wanted to like Olivia. And, rather like Lyon, I just didn't. We're told Olivia is a passionate believer in various causes but we never see her do anything for any of them. You need to show this stuff as well as tell it. I would've loved to see her blossom/grow a little away from Lyon but she hadn't. She was thoroughly uninteresting to me. I think it's one of Sherry's Thomas's books (separating and reuniting stories being one of her specialities) where, during the separation from the hero, the heroine has slept around, become somewhat of a society darling and, on the sly, opened up a money lending company to lend exclusively to women. She's still broken hearted, still hung up on her lost love, but she's done something. I'm not saying heroines have to buck all the trends of society to win me over. I would've quite liked it if Olivia and Lyon's story had examined the constraints of (particularly unmarried) womanhood vs the massive freedom available to men. Instead we have a shell of a heroine because JAL simply hasn't developed her sufficiently. When Lyon turned up and demanded she come to his ship now, or never, I wanted her to refuse, to show any kind of spine but she didn't.

As a consequence of the weakness of the characterization I never really bought into the romance that much, although, I did buy the love at first sight thing. I thought that was nicely done.

Much of the language is too fluffy and fruity for me. And it's very cheesy towards the end. The whole thing with Lyon as the beggar - well, I could really have done without that.

Sex was rubbish. Losing your virginity in a Spanish waterfall just can't be that fun. This book really wasn't kind to Olivia.

And, everyone is right: the epilogue was weird.

I read this all the way through. It's not terrible. But it's not great either. Then again, when I think about it, that's pretty much the Pennyroyal Green series in a nutshell for me. There are a couple of great highs in there, but mostly, it was very mediocre.
...more

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Oct 02, 2015 Daniella marked it as hr-purgatory · review of another edition

Welcome to my HR Purgatory shelf !

In Roman Catholicism, the purgatory is where the souls of the dead wander in an indefinite state. They stay in such a state unless they "become fit for heaven" at some point. Similarly, this shelf is where books that I am warned about stay—untouched and unread—unless a very compelling reason forces me to read them.

***

Reason(s) for putting The Legend of Lyon Redmond in this shelf:
LOL. There are so many things I find problematic about both the hero and the he ...more

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Mar 18, 2015 Iliada rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-romance, regency-georgian-victorian, i-ve-loved-you-for-years

Just to write a few brief words about this one... Was this the best book in the series as I fully expected? Not for me. Was it all I expected? No. And why? I believe because writers work under a specific word limit, but I'm afraid it doesn't work for all stories. This could have seriously benefited from 100 or more pages. I felt that it all went too fast (both the past and the present). Maybe JAL should have focused on either one or the other because none was 100% satisfying as things stand.

BUT ...more

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Aug 03, 2015 Kat at Book Thingo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance-historical, keepers, review-copies

Updated to add: I've been looking at some of the comments about people's expectations for this book. I can't wait for you guys to read it because I think it's going to blow a lot of your assumptions wide open! I think this is one of the best series finales I've read (although as I mention below, I would have preferred it without the epilogue and I very rarely say such a thing!). I can't wait to read your thoughts after reading the book!

Review to come. But here are my initial thoughts about the b ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Sam (AMNReader) rated it really liked it

Shelves: heroes-to-lick, romance, competence-porn, read-in-2019, favorite-series, favorite-romance, historical, favorite-author

I would take any one of the Redmond children to marry, I'm just saying. They are my favorite.

I found this kind of over the top but in that characteristic JAL way. So I loved it. I read her for the romancey romance fluffy feels (and I loved that all right up until one of the final scenes), but, hell that epilogue trash.

When I'm in the mood for hearts and flowers in my eyes and writing, she is pretty fantastic. Thought this was super satisfying conclusion even if I wanted a little more... ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Crysallys rated it it was amazing

Only 4 stars because the epilogue was not about Olivia and Lyon

After all the years we waited for this book I think readers deserved a better epilogue ...more

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Feb 02, 2015 Esther rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hero-rich, keeper-reread, heroine-rich, virgin, angst, family, emotion-grabber, virgin-heroine

This was incredible. I've just completed this beautiful love story and my emotions are all over the place.

I'm not really going to go into a review on the synonymous of the story but just what my thoughts and feelings are about this incredible book.

Olivia and Lyon's story is one of forbidden love, in as both families have been rivalries for what seems like forever. The story is interwoven with past and present.It begins in the present with Olivia the heroine preparing for her wedding to a man she This was incredible. I've just completed this beautiful love story and my emotions are all over the place.

I'm not really going to go into a review on the synonymous of the story but just what my thoughts and feelings are about this incredible book.

Olivia and Lyon's story is one of forbidden love, in as both families have been rivalries for what seems like forever. The story is interwoven with past and present.It begins in the present with Olivia the heroine preparing for her wedding to a man she just likes. Lyon the wonderful hero who's been gone for five years, is being told that Olivia's getting married. We have the past part of the story on how they first meet, fall in love and the heartbreaking split which last five years. It's done so well and seamlessly that the story flows beautifully. We see and feel (trust me you will be immersed into what they are feeling) the beginning of their first meeting and the blossoming of their love/romance. You'll also be transported into the heartbreak and agony of their lost love and separation. And then the journey of hurt, anger and healing. Relationships of Father's and Mother's are relevant and significant in their love story. Siblings are interwoven throughout the story and how they impact and affect hero and heroine. And the end is a crescendo of emotions and feeling of one of the top most beautiful love stories I've read in a long time.

This story touched my emotions in such a way I was crying at certain parts (rarely happens when I read) of the book. I was pulled into Olivia's and Lyons world in such a way that I was living every wonderful, agonizing and heartbreaking moment of their relationship. It's so clear to the reader that these two are made for each other, compliment each other, and know each other like know one else. The characters are living, breathing people that come to life in the span of this book. The secondary relationships are just as vivid and real. Drawing emotions of anger, frustrations, empathy and sadness. You had a major epic love story and interwoven are other beautiful secondary love stories with some that are tragic (one of the tragic love stories surprised me at the end). I liked Olivia the heroine but absolutely loved her when she was with Lyon, she became a beautiful person with him, if that makes sense. And Lyon, wow what can I say but what an epic hero who I absolutely loved. His love for Olivia and total devotion was incredible to behold.

This one goes on my keeper shelf and goes on my list of best historical's I've read (Violet and The Earl Ardmay are up their too, Book 4 -I kissed and Earl).

Just a couple side notes. I wish it was a longer read and felt there was more to add to their story to write about and their reconciliation. Their scene of finally confronting their pain and hurt could/should have been longer. Haven't read the epilogue yet, relishing in their story because a lot of disappointed reviews on it not being about Olivia and Lyon. And with that being said how about a novella on Olivia and Lyon five years later and where their lives are at. Okay 2 AM and I'm hoping this review makes sense. VERY happy with Oliva and Lyons story. ...more

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Feb 10, 2015 Shabby Girl ~ aka Lady Victoria rated it really liked it

Shelves: four-star-books

ETA: To be clear, 3.5 rounded up to 4, rounded up, rather than down, only because author has written some really beautiful books, some of my favourites.

That was a really enjoyable close to the Pennyroyal Green series. Like most people reading this series over such a long time I was keen to finally hear the real story of Olivia and Lyon. Whilst I did love Olivia and Lyon together, I had some difficulties with the story, which I thought the writer could have overcome and it seemed a little in retr ETA: To be clear, 3.5 rounded up to 4, rounded up, rather than down, only because author has written some really beautiful books, some of my favourites.

That was a really enjoyable close to the Pennyroyal Green series. Like most people reading this series over such a long time I was keen to finally hear the real story of Olivia and Lyon. Whilst I did love Olivia and Lyon together, I had some difficulties with the story, which I thought the writer could have overcome and it seemed a little in retrospect she had a good outline of a story, but the details let it down. Considering this story was around 10 years in the making, I felt a bit let down by these details. If you are interested, I have listed in spoilers why I felt the details in the story let this book down.

I loved Olivia and Lyon together and their sex scenes were very steamy. I must admit whilst I prefer love scenes in books as, come on, in romance sex is a major part of relationship growth, I quite often skim those scenes, but I thought these ones were very well-done. I really felt this couple would adore each other for a life time, that you could really believe in the couple, and I did, which is what you're looking for in a good romance. I realised whilst I was writing this review too, that I really loved Olivia in this book, having right through the previous books the glimpses I had of her I wasn't convinced I even liked her. After reading this I realised I loved her, she was a really lovely woman who didn't deserve the pain she endured for five years. It also occurred to me whilst writing this review, I'm not convinced I really liked Lyon. While I was reading the author had me convinced he was amazing, and yet after I finished the book I realised he had some really dumb, and let's fact it, nasty moves.

This is obviously (spoken of constantly through the series and in the blurb so no secret) a second chance romance, but I was most appreciative that the writer didn't unnecessarily drag out the angst when they got back together. There was some initial angst when they met up again, as you would expect, but they did talk about their problems and they both realised quite quickly it was young age and circumstances that pulled them apart, both having some responsibility, and not a lack of love.

I gave it four stars as whilst I loved the story, it wasn't up to the best standard I know this writer can write. This whole series has been up and down in quality (in my opinion) the best being What I Did for a Duke and It Started with a Scandal for the wonderful writing and How the Marquess Was Won for the lovely story, and this story fit into a secondary category of good story, but not as wonderful writing as the two aforementioned books.

The reasons why I couldn't give this five stars:

(view spoiler)[I wasn't very happy with the way the hero was upset the heroine kissed her fiance and knew that she had rejected many potential marriage partners since he left, and yet it was totally acceptable that he had been f*cking his way around the world, but it was okay because he was a man and "it didn't mean anything". If this was such an epic romance, he adored her so much, and the fact that he was so busy on her behalf with his pirating and making his fortune, I don't think it was unreasonable for him to stay faithful to her. This kind of spoiled the "epic romance" for me. She pined for him for five years and he didn't pine for her.

I also felt a tad cheated that he asked her why she suddenly decided to get married after so many years to someone she didn't love and she never explained to him that the catalyst was her getting back her miniature that he'd sworn he would keep forever. She was totally gutted to receive it back via Sylvaine, and after five years of never seeing or hearing of him, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, took this as the final sign the hero had let her go. It was mentioned that when she got it back, she was so incredibly hurt that she decided it was time she let go of her love for him that had suspended her life for five years and got on with giving herself some happiness finally.

I also felt cheated that the hero had stayed away so long (his choice - he was so rich and could have come back for her years earlier) and in fact was ambivalent about coming back after learning she was getting married. She was suspended, not knowing whether he was alive or dead, and yet he knew what she was doing and had no intention or plans it seemed to come back to her, he only did so because she had finally decided to move on. Nothing epic about that, and in retrospect, quite nasty. It all seemed rather wishy washy, his ambivalence to return. It quite clearly stated in the book on a couple of occasions he hadn't been sure he would make moves towards her, then decided he would. Sounded rather spoiled brattish to me that he only did so because someone else was going to take his toy and he said he took her to his Spanish place to "rub her nose in it", to show her what she could have had. This also seemed rather churlish when you consider if she had chosen to go with him, he would not have been able to do what he did to become independent. I mean, she couldn't go on a ship apirating with him when she was around 18 and he was the lowest of the low on the totem pole, could she? Then it seemed rather contradictory because he did the pirating part for her, yet he had no plans to ever tell her since he only came back on a whim when his favourite toy was moving on.

I don't know - I had a lot more respect for Olivia in this story. She was very young when he wanted to her to leave with him and he expected her to leave her beloved family on the spur of the moment and had no tangible hope of basic survival since he had absolutely no way of supporting her and the fact she pointed out, quite rightly at the time he left, the Duffys had lost their love through hardship and poverty, I think showed she was able to make mature and good decisions and that she made the right decision, heartbreaking though it was, yet he took five years to acknowledge she had been right which seemed very immature on his part. I would have had more respect for him if he had, during the parting scene when they were young, said to her I know you can't come with me as I can't support you, but hang on for me, I'll be back in a year or two or three when I've made my fortune to come get you. Yeah, no really "epic" story in that, but wholly sensible. Even if in the spur of the moment he felt betrayed, a bit of thought over the next few days it would have come to him how sensible her decision was and he could have written her a note to say wait for me, I'll be back.

I was also confused with the bit near the end where Lyon talked to his father about Olivia's father and slavery. I wasn't sure whether Olivia's father was a slaver or Lyon's father had set it up to make it look like he was into slavery - totally confused me. Also there was a reference in the epilogue to someone killing Lyon's father down the track, what was that about? If the new contemp books this writer is moving onto are not Pennyroyal Green books about the descendants, this reference is very strange if it's not going to be explained. (hide spoiler)]

The epilogue, whilst telling us a lot of what happened to the families through the years, seemed kind of jarring. Like a huge, rushed, contemporary info dump appended onto the end of an historical series. I have read this author is going to write contemps next, so after reading the epilogue one would assume the epilogue was a prelude to a contemporary series continuing with the descendants of the Everseas and Redmonds, but I've also read that apparently the new series will be unrelated, in which case the epilogue seems rather weird. Anyway, we'll have to wait and see whether she does continue with a contemp Pennyroyal or moves on.

All in all I was happy to see Olivia and Lyon's story at last, but I think the "epic" romance was a bit of a letdown and it kind of felt like the author had the major story line, but muffed it in the details, and since we'd waited nearly 10 years for it, I think she could have done it better. I might have marked it lower if it weren't Olivia and Lyon!
...more

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Apr 08, 2022 Korrie’s Korner rated it it was amazing

I will always think of Lyon Redmond whenever I see waterfalls..iykyk. That man was truly it for me. Help my life!

Lyon Redmond—he could get it. “He filled the doorway. Large, hard and shockingly beautiful.”

This book was second chance lovers perfection. I just don’t have words at the moment to describe what I’m feeling, but this book is on my reread list forever. This kind of hero and love story is simply my undoing. Stick a fork in me…

“Let your body decide.”

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Mar 24, 2015 Susana rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: series-i-follow, historical-romance, 2015-releases, 2015-reads, disappointment

Warning: Some mild spoilers ahead.

Although I've read almost all the books in this series _ that's right, I still haven't read the famous book about Violet _, only a small number of them are actually favourites.
Normally the more recent ones... but as you can see it isn't a done deal.

My indisputable favourite still is, What I did For a Duke . Compared with Genevieve and Falconbridge's romance, Lyon and Olivia are just forgettable secondary characters.

As much as I wanted, I just couldn't ca ...more

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Jan 10, 2015 Keri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015s-read, romance-historical

I would have given this book a higher star rating had the ending been longer. We have been waiting years for these two and we just get a couple of pages in the end. :-( I didn't mind the Epi, because I got why JAL did it that way, so she could bring everybody in on fell swoop. I think the decisions that both Lyon and Olivia made were decisions of young, immature people. They were both new to what they were feeling and decisions were made in the heat of the moment on both their sides. They were b ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 Bubu rated it it was ok

Shelves: hr, 2-stars

Maybe I'll revisit this book in the future. Unlike others, I had started going through the Pennyroyal Green series this year, so all the stories were quite fresh on my mind, with What I did for the Duke and It started with a Scandal being my favourites. The rest were hit and miss for me.

This one actually has all the ingredients of a Romance that I love, but I couldn't connect to either of them. I guess I lost the connection right at the start. I know First Love can be as deep and all consuming a ...more

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May 25, 2019 Addie H rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2-kindle, i-forbidden-love, 5-rom-regency, 6-rom-a-4-stars

(Tropes: Second Chance, Forbidden Love)

description

I did not expect to like this. Which is quite unfair when starting a book, but the characters in this book has been talked about in the 10 previous ones, so expectations were high. How could it possibly deliver?

Well it just did.

The flashbacks and “present” story were rife with charm, despair, hotness, tension and romance. I was more or less hooked from page one, and while I did not necessarily think what caused them to first part was serious enough, I deci ...more

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Apr 13, 2022 Jennifer Hammer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Love is messy,complex,often times cruel but above all else it changes with time(while forever beating in their hearts) The end of the series is at it’s core “Star cross lovers” story. But it’s so much more then that if you look beyond the surface you see two people who aren’t perfect (isn’t that away the case 😉) They both make mistakes, they both have struggles to overcome. They both ultimately lose each other (while never truly in their hearts losing each other) But in the end they once again f ...more

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Sep 18, 2015 Pj Ausdenmore rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance-historical, read-2015

UPS delivered a review copy of THE LEGEND OF LYON REDMOND to my doorstep this evening. It's now 1:40 am and I just turned the final page with a deep and heartfelt sigh. When you long for a story for more than six years there's always a concern that it won't measure up to expectations. I needn't have worried. Julie Anne Long has outdone herself with a book that is exquisitely written, achingly romantic, heartbreakingly poignant, and supremely satisfying. It is everything I could have hoped for. A ...more

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Sep 30, 2015 Ash rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A solid read.
My only complaint is that this is the end for there are too many stories that I still want to know.

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Apr 09, 2015 Alex Morrison rated it really liked it

Shelves: guilty-pleasure, historical-romance, reread-worthy, 2015-i-need-this, book-boyfriends

Update 12/4/2015 - Rating lowered to 4. I just can't ignore the problems I have with this book. As time passes they seem to intensify in my mind. Still well worth the read!

To illustrate how much I was anticipating this book, I will share that this was the first time I've ever bought a physical copy of a historical romance. Barnes & Noble decided to shelve it a few days early and when I heard that, I raced over to pick up a copy with only minimal checkout embarrassment. With that said, this ended Update 12/4/2015 - Rating lowered to 4. I just can't ignore the problems I have with this book. As time passes they seem to intensify in my mind. Still well worth the read!

To illustrate how much I was anticipating this book, I will share that this was the first time I've ever bought a physical copy of a historical romance. Barnes & Noble decided to shelve it a few days early and when I heard that, I raced over to pick up a copy with only minimal checkout embarrassment. With that said, this ended up not living up to ALL my expectations, but it came really, really, close.

A good portion (over 50%) of the book is spent in flashbacks, showing the Olivia and Lyon relationship grow and addressing the moments we'd seen glimpses of in past books. There were several moments here that I thought were quite clever and I adored all the banter between Olivia and Lyon. Both characters were much funnier than I expected them to be and it was a very welcome surprise. They were definitely younger versions of their later selves, which was interesting to see considering their states of mind in the "present" world of the series. There was a pretty strong element of Insta-Love, but somehow the book gets away with it. Maybe it's because we've spent so much time with them throughout the previous 10 books, or Long just wrote it convincingly, but I bought it.

Once we end up in the book's present day something started to click for me less. While still filled with wonderful character driven moments, some decisions the characters made did not make sense to me at all. (view spoiler). I also found one character's "plans" for a series of events just a bit too perfect and not believable, even in the scope of a romance. Finally, a final reveal in the last few pages made me actually roll my eyes and in re-reads I will ignore this development as much as I can ((view spoiler))

I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but I think perhaps the benefit of another 100 pages would have helped. There were a few scenes I would have liked to sit in a bit longer and a few more that I missed entirely. There was an emotional depth that wasn't quite reached because some moments felt rushed.

I absolutely do plan to re-read this book, if mostly for the first half and choice scenes in the second. And despite my marginally less enthusiastic feelings about the latter half, this was still a wonderful, heartbreaking, touching read that is an excellent end to a one of the best historical romance series of the last decade. ...more

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Romance Book Budd...: Pennyroyal FINALE!	75	7	Apr 04, 2022 11:37AM
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About Julie Anne Long

Julie Anne Long

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Well, where should I start? I've lived in San Francisco for more than a decade, usually with at least one cat. I won the school spelling bee when I was in 7th grade; the word that clinched it was 'ukulele.' I originally set out to be a rock star when I grew up (I had a Bono fixation, but who didn't?), and I have the guitars and the questionable wardrobe stuffed in the back of my closet to prove it Well, where should I start? I've lived in San Francisco for more than a decade, usually with at least one cat. I won the school spelling bee when I was in 7th grade; the word that clinched it was 'ukulele.' I originally set out to be a rock star when I grew up (I had a Bono fixation, but who didn't?), and I have the guitars and the questionable wardrobe stuffed in the back of my closet to prove it.

But writing was always my first love.

I was editor of my elementary school paper (believe it or not, Mrs. Little's fifth grade class at Glenmoor Elementary did have one); my high school paper (along with my best high school bud, Cindy Jorgenson); and my college paper, where our long-suffering typesetter finally forced me to learn how to typeset because my articles were usually late (and thus I probably have him to thank for all the desktop publishing jobs that ensued over the years).

Won a couple of random awards along the way: the Bank of America English Award in High School (which basically just amounted to a fancy plaque saying that I was really, really good at English); and an award for best Sports Feature article in a College Newspaper (and anyone who knows me well understands how deeply ironic that is). I began my academic career as a Journalism major; I switched to Creative Writing, which was a more comfortable fit for my freewheeling imagination and overdeveloped sense of whimsy. I dreamed of being a novelist.

But most of us, I think, tend to take for granted the things that come easily to us. I loved writing and all indications were that I was pretty good at it, but I, thank you very much, wanted to be a rock star. Which turned out to be ever-so-slightly harder to do than writing. A lot more equipment was involved, that's for sure. Heavy things, with knobs. It also involved late nights, fetid, graffiti-sprayed practice rooms, gorgeous flakey boys, bizarre gigs, in-fighting—what's not to love?

But my dream of being a published writer never faded. When the charm (ahem) of playing to four people in a tiny club at midnight on a Wednesday finally wore thin, however, I realized I could incorporate all the best things about being in a band — namely, drama, passion, and men with unruly hair — into novels, while at the same time indulging my love of history and research.

So I wrote The Runaway Duke, sent it to a literary agent (see the story here), who sold it to Warner Books a few months after that...which made 2003 one of the most extraordinary, head-spinning years I've ever had.

Why romance? Well, like most people, I read across many genres, but I've been an avid romance reader since I got in trouble for sneaking a Rosemary Rogers novel out of my mom's nightstand drawer (I think it was Sweet Savage Love). Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Laurie McBain...I cut my romance teeth on those ladies. And in general, I take a visceral sort of pleasure in creating a hero and a heroine, putting them through their emotional paces, and watching their relationship develop on the page. And of course, there's much to be said for the happy ending. :)

And why Regency Historicals? Well, for starters, I think we can blame Jane Austen. Her inimitable wit, compassion and vision brought the Regency vividly to life for generations of readers. If Jane Austen had written romances about Incas, for instance, I think, we'd have racks and racks of Inca romances in bookstores all over the country, and Warner Forever would be the Inca Romance line.

But I'm a history FREAK, in general. I read more history, to be perfectly honest, than fiction (when I have time to read!) these days. When we were little, my sister and I used to play "Littl ...more

Other books in the series

Pennyroyal Green (1 - 10 of 11 books)

Books by Julie Anne Long

What I Did for a Duke (Pennyroyal Green, #5)

How the Marquess Was Won (Pennyroyal Green, #6)

The Perils of Pleasure (Pennyroyal Green, #1)

Like No Other Lover (Pennyroyal Green, #2)

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Quotes from The Legend of Lyo...

“I have learned that everyone else in the world is boring except you.” — 5 likes

“Before him and since he’d gone away, she’d either contracted or ever-so-subtly contorted her very being to accommodate nearly everybody else. She was only ever wholly herself with him.” — 5 likes

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