Lyon’s Bride: The Chattan Curse audiobook

Thea Martin, after struggling for years to make by after losing her husband, has managed a almost profitable business as a matchmaker, saving her earnings for her son's schooling. Then she is informed that Lord Lyon is looking for her for her matchmaking abilities because he desperately needs a wife. Once, many years ago Thea and Neal were close friends as children, but then Neal one day just abandoned Thea, and they hadn't seen each other since; until now. Neal, needs a wife, one he could never love or care for, just one to tolerate and someone to give him children. His family suffers from a curse, where all the men will die if they fall in love, so he is determined to make sure he never does so. However upon seeing Thea again, he is overwhelmed with feelings of desire for her. Only as Thea finds suitable matches for him, his only thoughts are for her and before he knows it he knows he is in love with her, only, will he be able to make the right decision, Marry her and risking dying but having a chance of a few months of love and warmth in his life, or marrying someone else and live a lonely and desolate life?Lyon's Bride is the first installment in Cathy Maxwell most recent series: The Chattan Curse. Lyon's Bride, we see the start of this amazingly fun and exciting story, about three siblings, and in Lyon's Bride Maxwell starts with Neal, who would make any woman sucuumb to his charms. He is sexy, intelligent, and willing to fight for those he loves, who could resist? Then we have the heroine Thea, who doesn't believe in the unseen like some old curse, she just believes its superstition in the beginning, and it was amusing to watch Neal convince her otherwise. I also loved the interaction between Neal and Thea's two sons, it was tearjerking at times. The whole story overall was very emotionally provoking, it had elements through the whole story, that would bring a tear to one's eye, and then a sparkle of laughter in another moment. It definitely was full of passioin, witty humor, exciting plot that keeps the reader entertained to say the least. Overall a very well written story that engages the reader at every turn!!!! Loved Every Moment!!!

Fortune and love favor the brave. - Ovid Lord Lyon amassed a fortune. He even lent some of it to Prinny. But he is not brave enough to love – he fears a century’s old curse:When a Chattan male falls in love,strike his heart with fire from Above.Yet Lyon desires children and his solicitor recommends the matchmaking services of Mrs. Martin. Lyon does not realize until he meets the widowed Mrs. Martin that she is his childhood friend. He abandoned her when his father revealed the curse. Lyon asks Thea to find him a bride that he will not like but will give him children. This kicks off the adult relationship between Lyon and Thea – a business partnership that succumbs to passion, love, and hope. Along the way, their growing attraction has a pinball effect on others who must also find courage to face their own fates. Maxwell is known for delving into relationships and she is in top form with LYON’S BRIDE. Maxwell delivers the whole package – families and friends who work through their fears to find happiness within their lives. I am a slow reader yet I read LYON’S BRIDE in two days – it is a compelling story that quickly drew me into the characters’ strengths and struggles. Maxwell’s writing flows from chapter to chapter as she reminds readers why we read romance – that love can conquer all. Maxwell treats us to a unique twist of the HEA, one that you will have to read for yourself!

Very good book. Thea is a widow who is working as a matchmaker. Lyon comes to her to find a bride for him - one that would be a suitable mother for his children but that he is in no danger of loving. His family has been suffering under a curse for a long time and he doesn't want to take a chance. He and Thea had been friends as teenagers until he began to care for her and his father took him away to protect them both. Now they find that their youthful feelings are growing. Thea doesn't believe in curses and has come to love him very much. Lyon knows he cares but refuses to admit it. When circumstances force them to marry, they start a wonderful life together. Then the dreams start and Lyon's health starts to suffer. I really liked Thea and the love she felt for her sons. I also liked the way she didn't want to let the curse define their lives. Lyon finally admitted that he cared for Thea and decided to go for the love for as long as possible. I also loved how good he was with Thea's sons and how much they liked him showed what a good person he really was. In the end, they and Lyon's brother and sister decided to take measures to find out more about the curse in hopes of breaking it, which is where the next book will begin. I really liked both of Lyon's siblings also. In both you can see the tortured effect of the curse, and want to root for them to receive their own happy ending.

** spoiler alert ** I liked this book. It resembled a book I read before and was worried I had read this one already and just forgot. However, this one was much better. Although the premise of the heroine matchmaker and the titled hero was the same, it veered off into different path in the second half. I thought this book was good. Their story was interesting and the characters weren't dumb either. There is one glaring exception though, which is when she ran away. I thought it was falling too easily into romance novel cliches and I begged that it would not leave a bad taste in my mouth. All in all, I liked it. I thought the hero and heroine had a level head on their shoulders. I liked that the heroine defended herself and the hero's plight was a bit charming. His paternal instincts were kicking, which is a nice reverse I guess. It wasn't the desire to father an heir, it was about having children to love. I thought the children were adorable. The Chattan family were also charming in their own right. They are messed up but they are quite normal, as much as their circumstances allow. The story revolves around the Chattan curse. They must not fall in love because once they do, they die. It started with Charles, who handfasted a Scottish lass but left her for a wealthy English girl. The scottish girl killed herself and her mother cursed the family thereafter. Lyon's father is the first to father more than one children because he deliberately married a hateful bride. He didn't try to get close to her. When he did marry for love, he died soon after. Lyon wanted his own children but heeded the curse well. He was also looking for a bride he won't fall in love with. He hired Thea, who was a well known matchmaker. She assembled a group of girls for him to choose from. It was a matchmaking hell with the families and the girls acting very rudely, because they were just horrible people. However, Lyon ended up being married to Thea to save her from ruin. They were caught in a compromising position after Thea tried to stop a scheme to entrap Lyon. She was being painted in a bad light with all of the guest calling her a slut while being courteous to Lyon. Lyon improvised with a surprise engagement, which they were just celebrating. The guests were disapproving but they couldn't really gainsay him. They marry. At this point, she started dreaming of the witch. She started believing when Lyon's step mother came and she had the same dream. Thea concocted a plan of making Lyon hate her by leaving. She succeeded in being hated, only by her kids. She tricked them into coming with her and they left the comfort of the Lyon's house to live in a cottage. Lyon found her anyway and they went back home together. She didn't really need to be talked into it. She went pretty easy, making her decision to leave pretty useless. When Lyon started showing signs of dying, she thought about fighting. She enlisted Harry to track down the witch who cursed them, and thus the bait for the next book is set. If I didn't have the next book, I would have been pissed by this ending.

I am normally not much of a romance reader, but I was given this and The Scottish Witch, and I read both books in two nights...i couldn't put them down! They were terrific...entertaining with enjoyable characters that you could identify with (or wanted to!) and just enough realistic "fun" to make this historical romance very enjoyable. I just am disappointed that I have to wait for the third book to come out...fortunately it's supposed to be in May!

I find the simplicity in the author's writing and story extremely charming. It's a really good read on lazy days and when you need to take your mind off things. I highly recommend this if you're looking for something sweet, simple, and satisfying.

This is the start of the Chattan Curse trilogy, and this series is definitely best read in order (I accidentally read book 2 first, but still was able to follow along). Maxwell has introduced us to a trio of siblings whose family has been affected by a curse, which keeps the Chattan males from falling in love out of fear of death.This is Neil, Lord Lyon's, love story. He is the eldest of the siblings and he is on a mission to find a woman to marry (one that he will not be tempted to fall in love with). Thea is a widow with two boys and a newly established match maker who is enlisted by Neil in his search. Neil and Thea knew each other as children/young teens, their friendship was one that had the true foundation of love and because of this Neil was sent away by his father in fear of the curse taking hold.This is a sweet and lovely second chance romance between two people who still have a strong foundation of friendship that lends them to forgiveness and a deep love that is ready to embrace them. It was fun to watch their feelings continue to grow during a match making house party. I loved how Thea's jealousy and good wishes for Neil create moments where she has to rescue him from scheming debutants. Neil and Thea are so draw to each other that their love kind of comes upon them in a soft and quiet way, but it was sweet the way it slowly embraced them.Neil is a man who longs for children and he was such a delight to watch as he embraced Thea's children and how he treated them with kindness and respect and as if they were his own. Thea's children with their innocents and wide eyed curiosity and their unconditional love of what help the Chattan siblings learn what is the most important thing in this world and in life.

Curse vs LoveThe Chatan Curse Trilogy and this book 1, story of Lord Lyon, the eldest of 3 siblings with the heroine, Thea, single mom with 2 adorable little boys. Thea, the matchmaker, hired by Lyon to match him with someone but without love, affection, so the curse won't work. The curse, a couple hundred years ago, in Scotland, the beginning, Charles Chatan, broken his promised to Rose Macnachtan daughter of late father Laird Macnachtan and a witch blood mother., Fenella. She killed herself out of broken heart. Fenella, cast a revenge spell on Charles Chatan and the rest of his line would never have a happy ending they need to feel the pain same as Charles did to her daughter and her family. So whenever a Chattan male falls in love, he will soon be dead.Book 2, second son, Harry, takes a journey to Scotland, to find the curse and help his brother and his new family to beat the odd so the curse won't work to his brother and he will not die because of Lynn's love to Thea.Book 3, story of their sister, Margaret

Would you dare to fall in love if it cursed you to die? Neal votes no and hires matchmaker Thea (who turns out to be his childhood crush) to find him a wife he can never love. Thea hates this idea, but she has been recently robbed of the money she had been putting aside to send her oldest son to school, and the money he's offering is obscene and will solve all her problems.Neal's family has been cursed for 200 years, and since this story kind of ends on a cliff hanger I'm not going to spoil anything else.I loved the dynamic between these 2, Thea's anger because he just disappeared one day without a word to her when they were young, the way Neal adores her even though he doesn't want to and the way he loves her sons from her previous marriage. But I adored the way it was her sons that brought Neal's family back to life. So far I am in love with this series :)

I felt like this book ended in a cliffhanger. The story is clearly not over and that bothers me because I usually like complete stories in one book. Nevertheless I found the story intriguing and can’t wait to see what happens with Neil and the curse. The narration is stellar like all the work Rosalyn Landor does. Very entertaining historical romance.

Love Thea, love Lyon, and Thea's two boys give this something extra.

Wonderful read..hope the series get better

Loved the storyline and the characters. This book gave me all the feels.Looking forward to book 2 in series