The Legend of Lyon Redmond: Pennyroyal Green Series, Book 11

I've read the whole series and LOVED most of the books, but not all. There were a few I didn't like and 1 I despised mostly due to the heroines (terrible Tansy being the WORST). Olivia was a huge disappointment to me. As was the story which was anything BUT legendary. Legendary would have been hearing about the life Lyon made for himself, not spending 2/3 of the book hearing about BORING uninspiring Olivia.This was a classic Romeo Juliet story I assumed, though I never understood the feud. I understood Isaiah's hatred of Everseas, he was a horrible person and the perpetual villain (did we need to hear the SAME exact threat from him to all three sons, basically word for word?) but Jacob Eversea seemed a decent man and I did not understand what HIS objection would have been for the couple. He was forgiving to his wife who apparently cheated on him, there was no reason to think he wouldn't have been to his daughter. So there's that. And as far as secretive true love Olivia and Lyon were extremely tame. The only clandestine activities took place in daylight during a 2 month period where they met Tuesdays to deliver food to a poor family. Their conversations were boring - we hear all about what jam Olivia prefers and how they take their coffee/tea (both take it black it was meant to be!) Two encounters during that time.not possible spoilers DEFINITE SPOILERS and why I could NOT stand this bookI had expected that Olivia would be worthy of Lyon - strong willed passionate about her causes anti slavery and anti poverty. Nope. While Lyon was building his fortune from the ground up himself and being risking his LIFE being a pirate to stop what he could of the slave trade Olivia delivered food to a family once a week and complained about it. Her thoughts revealed that she could not wait to leave because she didn’t like seeing their suffering - which she did NOTHING herself about (she did not donate the food). The encounter with the Duffy family epitomized Olivia - she was convinced the baby would die - what did she do? Walked out and wrung her hands. Compare that to how Evie responded in another book. Olivia has pin money, we see her shopping, she has items she could sell (like a hairbrush as another character did - or a bonnet, jewelry - ANYTHING) - she did none of that. She has a rico Father but whines that she just CAN'T ask him to pay for a doctor visit she just can't! She’s rather let a child die than do that! Poor her so stressful while a baby is DYING. Lucky for the family she whined to Lyon who immediately gave up his valuable and cherished watch which would pay for the doctor and support the family for a year. No hesitation. That's Lyon and that's Olivia in a nutshell. And btw I did NOT like Long ALWAYS having the poor family Irish with too many children and a stereotypical alcoholic father NOR did I appreciate the characters comments about them being Catholic vs Church of England as if Anglican/Episcopalians used birth control then unlike any character in the book.Olivia's crusade against slavery consisted of reading pamphlets and SOMETIMES handing them out to people she knew while trying not to annoy anyone too much because you know, manners - no marches petitions fund raisers, nothing remotely daring just BLAND. We also get to see her donating a few SHILLINGS (4?) to a few beggars on her way to a fitting where she is spending a MINT on new dresses. Olivia spends more time worrying about what expensive trim to choose for her wedding dress than the poor or slaves.For someone who is supposed to be against poverty Olivia sure does think about money for herself. Instead of going with her Romeo when he chooses to give up his family and security for her and risking anything like the original Juliet who literally gave up her LIFE for true love Olivia is aghast at the suggestion that she leave her home (which her Father no doubt would have welcomed her back to and given her her dowry had she married) to go with Lyon because OMG how will they live, will she have to WORK? Even when he tells her NO he can support her she refuses. Can you imaging Shakespeare having Juliet scream at Romeo and tell him he's nothing but his Father's creature and can't DO anything on his own - is basically WORTHLESS without him - and expecting Romeo to still love her? There was no reason Long had to make Olivia insult Lyon except as a plot point and that alone ruined the story for me.And then of course after sending him away Olivia proceeds to do what? Devote her life to causes? Try to win him back or find him like Violet his sister did? Nope - mope. Sad sack Olivia continues to go to balls stay on the marriage mart and wrack up bouquets from suitors (until Tansy comes along) she leads on to thinking they have a chance with her. She condescends to accepting Landsdowne literally because he gave her the most creative hothouse arrangements - and was the most persistent (and willing to cater to her). It was embarassing. The man loved her, she knew he did, and knew she did not love him and would toss him aside in an instant if the man she sent away crawled back to her - and was wealthy. Olivia was a terribly written for a heroine one of my all time least favoritesI have no doubt Olivia as Long portrayed her would have rejected Lyon if he hadn't made his fortune. She was unwilling to sacrifice the slightest thing for anyone. The first thing she notices when he does come back are his expensive clothes. Long brings it up twice immediately after she is reunited with him. And that he has his own ship. And a house - she then asks him how MANY properties he has just to make sure. How romantic was that? NOT AT ALL to me.This is NOT a heroine I could empathize with or like in any way. I wanted to finish to tie up loose ends with some of the mysteries as to Lyon's activities but I had to wade through annoying page after annoying page of Olivia - it was unpleasant and NOT worth it in the end.AFTER being reunited the last third of the book continued to be annoying. The interactions and encounters between Olivia and Lyon were uninspiring to me. Despite THEIR using no birth control she remains undecided between remaining with Lyon and returning to the ever patient ever suffering Landsdowne the poor sap. She WHINES when Lyon tells her he is not returning to England with her and instead of asking him to or asking him to take her with him she complains about her tremendous expensive trusseau and a huge wedding coming up and her family and there being a song and all about it and wrings her bloody hands again what am I supposed to do? Think for once? DO something? Make up your fading mind if you have one you ninny? He asks her if she loves Landsdowne and her answer is she could one day. After just spending days loving Lyon without abandon, cuckholding Landsdowne and possibly getting pregnant, she STILL can't commit to Lyon and hurts him and has the nerve to be furious with him because he tells her SHE has to make up her own mind what to do and she doesn't want to lose him and doesn't want to give up Landsdowne or call off the wedding - what the hell did she want BOTH? It was frustrating Long didn't have Lyon at least tell her he loves her, but I understood that he wanted HER to fight for him, or at least to CHOOSE him, and tell HIM. And what does SHE do? Up until the very end she decides to leave that Lyon Redmond NONESENSE behind her as she calls it and go through with the wedding. (NOT the thoughts someone should have about their TRUE love. NOT Juliet's thoughts) She leaves it to the actual wedding day to decide, letting poor Landsdowne actually say I do before humiliating him and hurting him by saying she can't because it would be a lie - NOW she decides this? Their whole courtship for 2 years was a lie since she never loved him or honored him. Ugh Olivia was a passive weak selfish fool. Pathetic. Even worse than terrible Tansy who I had thought was my least favorite heroine ever.I really liked Lyon as a hero, or the sense of him I had. I felt he deserved better and was cheated. Along with me. I would have preferred reading about Lyon and the intriguing Delphinia (Digby) she of many languages and wonderful acting abilities. SHE sounded like a much better match for him and a much more interesting character. THAT would have been worthy of the word "legend" and a MUCH more enjoyable read.The mystery of the ledger and Isaiah's part in the slave ships is concluded but even THAT was not in my opinion done in a satisfying way. There is no reckoning for the villain. So even that was a disappointment to to me. There was a lot of rehashing or tying up loose ends for series characters including secondaries but I was beyond caring at that point. And the epilogue was just weird. I'm glad the series is over - on to a new author not sure I will read more of Long after this. Perhaps after a break but I will be more selective if I do, as I said I've LOVED some of hers which had much better heroines and more interesting story lines but others I wish I had skipped especially after reading this.

Before I begin this review, I have to say that in a genre where where so many books have absolutely atrocious covers, where readers pick up and love the books despite the cover art, this book has one of my favourite covers in years. It fills me with joy and perfectly encapsulates the contents of the book. I wish more romances had covers this great.While many of Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green books can be read out of order or completely independently of each other, this book is the culmination of the 11-book series, and as such, will probably not have the same impact on the reader as if it's read without some previous knowledge of the series in general and Olivia and Lyon's tragic romance in particular. There are SO many good books in this series, and one absolute classic. Go read some of them, then come back for this review.It is said in Pennyroyal Green in Sussex, that the Redmonds and the Everseas have been enemies since the Dark Ages, but that once every generation, a Redmond and an Eversea will fall disastrously in love with each other. This generation's doomed couple - Lyon Redmond and Olivia Eversea, who met at a small assembly and almost instantly fell incandescently in love, despite knowing that their parents would never approve. Meeting an hour here and there in secret, conducting their courtship as secretly as they could, completely oblivious to the fact that everyone around them could see that they were besotted. Then Lyon Redmond suddenly left England, never to return. Gossip said it was because Olivia Eversea broke his heart.Five years and thousands of hothouse flowers delivered to her door, Olivia Eversea shocks everyone by accepting the proposal of Lord Landsdowne, a quiet and unprepossessing viscount. Their wedding is the social event of the season, and as most of her siblings have had quiet weddings, Mrs. Eversea is determined that Olivia will get married with pomp and occasion. Yet at every turn, there are reminders of her long-lost love. A popular ballad is created, sung on every street corner. Illustrated prints depicting the possible adventures of Lyon Redmond appear in shop windows. He is seen as the dashing hero, she as the withered Miss Havishamesque creature who jilted him.Lyon Redmond has spent the years away from England making a fortune, proving with every action that loving Olivia Eversea is what he does best. Now she is marrying another, and it's time for a reckoning between them. The last time he asked her, she refused to leave her family and go with him. Now Lyon will confront Olivia one last time and they will see if their love story is in fact a curse, or a blessing.In each and every Pennyroyal Green book, the reader has got little snippets of the story of Lyon and Olivia. How they met and fell in love is never revealed, but that something Olivia Eversea said or did, made Lyon Redmond leave England and his family for good, is clear. That Olivia was never the same after he left, throwing herself into her worthy charitable causes and fending off eager suitors, seeming indifferent, yet never cruel, to all of them. Rumours of Lyon's exploits on the continent, making money hand over fist, possibly engaging in piracy. Olivia becoming thinner and more brittle, until one day she decides to accept a proposal, after all.In this final book, which features cameos from many of the previous couples in the series, the reader finally gets to see how Lyon and Olivia met, what led to their separation and estrangement. It's become clear in the previous books that Isaiah Redmond is a strict and unforgiving father, whose four children all went against his express wishes in choosing their life partner. Lyon's refusal to bow to his demands, choosing to abandon his homeland and his family instead, probably spurred his younger siblings to exert their wills and make their own unpopular choices.Olivia and Lyon's romance is in part a tragic one. They were young when they met and because of the enmity of their families, their feelings for one another were not well received by their parents. When push comes to shove, Olivia can't handle it. She cannot follow Lyon into exile. Having not even experienced her first season, she is still young and innocent, and terrified of what the future might bring. She breaks his heart and her own with the choice she makes and has to live in shattered loneliness in the years that follow, constantly hounded by suitors, watching her siblings and friends fall in love and settle down.It was always obvious that Lyon wasn't going to be happy with Olivia's decision to marry another. Yet he cannot be surprised that she's unwilling to pine forever for him, having heard nothing to encourage her for five years. Their reckoning is a necessary one, and there are hurt feelings on both sides, but oh such a passion as well.Last week, I came to the realisation that The Legend of Lyon Redmond, a book I've been anticipating since I first heard it was being written, and pre-ordered months ago, would be released during my autumn break. With the stress of my work over the last few months, I have had much less time and energy to read, so the prospect of a whole day off when I could revel in this book was a gift from the fates. Like I suspect all long time readers of the series, I had very high expectations. Lyon and Olivia's story runs like a unifying thread throughout the other narratives and getting to read their story was almost too exciting to bear.I adore What I Did for a Duke, the story of Olivia's younger sister and the Duke of Falconbridge. There are other books in the series that I am deeply fond of, but this is the only book in the series that I feel can rate as highly. Like in Genevieve's book, I got so caught up in the story that I literally shouted at the characters more than once. My husband seemed amused by my antics, assuring me that it would be a pretty unsatisfactory romance if the protagonists didn't end up happily together in the end. I nearly threw a cushion at him. Clearly both the Eversea sisters are determined to try my nerves by taking a really long time to realise what is best for them.This is a wonderful book, but really does require the reader to have taken the journey through the series to fully appreciate the ending, not only to Olivia and Lyon's story, but to all the Pennyroyal Green books. I wasn't wild on the epilogue, where we are suddenly introduced to a current day descendant of the Redmonds and Everseas, and given insight into what happened to the children and grandchildren of all the heroes and heroines of the books in the centuries to come. I felt that was unnecessary, but it didn't ruin the perfection of the rest of the book. I will most likely skip it the many times I re-read this in future, though.

Since the beginning of this series (wonderful!), I expected the book to Olivia and Lyon and the book didnt disappoint.The book begins right where the úlitmo book series ends and we see Olivia and bride about to get married after a few years without knowing the whereabouts of Lyon.The intensity of the two characters, his overwhelming passion that neither time nor hatred between family can delete, Olivia takes on a ship to find his great love few weeks before getting married.The landscapes described by the author are amazing and the passion of the characters is captivating and very spicy. The series finale is superb, you finds all characters from previous books and still have a surprising sneak peack the next book... A special mention to the scene of reunion Lyon and his father. An amazing and profound scene, realistic and touching.

#11 in the " Pennyroyal Green Series ". " the word " Redmond " would be treated in their house rather as though someone had silently broken wind in company " a fair description of the angst of Eversea / Redmond relations. In the Redmond house the name Eversea was never mentioned. This is the world that Lyon and Olivia grew up in and then they fell in love with each other. The Lyon and Olivia story has been coming through in all the " Pennyroyal Green Series ". Now finally we see the story with the history tied to the present - 5 years of waiting for their time to love. I liked how the story kept shifting from the past to the present - building interest and coiling the reader deeper into the story. This was written as a true love story - there was not a lot of adventure or action, what Lyon had been doing for 5 years was not really the subject of the novel. I loved the epilogue, that was the futuristic view of the series, wrapping all the loose ends of the series up and allowing the series to end. The only thing I didn't like was that this very likely is the end of a series that I have come to love, but if it's not you can bet that I will go on reading about the Eversea and Redmond families for as long as JAL wants to write about them

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 heart-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 utterly perfection in recreating the feelings of joy and uncertainty of first love, and 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

Jumping back and forth in time is really difficult for me to enjoy as a reader and that was the problem with this book. at least a third of the writing went back in time to show how much they loved each other and how everything went wrong. Then it ended with a 2015 vignette of descendants of the couple meeting under the oak trees.I loved the story of the couple but i did not read the part written about their past so perhaps my rating isn't as trustworthy as it should be.

Enjoyable! As this is the first (and probably only) romance novel to ever give a shout out to my all-time favorite band, McLusky, Ms Long has earned my eternal respect!