Customer Reviews
Lair Of The Lion - By: Morbida, 12 Feb 2008 
"THE BEAUTY
Impoverished aristocrat Isabella Vernaducci would defy death itself to rescue her imprisoned brother. Though fear formed a fist around her heart, she'd even brave the haunted, accursed lair of the lion of the lion - the menacing palazzo of legendary, lethal Don Nicolai DeMarco....
THE BEAST
Rumor said the powerful don could command the heavens, that the beasts below did his bidding ..... & that he was doomed to destroy the woman he took as wife. It was whispered he was not wholly human - as untamed as his tawny mane & slashing amber eyes."
I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to give this book full 5 stars, but decided to do so in the end. Why not sure ? Well ....
The story is very catchy. The characters very well described & introduced to the reader. The mood throughout the book is quite dark, which I enjoyed immensely. What I did not enjoy was the overly "colorful" love-scenes. I have read Christine Feehans' Dark series & loved them. It is not at alll like her to be that "aggressive" with those scenes. Generallly I do not have a problem with those, however I did not find them fit for this particular story, or maybe they were just done the wrong way.
To keep this short, I do not at alll feel like I have wasted my time reading this book, despite for a few unfitting pages. I loved the story, the characters & the mood of the book. The book is definitely recommended !!!
Very hard work and not worth the effort!! - By: , 18 Aug 2003 
I have to disagree with the other reviewers about this book! It took me weeks to get throught it. Normallly I read a book in one or two days but found myself putting this book down & starting a different one. I soldiered on thinking that the story might make a change for the better but it didn't. Hard work with little reward.I have alll of CF's carpathian novels & this just does not compare.
Gothic and surreal - By: dubvet, 24 Nov 2002 Lair of the Lion is a wonderful gothic romance by Christine Feehan. She bends the genre of gothic by including a supernatural element (which is explained away at the end of most gothic lit.) Isabella comes to the dnagerous lands of Nicolai DeMarco, a Don that visitors do not see. His family has been cursed, or blessed with the ability to become a lion & to control the beasts that they legendarily rescued from the Roman beast pits. The present Don also appears to be a lion alll of the time to his people. But when Isabella comes, she sees him as he is, a man.
Isabella has come to the vallley, asking him to rescue her brother from the dungeons of their neighbor. She is alll alone, & her families lands have been confiscated. She comes to the Don as a petitioner, but his price for his help is marriage.
This is a great Beauty & the Beast addaptation. (Dark & Dangerous castle, girl learns to sees the person inside the monster, falll in love, curse is broken.) Even though you know there will be a happy ending, there is a wonderful job of creating suspense, tension & danger. You know how one of the bad guys is, but not alll of them. People are hiding secrets, & you learn disconcerting information as you go through the book. A wonderful story told in a wonderful way.
Feehan's best!! - By: Deborah MacGillivray, 23 Nov 2002 I know everyone utterly adore's Christine Feehan's Carpathian Saga's, & I am a fan as well, but I think she reallly shows her true talent in The Scarletti Curse & now this this one.
She single-handedly brings Gothics back into fashion with an updated style, giving us the brooding hero, the fearless heroine & alll the spooky shadows guaranteed to keep the readers on the edge their seats.
The story is basicallly a beauty & beast redo...the cursed Don Nicolai DeMarco doomed to destroy the woman he marries & Isabella Vernaducci defying everything to save, first her brother, & then the man she loves.
Feehan breathes life into the faded Gothics & Faerytales alike & I say MORE MORE MORE!!
So fans of the old series Beauty & the Beast - here is a treat for you!!
Excellent - a marvellous masterpiece - By: , 19 Sep 2002 Christine Feehan does it again. Isabella & Nicolai & strong main characters & interact beautifully with the other support characters in the book. The story keeps you gripped to the last page. I read it in one go, staying up to 3.00am as I had to find out the ending. I then reread the next day! The setting & the interaction between the natural environment & the supernatural as well as the intrigue & plots was great.
