Lyonesse Books in Order

Lyonesse is Sierra Simone’s queer, kinky retelling of the Tristan and Isolde legend, transplanted from medieval courts to modern Washington, DC. At the center of it all is Lyonesse itself, an ultra-secret club where the rich and powerful come to play, and its owner, Mark Trevena, the “devil” whose orbit no one escapes unchanged.

The prequel novella Salt in the Wound (Lyonesse 0.5) introduces Isolde Laurence, a devout young woman who expects to become a nun, and Mark, the older, shameless club owner her father has chosen as her husband. Their marriage is arranged for cold strategic reasons, but Mark insists they must at least be convincing. He offers to “teach” Isolde how to play the devoted wife in both pain and pleasure, only for both of them to realize the feelings between them are not pretend at all.

Salt Kiss (book 1) shifts into the perspective of Tristan Thomas, a former soldier hired as Mark’s bodyguard. Tristan quickly finds himself entangled with his enigmatic boss and with Isolde, the bride he is charged with escorting across the Atlantic. A reckless, salt-soaked kiss under the stars turns their journey into a slow, agonizing slide into MMF love, with jealousy and loyalty pulling in opposite directions.

In Honey Cut (book 2), Isolde narrates as she tries to reconcile her duty to the Church, her arranged marriage, and her unresolved feelings for both Mark and Tristan. As a covert agent serving her uncle, a powerful cardinal, she is supposed to seduce and spy on her own husband. Instead, she finds herself in a knot of shared desire and mistrust, where every secret mission and every scene in Lyonesse tests the fragile trust growing between the three of them.

The trilogy concludes with Bitter Burn, which brings Mark’s long-planned revenge against his enemies to a head while forcing all three lovers to decide what kind of future, if any, they can build out of so much blood and devotion. Throughout, Simone braids in nods to Arthurian myth and her earlier New Camelot series, while also creating something that stands firmly on its own.

This page lays out the recommended reading order - including the prequel - and points out the ties to New Camelot for readers who want to catch every cameo and reference. If you like your romance with wedding rings, conspiracies, sex clubs, and an unapologetically tangled triad, Lyonesse is the series to sink into.