The Wicked Gypsy

Gervaise Conway, Earl of Braithwaite, is the lord of a great estate and a pillar in the burgeoning political system of England in the mid 1800’s. He is socially conscious and this makes him a threat to aristocracy, his colleagues and friends. It is in this climate that he meets an enchanting gypsy woman named Dawn Boswell and, in a moment of alcohol induced carelessness, strikes a deal with the woman’s father. He will use her as a ruse, to frustrate and confound his political enemy Julius Gardyn. Dawn’s uncanny resemblance to the missing heiress of Haven Hall would be just the trick to disgrace Julius and end his power in the House of Lords.

“The Wicked Gypsy” is alluring from the first pages. Although it is eighth in the Blackhaven Brides series, it shines as its own stand-alone novel. Ms. Lancaster has captured aristocracy’s demand for strict social norms and turned them on their end. Gervaise is believable as a thoroughbred gentleman struggling to control his growing passion for Dawn, and staunch in his conviction that a decades old mystery is solved. Dawn’s confliction boils to the surface early as she struggles with anger towards a father that would bargain her away.  She easily draws sympathy during her Pygmalion-like transformation. To pull off the impossible, she must be a flawless imposter.  The heat between the characters as they fall in love is undeniable. Ms. Lancaster does not disappoint.

Marvelously written, "The Wicked Gypsy" will have romance lovers falling irresistibly in love with every “wickedly” written page!

Kimberly Gunvaldson