17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the books that got me hooked on romance!, August 27, 2003
I began reading romance novels almost two years ago. I have always been a voracious reader and shunned romance writing - assuming it would be all formula and no real story. Gypsy Lord was one of the first romance books I read and it greatly influenced my decision to begin reading romance novels seriously. Since then, I have discovered a wonderful array of excellent romance writers and have enjoyed this genre tremendously. Recently I picked up Gypsy Lord again to see if it still seemed that same rich and sexy story I recalled. I was not disappointed. It was as great on this second read as I had remembered it.
Dominic Edgemont, the Marquess of Gravenwold, is half English and half gypsy. His mother had raised him in the gypsy camps of France until his noble English father claimed him at the age of eleven. Since that time, most of Dominic's life had been spent at his father's English estate or in English schools. Dominic hated this new English existence and hated his father for deserting his mother. Although Dominic was still allowed to see his mother, the visits were infrequent and short. Gradually he had come to accept the English way of life. Although he was his father's bastard, Dominic was his heir to a vast fortune and estate. He is considered a dark, intriguing man among London society. It is rumored that he may have some gypsy heritage but he is still considered a most desirable man. Dominic rarely attends functions of the ton but is always a source of great speculation when he does. The ladies, always hoping to get a look at the mysterious, handsome man, wished Dominic would honor them with his attention. Dominic, however, seldom noticed any lady and remained an enigmatic and fascinating personage.
Catherine Barrington, Countess of Arondale, is a young noble woman entrenched in the social activities of the London ton. She is one of the wealthiest heiresses in England and knows she must marry and produce an heir. However, she is not very interested in marriage. Of course, Catherine is highly sought after in the marriage market. One night at a social event, she hears of the mysterious nobleman with the rumored gypsy heritage, and tries in vain to get a glimpse of him. He is much the talk among the ladies and Catherine wishes she could meet him. Within a few days of this party, Catherine is kidnapped, sold as a slave, and is taken to France. She lives a cruel life, beaten and abused, and is eventually sold to a gypsy.
Dominic, now twenty-eight years old, is spending several months with his mother's gypsy caravan in France. Since reaching adulthood, Dominic had chosen to spend these months each year with the gypsies of his childhood. Now maturity was forcing Dominic to accept his dual heritage and leave one behind. Although he loved the gypsy life, he knew he must now live in England year round. His father was close to death and he knew his responsibilities would require much of his time. Dominic hears a woman being beaten one night and runs to protect her. He discovers a beautiful young lady, obviously with no gypsy heritage, and in his attempt to keep her from harm, buys her from her gypsy owner. Dominic, of course, has just purchased Catherine, knowing nothing of her English heritage, and the love story begins. He is very attracted to her and informs her of his desire for her. Although he has saved her from a beating and worse, his expression of desire insults Catherine. She has changed from a quiet noble lady to a seemingly viscous and confrontational woman. She will not allow Dominic near her and their battle of the wills is one for the record books. I got a little tired of Catherine's hatefulness toward Dominic since he had rescued her from the whip of an enraged gypsy, paid a fortune for her, and treated her kindly when all other gypsies regarded her only with hostility and suspicion. But if she had not been so willful with Dominic, the physical aspect of their relationship would have begun earlier and somehow part of the story would have been missing. Although Dominic doesn't consider himself to be a gentleman, he is gracious and polite (mostly) to Catherine.
This book is almost divided in half. Most of the first portion of the book takes place in the gypsy camps in France. The second half of the book occurs in England. The eventual meeting of Dominic and Catherine in England, when each discovers the other's title and position in society, is priceless. The chemistry between these two is fantastic and covers nearly each page during the last half of the book. The sensual scenes rate about a 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines) but don't let that mislead you. This is one of those books that doesn't need specific descriptions of the sensual scenes to produce the chemistry between the leads.
Kat Martin continues to be one of my favorite romance authors. Her books are never shallow and she has the ability to write typical romance plot lines and make them seem totally atypical. I have now read eleven Martin books and I would give at least six of them a five star review. Only one of the eleven seemed weak to me. If you have not tried Kat Martin books, I recommend that you begin with some of her older novels. She has a very large backlist and nearly all of her "out of publication" books are available online for reasonable prices.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Had so much potential but....*SPOILERS AND WARNINGS*, October 25, 2008
This is a book about a tortured hero and a heroine worthy of him, and his salvation from his own dark side.
Dominic is an illegitimate child. He was born to a Gypsy mother and rejected by his father. He spent his first 13 years roaming with his mother's caravan, until his father came to collect him on the death of his legitimate heir. Dominic is subject to stereotypes and prejudices from both sides. The Gypsies never completely accept him because of his Gadjo blood, and the English mistreat him in his youth because of his Gypsy blood, and are attracted to his mysteriousness as an adult.
Dominic made a yearly visit to his mother, and traveled with the caravan. This was to be his last visit, as his father was very ill and he would be taking over the responibilites of the Marquesiate. He meets Catherine upon arriving at the Gypsy camp. She is proudly defying her "owner," as he begins to beat her. Dominic is loath to involve himself and bring more scorn from the Gypsies, but his English blood hates to see the beauty being beaten. He decides to buy her for himself.
Catherine was a countess in her own right. Her father had arranged for her, his ownly child, to inherit his Earldom. She is kidnapped shortly after her debut and sold into slavery with the Gypsies.
Neither Catherine, nor Dominic reveal their true identities back in England. Dominic giving Catherine time to recover from her mistreatment during her stay with Gypsies decides to seduce her slowly. *SPOILER* he continues to vist his Gypsy lover while letting Catherine accomodate herself to the idea.
Dominic finds Catherine to be a hard worker helping his mother with her chores, and she does not seem to hold the same hateful prejudices against the Gypsies that most English have, and he begins to develop feelings for her. Catherine is also developing a strong attraction to Dominic. He is handsome and has treated her more kindly than anyone else she has experience since being sold into Gypsy slavery. Dominic promises to return Catherine to England and set her up as his mistress, but Catherine escapes and returns to England on her own.
Dominic also returns to England and sets out to find Catherine. They are both shocked when they meet each other at a society affair, and learn they are both aristocrats. For Dominic this makes Catherine off limits. He had vowed never to marry and carry on the family line as vengence against his father's mistreatment.
*SPOILER* Dominic decides to visit a former lover to get Catherine off his mind, but she is all he can think about the whole time. This is just a short paragraph and done as Dominic reminiscing about the effect Catherine is having on him. The visit to the former mistress is not described. Perosnally I hate when the hero has relations with anyone after meeting the heroine, and especially after being with the heroine, so be warned.
Catherine's uncle knows she is in love with a former Gypsy, and begins to suspect it is Dominic after seeing them together. He arranges to catch them in a compromising situation and force a marriage, which he suceeds in doing. Dominic is angry at being caught, and will only agree to a marriage of convenience to keep for having children.
Catherine sets out to seduce her husband and make a "real" marriange, but Dominic is very emotionally abusive in his attempts to put distance between himself and Catherine. Dominic does not have to grovel enough or do anything to earn Catherine love or forgivness.
I gave this book three stars because the set up had the potential of being a 5 star book. but Dominic's behavior was wall banging 1 star material, so I settled in the middle. The whole book was set up to prove Catherine was worthy of Dominic, and somnewhere along the way Dominic lost the appeal of being worthy of her. If only we were able to see some good qualities inside Dominic to make him worthy of Catherine, it would have been a great book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Hot and Steamy, October 31, 2001
The love scenes in this book are wonderfully hot and yet also very tender and loving. Both the hero and the heroine really want to please the other. Catherine is a strong heroine who finds herself with Gypsies and she soon discovers that even though she is a countess she likes being just an average person just as much, especially when she is bought by the hero, Dominic. He is half English and half Gypsy and is having a very hard time fitting in in either world. He is fighting his feelings of love for Catherine and his feelings of hate for his father. I actually found him very vunerable and endering.
I am looking forward to reading the Next book "Sweet Vengeance" because I think its about Dominic's best friend.
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