The Gypsy Duchess (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: Moira must hide her Gypsy heritage to protect a child.
Review: She married an aged duke to protect her smuggler father from the hangman's noose. After his death, she devotes herself to protecting her young stepson from the evil viscount who stands to gain a dukedom at his death. How very frustrating that the only man who can help her protect her stepson is the same man who blames her for his younger brother's heartbreak and subsequent death in the war against Napoleon.

The Earl of Langley fights his attraction to this beautiful woman, believing, as he does, that she is a cruel seductress. As the two are drawn closer together by their determination to protect the young duke, however, his eyes are opened to her true character, and he decides to make her his mistress. It's only after that suggestion is firmly rejected that he becomes determined to make her his wife.

But even after he has resolved the problem of the murderous viscount and discovered her Gypsy heritage, she still refuses to legally become his wife, since she knows that marrying a Gypsy will forever make him persona non grata in London society. How can he prove to her that their love is all that matters?

This book had me riveted to the pages to the end, and the only reason I don't give it five stars is that I was a tiny bit disappointed in Moira's stubborn determination to refuse Devon "for his own good" long after he had proven his love for her. I mean, she was willing to hide her Gypsy heritage to protect the young duke, but when faced with the unswerving love of the earl, she insists on letting the truth be known far and wide, as a sort of a test. And even then, she makes him jump through all sorts of hoops to win her.

But win her he did, and they all lived happily ever after.