Sometimes it just all comes down to taste. If you love Gypsy stories with a healthy dose of melodrama, then this is the book for you. And if you don’t? Well, you may be stuck plodding through the book as I did, with a curious sense of detachment.

Simon, Earl of St. Albans, is surprised when he retires to his room in an inn – and discovers a beautiful woman in his bed. When the innkeeper and another patron, Lord Nevin, complain that she is a thief, St. Albans protects her and claims she was with him all along. After her accusers leave, he demands an explanation. The woman claims that she was seeking marriage papers that Lord Nevin has concealed. It’s obvious to her that St. Albans expects her to sleep with him in return for his protection, and she pretends to acquiesce. Instead she tricks him, and leaves the room while his eyes are closed.

St. Albans is a confirmed rake who cares nothing for a woman’s reputation, and he is quite accustomed to getting his own way. When he opens his eyes to find that the mysterious woman has fled, he vows to find her. He doesn’t know her name, but he can tell she is a Gypsy, and he manages to hunt her down. He discovers that her name is Glynis, and that her very protective younger brother is eager to defend her honor. As she feels that she can tell him the truth about why she was trying to steal marriage papers, she reveals that her father was a nobleman, and her brother is the rightful heir to his title and fortune. St. Albans doesn’t really know if this is true, but makes a shocking offer: Glynnis can go with him to London, posing as his mistress. There they will discreetly prod Lord Nevin until they discover the truth. Glynis’s brother is appalled by this scheme, but when her mother consults the cards Glynis’s fate is sealed. She travels to London with St. Albans, expecting at any moment to be slyly seduced.

St. Albans has every intention of seducing Glynis. He’s not sure he believes her claims to a noble lineage, but he’s sure he can talk her into sleeping with him while they sort it all out. Naturally, things are a lot more complicated than St. Albans expects. He finds himself caring about Glynis’s welfare, and even appeasing her annoying brother for her sake. He convinces himself that he’s acting out of pure self-interest, even though he keeps rushing to Glynis’s aid and doing all he can to help her on her quest. For her part, Glynis would like to resist St. Albans. She knows that a Gypsy girl cannot expect to have a respectable relationship with an earl, yet she doesn’t know if she can resist the urge to grab a brief chance at happiness.

A Much Compromised Lady is sprinkled with Gypsy words which lend it an authentic flavor. The author has clearly researched the subject, and even points out at the end that the characters do not travel in a stereotypical Gypsy wagon because such things did not exist in Regency times.

There are few problems with the writing here, other than a curious confusion over whether “earl” should be capitalized (which I hope is correctly resolved in the final copy). The writing is basically competent, and if you can spend your disbelief enough to accept the Gypsy/Lord romance, then the plot is fairly logical and believable.

Still, it just didn’t work for me. Gypsy romances have never been my favorite, but I’ve enjoyed a few anyway. This one was over the top with its melodrama. There was a lot of flowery language, a lot of talk about fate, and several cheesy lines of dialogue that struck me as silly.

The characters missed the mark for me as well. St. Albans was arrogant without being charming. We’re supposed to feel sorry for him because he had a difficult past, but I never could get past his high-handed nature. Glynis spends a lot of time wringing her hands over her lot in life, bemoaning her growing attraction to St. Albans, and worrying that she’ll forget her morals and hop into bed with him. She’s just not very interesting.

Towards the end of the book, Glynis and her mother are having an earnest talk about love. Her mother says,

“…you should always think long and hard before you turn away from any love – it will open parts of you, sometimes painfully. But ah, it makes life so much richer. It is like sleeping under a million stars, like turning you face up to the first rain of spring, like dancing in dawn mists.”