Smitten by Books

Stolen Promises
Author: Lisa Marie Wilkinson
Publisher: Medallion Press
Pub. Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1605420691
Retail: $7.95
380 pages

At the Lowara Gypsy Camp outside Windsor, England, in 1806, a young woman will lose her independence in a common marriage market transaction. Jade knows she is promised to Dimitri, a possessive abuser.

When her father sends her to the arms of another man, Jade finds only slight consolation . . . until she encounters her intended. Evan Dark is a half-Gypsy gentleman—nothing like Dimitri. Caught in a battle between tribes, Jade is a piece of property, the ideal runaway bride. In order to escape Dimitri’s clutches, she sails for Charleston with Evan as his indentured servant. But, engaged to another woman as part of a plantation merger in South Carolina, Evan’s affiliation with Jade can never be more than professional.

Evan must choose between fulfilling his obligation to marry his betrothed or accept his overpowering passion for Jade, a woman his matchmaking Gypsy grandfather deemed the perfect Romany wife. In nineteenth-century America, where insincere tradition meets old money and arranged matrimony in upper-crust society, Evan faces the most difficult decision of his life: Remain loyal to the fiancée he holds in commitment . . . or be true to the lover he holds in his heart.

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Lisa Marie Wilkinson has done it – gifted the reader with an outstanding story that delivers a full experience! She has spun a tale of Gypsies and society that is so vivid, this book is a feast for the senses and emotions that effortlessly takes you on a stunning journey between the two worlds in which Jade and Evan inhabit.

A complete read from start to finish that kept me turning pages well into the night, Stolen Promises provides a tale of love, betrayal, hope, honor, revenge, forgiveness and of course, romance conveyed through compelling characters, wildly differing settings, and gripping circumstances. Drawn into Jade’s Gypsy (Roma) society, the reader explores the enigmatic Gypsies and customs while straddling Evan’s (Gadjo) world of English and Colonial societies.

Bargained by her father into marriage to another Gypsy tribe to escape the clutches of the evil Dimitri, Jade wants nothing more than her freedom and safety for her sister, Liberina. But Dimitri is holding her to their original promise of marriage. To escape a lifetime of his abuse, Jade runs away from the Lowara Gypsy Camp, stumbling into Evan Dark. Himself half-Gypsy, Evan wars with his sense of honor and duty returning Jade to her tribe, unwittingly sealing both their fates. While he tries to protect Jade but respect his family obligations and engagement to another in America, his growing attraction to and need for her level hers for him.

After their reluctant Roma wedding, the couple with her sister in tow, board an America-bound vessel. Jade is now tied by indenture to Evan to pay for their passage all but negating their Roma vows, yet the couple circle one another building tension, which is steadily heightened as they learn about the other, trying to bridge their backgrounds.

When the trio arrive at his family’s plantation, Rosefield, in South Carolina they are greeted by his two brothers and privileged fiancée, Glorianna Clayton. Dark’s treatment of Jade and Liberina as guests rather than servants raises Glorianna’s suspicion and ire sealing her plans to get rid of Jade. Duels, conspiracy and machinations mark the weeks leading up to Evan’s announcement that he will wed Glorianna.

Dark’s Roma side and hunger for Jade begin to trump his sense of duty to marry Glorianna the more time he spends with her as Jade struggles with being a bondswoman and a proud Gypsy at a plantation in high society. Meanwhile, Glorianna hatches plans to ensure she becomes mistress of Rosefield and with the help of mysterious conspirator Count Heron, ensnares the family and Jade’s past in sweeping treachery.

Wilkinson portrays the Roma and Gadjo and their respective characters entwining their arcs and personalities without any heavy-handed back story or narrative so expertly, that I devoured this book without a pause. In fact, I was struck by how well the dialogue further illustrates the characters succinctly conveying personality and conflict.

“How am I to manage servants who cannot speak English?” Glorianna demanded.

“Jade speaks English as fluently as you do,” Evan replied evenly. “And you needn’t concern yourself; these women are my responsibility.”

“I am not your guest,” Jade objected. “I will work to pay for our passage as we agreed.”

“Which is it Evan” Glorianna inquired sweetly. “Is she your servant or your guest?”

Enough plot twists interspersed at just the right corners, surprise and spur the reader on making this a delicious, page-turner. The range of emotions is striking from the terrifying revenge of Dimitri and spiteful behavior of Glorianna, and the sweetness of Patrick and Liberina to the heartfelt love between Evan and Jade making this story thrilling.

Sexual tension crescendos for Jade and Evan throughout this perfectly-paced work while their love scenes are very sensuous without being graphic delivering a searing emotional impact.

Wilkinson infuses this novel with such continuous energy that it was a pleasure to go from paragraph to page in eager anticipation. Her descriptions are artfully crafted, sending the reader on the rugged road of the Gypsy camps, plowing through the high seas and all the way to the sprawling Dark family plantation.

Rosefield Plantation was a breath-stealing amalgamation of buildings surrounded by verdant gardens ringed by a wide circle of forest. The estate was so vast that all the Gypsies in England could have camped on the land. The mansion, a three-story structure of imported English brick, was nestled in a maze of meandering walks, where beds of multicolored flowers reposed in blankets of emerald turf.

Don’t walk to the bookstore for this read – RUN! With the highest enthusiasm and confidence, I recommend Stolen Promises—it fulfills and delivers one of the best historical reads I have ever read!

Rating: 9.5 (Near Perfect)

Heat-Level: 3.5 (Very Sensual)

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