The Blue-Eyed Gypsy

the long version

Valerie Bennett was a desperate, frightened little girl when she ran away from home to join a gypsy tribe. She was a beautiful young woman when her abominable stepfather and her submissive mother found her and forced her to return to the family estate. Once again Valerie was in bondage to her inhuman and cruel stepfather. And she could do nothing when he auctioned her off like some animal to be bride to the arrogant Lord Patrick Wolverton. Not only did Valerie's happiness and fortune depend on her new husband, but the safety of her gypsy friends as well. As Valerie tried to read Lord Patrick's unfathomable gaze, as she felt his lips upon hers, she wondered how she could ever love the new master of her destiny — in this marriage made in hell.