Historical Romance: Lady Lydia struggles to escape an arranged marriage to a brutal man. However, during her escape to her brother in France, she gets ill. During her travels she pretends to the Romany King’s Valkin mistress. Upon hearing about his “traveling” mistress. Valkin investigates and takes care of her while she is sick. They grow close and fall in love. This book is about learning to trust. I liked this book, but it did lag in some spots. This book is 2nd book in a series Always a Princess. I will look forward to reading the 1st book in the series.

**I received this book from NetGalley and publisher for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

To escape an arranged marriage to a cruel man, Lady Lydia disguises herself and goes on the run. Becoming ill, she takes refuge with Romany king Valkin. As she recuperates, the two fall in love. Can she risk staying with him, or will she leave the country?

This book got off to a slow start, but the pace picked up once Lydia fled the house party. I admired her courage and determination. She and Valkin developed a strong emotional bond, and he was careful to put her needs first. This book includes many of the tropes Regency readers love, while the Romany element was a nice change.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

2.5 stars

The plot of this book was intriguing with a strong willed woman doing what she needed to do to survive. However, in the end, it fell flat. The characters were not well rounded. The story got boring and I found myself skipping full sentences to just get the gist of what was happening.

DNF'd at 70%.

I expected so much more from this story.

The premise gave me really high hopes but this book just falters in so many ways.

The writing was very choppy, and hard to follow and it was literally painful to read through the book. I appreciate the care that was put into making the MC's spoken lines contain stutters, that was thoughtful, but that along with the bad writing made this an increasingly difficult read. There are moments when the quality of writing suddenly gets better but not enough to make the book as whole significantly better.

I believe this may have simply been missing a round or two of editing.

I normally love historical fiction, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea. I had a hard time finding the hero's character attractive with his nomadic lifestyle - however, The King's Mistress is well written. If you love dark and brooding non-traditional style romances, this is going to be Victorian-era romance for you!

NOTES:
- Adventurous heroine which is always fun!
- Slow Burn
- Multicultural relationship
- CWs: S3xal Assault

When I read the synopsis of the book I wasn't totally sure about Romany royalty but it sounded interesting, as I am sure it was to Valkin when he found out Lydia was calling herself his mistress. I have to admit that all I know about Regency Romany characters I learned through the Hathaway series from Lisa Kleypas. This had some of that except it was the opposite situation in terms of Romany families. I definitely felt sad for Lydia and how lonely her existence was, and basically whored out by her father, the Duke, in very fancy Worth gowns. It was nicely juxtaposed by her situation once she reached the Romany ker. It felt almost anthropological with the descriptions of life of the people, which I greatly enjoyed as you can tell a lot of research was done. Onto the characters!

Ah Lydia and Valkin... What to say about this couple? It's always cute with a childhood crush... Especially when you grow up to be a lovely buxom woman that the man doesn't even recognize you, especially when you use a fake name... (It made me curious about book 1 and if much was made of her crush on him). There were many tender moments between them, along with misunderstandings. I hate how a lot of it was due to being beaten into this thought process by her father and society. Also near the end the misunderstandings got a bit much to the point where I wanted to yell at them (similar to their siblings). It was great to see Lydia come into her own and find herself. Valkin felt more like a constant character throughout and then acknowledging his heart.

As it relates the the story, personally it felt a little long. The house party seemed to drag a bit, and for some reason near the end, I did a mini eye roll regarding the motives being clear and some of the twists near the end but all in all, it was a pleasant read.

Steam: 🔥
Heart Flutters: ❤️❤️

Can't really get into the book the pacing was so-so, Lydia was annoying but Valkyn was Amazing and interesting character, they way he interacts with Lydia was heart-warming and I appreciate the exposure about Romany in this book. Thanks net galley for this ARC. Thoughts and opinions are mine

This historical romance pays close attention to detail and really captures the time period. This is the kind of romance novel that completely engrosses the reader in the story from start to end. This is the sequel to Always a Princess, which I also read, but I feel like even if you haven't read the first book, you'll enjoy this one. I love historical and period pieces, I can't get enough of shows like Bridgerton, and Clyve Rose really knows how to write with historical accuracy and I love her story lines.

This was a good story set in a time where Gypsies were roaming England. Young Lady Lydia arrives at her home to find out she is not welcome and has to travel 2 more days to someone elses home. Clothes have been sent ahead. She is sad but has no other choice. She arrives and is welcome but the dress that has been sent is highly imappropriate for a young woman of class. Her father has made a deal with an earl who is a disgusting person. He attacks her and the Romany king defends her. A day later the lady of the keep helps her escape and she makes her way to the Romany caravan. She lies about who she is and is welcomed. These people are quite smart and used to being accused of anything that happens when they are around. They even dye her horse and hide it among their own horses.
Overall I really enjoyed the story I had to to back to the front of the book several times to see what some of the words meant. That was very helpful..
The Romany king knew she was lying but was falling for her anyway. I also loved some of their customs. It was very family oriented.

It took me a second to get into this book, but once I did what a great read! Lydia’s story is full of mystery and passion, betrayal and love! The author creates a great story for the book’s readers and provides a different perspective than most other regency romances. I would absolutely recommend this to readers who want a deeper look at love and to really relate to characters who are shaped by the way their families interact. 4/5⭐️

I was given this copy of this e-book by #boroughspublishinggroup through #netgalley. I will definitely be going back and reading this first book in this series! Hoping it’s her brother’s story!

Slow burn romance with a Romany twist. Loved this unconventional take on a historical romance, complete with horses, chivalry and so much miscommunication that it hurt at times!

This novel was about two people from different backgrounds, a Romany and a duke’s daughter. Lydia has no prospects on the marriage mart and finds herself betrothed to an man old enough to be her father with a cruel streak. She leaves hoping to find her brother in France and uses a disguise as a mistress to the Romany king, using a fake name. Valkin has no idea who this woman is and he has had many English women as lovers. However the Romany marry for love. While he should be angry for the trouble this can cause his people, he is also intrigued. He does not know or remember who Lydia is. Lydia becomes part of the Romany but the danger is still out there, and she cannot endanger them to long, for they could be punished deeply by the English. I would have liked to know more about how Lydia and Valkin Met before this encounter, for Lydia appears to have loved him for some time.
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The plot for this was good. I enjoyed the premise of this book-a daughter of a Duke pretending to be a Mistress to a gypsy king to escape a forced marriage.
But the store felt incomplete and at times a little choppy. Lydia was a timid character after being at the hands of her father but at times was described as being anything but timid. You didn't really see that until the end and that felt forced.
The chemistry between Lydia and Valkin was well written. Would I recommend? I would.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this book. This review is entirely mine own.

This is a well-researched historical fiction that focused on a minority group that is not often the focus. The care and research that the author did is evident everywhere in this book - from the incorporation of language to customs and culture. The female main character also has a stutter that I feel was naturally and respectfully portrayed.

One problem I had is the varying names all the landed, especially the MMC, are called. I had a hard time remembering all the different names each could go by or if this was a different/new person. I also don't love a misunderstanding/miscommunication plotline and I feel like there is a lot of that in this book - just talk to each other instead of making assumptions please- (but this is a personal preference not an objective problem of the book just a heads up if that's a trope you also find frustrating).

I think this is a unique perspective to the genre, and is a well researched and written contribution to the genre.

Award winning author Clyve Rose captured my soul once again with this novel... From escaping that forced marriage to finding that one true love. It is captivating and definitely a page turner.

The cover page illustration speaks volumes too. Amazing book!

To escape a forced marriage to a brute of a man, Lydia flights under disguise with the plan of finding her brother in Paris, hoping he can reason with her father or do anything to end the betrothel. During her flight she falls ill and ends up with the Romany. In order not to endanger this people for the revenge of her powerful father, she conceals her identity. Their leader, Valkin, doesn't know who she is, but is unable to turn her away, despite the danger of harboring an English lady.
The story was not as I expected. Why wouldn’t she reveal her true identity to Valkin, who is actually the brother-in-law of her brother Wil (who is married to his sister)?! He promised to keep her safe and she trusted him completely, so there was no need for her to keep her identity a secret. It was not he identity that was the danger, but the fact that she stayed at their place. He could have kept her name a secret, but it was clear everybody was on her side so she had nothing to fear from Romany leaking her name to any English looking for her.
Then, when she and Valkin got closer and developed feelings for each other, she still wanted to leave. It just didn’t make sense.
I had high hopes for this book; the summary was promising. I think the writer really tried to make it into a nice story, but I missed pace in the story, I missed the chemistry and the abundance of Romany words was distracting. Although a glossary is added (for most of the words), I found it quite annoying to having to leaf back to check the meaning of the words, to understand what I was actually reading. This slowed down the story which already lacked much pace.
I received and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and I am grateful for this opportunity. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a surprise this was!!! I read this book in less than a day.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Clyve Rose and the publisher for the opportunity.

"Shan miro pireni cana" ❤️

This book follows the story of Lydia and Valkin, who fall deeply in love. Their relationship and the tension between them *assdfghhjklllkjhggfddsaa*......
I really enjoyed this journey, the whole fictional historical romance....it's a big YES for me.
A story about kindness, freedom, respect, family and love
Can't wait to read more books like this one!!!

This was a cute quick read well developed characters and great story pacing. I enjoyed the characters and the writing.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the ARC for "The King's Mistress." I really enjoyed reading this, it had a very original story. Lydia is a meek and humble character who finally has enough of the life in the ton when her father attempts to make her marry and odious earl who tried to force himself on her in order to gain her hand in marriage. She attempts to flee and is rescued by the notorious gypsy king who takes an interest in her. Their feelings are immediate from the start but take a while to manifest. There is a lot of Romany words intertwined in the story which is a great addition. It was very confusing, but there was a helpful page of translations at the beginning. Lydia did start out with a very bad stutter that did get better through the story as her confidence became more apparent. Overall good story.

This book is a quick and intriguing read. Anyone looking for a light, spicy read with adventure and unexpected twists and is interested in a little mental vacation may find exactly what they need here.