By Love Unveiled

Restoration #1

by Deborah Martin, Sabrina Jeffries

Miss Marianne Winchilsea is running for her life from those whom she believes have attempted to kill the king. Forced to disguise herself, she trusts no one—especially not Garett Lockwood, the Earl of Falkham, who usurped her family home and who seems to be her most dangerous enemy.

And what Garett sees behind her masquerade is a beautiful half gypsy enrobed in mystery, deception, and burning secrets. A woman he should avoid at all costs.

In a world where treachery and betrayal reign, a sweet seduction rules their hearts—and dares them to risk their destinies on a passionate love that all the powerful forces of the world cannot defeat.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Audiobook, Fiction

370 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Pseudonym of Sabrina Jeffries, under which she wrote eight historical romance novels, Moonlight Enchantment, Creole Nights, By Love Unveiled, Silver Deceptions, Dangerous Angel, Stormswept, Windswept, and Creole Bride, and contributed to two anthologies, A Dance with the Devil, and One Night with a Rogue.

Reviews

[Karen Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Sheila Majczan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was a book I bought a few years ago at a Used Paperback Store (which has closed). This genre is one in which I have read hundreds of books over the years. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and consider it well written. There are statements in other reviews that this is a rewritten/reworked book of an earlier novel by this author.

This story has not just your usual good guy/quasi bad guy with whom the leading lady falls in love but also has political maneuvering, lots of intrigue, angst with trust issues and as always sexual chemistry. There are three sides to this tale.

Set during the reign of Charles II in the mid-1600’s, Garett Lockwood, the Earl of Falkham has been awarded the return of his family properties, Falkham House. The estate had been in his family until his beloved Aunt Bess married Sir Pitney Tearle and this man sold the property (due to debt) and it was bought by Sir Henry Wilchilsea, one of the king’s attending physician. Tearle had subsequently attempted to buy back the estate only to be denied. Then Wilchilsea is “caught” in the act of attempting to poison the king and sent to prison where it is reported he was killed in his cell. Tearle now is hopeful he can regain the property as he has portrayed himself as a supporter of the exiled King who regained the throne from the roundheads/Puritans.

We learn that Garett has been in exile for ten years (since the age of 14) and the past year was in service to the king on two missions. We also learn that his parents were murdered while the family traveled in France and that Garett was believed to have died with his parents as one of the bodies was identified as his. But he now has a mission to rid the world of his uncle because that man has ignored letters Garett sent to him allowing the lad to struggle in a war torn France.

When Garett reclaims his home he has a mission to find clues to discredit his uncle so does not settle in comfortably. As another attempt in made on his life the services of a gypsy healer are called upon. Enter Mina. But in reading this lady’s history we find that she has her own secrets and trust issues. Her father is that physician and she is wanted by the King’s Men as it is she who prepared all her father’s healing herbs and potions…and as the said medications never left her father’s hands, she, (Marianne Wilchilsea) must have been in on the conspiracy! The general population is told that she has committed suicide rather than be arrested. Mina is only half gypsy as her mother was such but claimed to be a Spanish lady due to prejudices against and mistrust of her people. Mina’s Aunt Tamara secreted her out of London in her gypsy wagon and now insists that even among the townspeople, who love and trust Mina, she wear a disguise to keep her safe from strangers and possible spies. Mina wears a hood and a black mask to “hide” scars from small pox.

So Garett is treated for a sword thrust through his thigh and becomes intrigued by this gypsy-with-lady-like characteristics but finds no one in the town will give out any information about Mina. To reinforce that mystery he finds as he snatches her mask off that she has no scars. So is she as spy for his uncle? She could have treated his wound in a way which allowed him to die so he is just not sure why she and the town are closed mouth. Then there is her dilemma: is Garett the reason her father was arrested? He now owns “their home” but how did he gain that ownership?

I found this to be a page turner and finished it in about a half day. Garett is determined to have an intimate relationship with this gypsy while she resists, having been raised a lady and wanting more that the position of mistress if she is to surrender to the sexual magnetism between them…part of the tale she and her aunt have woven is that her mother was mistress to her father. What a web!

[Sandy Digger · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read! I so enjoyed this book by Sabrina Jeffries. It was really tough to put down. It starts out with the main character of a young woman by the name of Mina. She is a genteel lady but is forced to masquerade as a gypsy (or half gypsy) because she was falsely accused of being a party to poisoning the king. She escapes with her gypsy aunt back to her family's country home. She thinks she can find out who set her father up to take the fall & added poison to the medicines he is about to give to the king (he is the king's physician). He spills some of the medicine and the king's dogs eat it and die. Fortunately he hasn't given it to the king yet. However he is imprisoned until he confesses, which of course he doesn't because he has no knowledge of how the poison got in his meds. The day he is imprisoned he is told his daughter has killed herself by throwing herself in the Thames river.
In the meantime the king has let a rumor out that the physician has been stabbed to death while in prison. Sadly neither knows the other is alive. Mina is acting as the town's healer & the townspeople protect her because they care for her. She goes about wearing a mask so the kings guard don't discover she is alive. She is called to the house she lived in with her father (now owned by the rightful Lord who was previously thought dead, but is newly returned from abroad. The king has restored his lands and title. The house and lands had been sold to Mina's father by the Lord's treacherous uncle. Such irony. Anyway the uncle is still trying to kill Garrett (The Lord) & he has been accosted by highwaymen and sustained an injury to his upper thigh. Mina has been called to tend him. She goes to tend his injury in her mask, & he questions her extensively while she is cleaning and suturing his leg. His is suspicious of the mask & quite taken by her. She finally finishes & gets away from Garrett & thinks she cannot ever go there again lest he discover her secret & she thinks he might have been involved in her father's framing & death. There are so many twists to this story it is impossible to give a good synopsis. Suffice it to say Garrett is determined to have Mina who he thinks is just a gypsy & the story progresses through his pursuit of her & her determination not to be caught except she has this problem...she's terribly attracted to him. You can imagine where it goes but she leads him a merry chase and the telling is so consuming you just can't stop reading! We eventually come to a happy ending but believe me I have barely scratched the surface of this story, it is not a simple one. Ms Jeffries does a wonderful job keeping this story entertaining. I would heartily recommend it! You won't be sorry.

[Lynn Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I'm a fan of re-releases. So many romantic novels have entirely too short a shelf life, and I've been able to read some wonderful books I missed the first time around. However, there are some books that probably deserve to stay in the past, and By Love Unveiled is certainly one of them. In the opening notes, Sabrina Jeffries mentions that she enjoyed having a chance to revise this early novel of hers. However, the changes don't seem to have gone far enough.

The setup of this book is an interesting one. The ridiculously named hero, Garett Lockwood, Earl of Falkham, has recently returned from exile and reclaimed his home in England. The house had changed hands several times during the unpleasant years of the English Civil War and Interregnum, going from his parents to his Puritan uncle (the even more improbably named Pitney Tearle), eventually being sold to a doctor and then restored to Garett upon his miraculous return to England. Garett is bitter about his years spent in exile, and determined to have revenge on the Puritan uncle who mistreated him.

Marianne Winchilsea has lost her father to an arrest for treason related to a plot to poison the King, and has also lost her beloved Falkham House to the newly returned earl. Also suspected in the plot against the king, Marianne's only way to keep safe is to live as a healer among the gypsies after allowing the rumor of her suicide to be spread far and wide. Why gypsies? Well, Marianne's mother was a beautiful gypsy, of course. And apparently 17th century baronets could get away with marrying beautiful gypsy women and still build successful medical careers that would bring them into elite circles. And yes, the eyerolling does in fact begin in Chapter 1 and continue through the end of the book.

This is a partial review. You can find the complete text at All About Romance: http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookRev...

[Desiree M ~*~*~ LiveReadCollect · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this on audio. The narrator was great. She's the main reason I pushed through the first half of this book.

I really liked that this book takes place during a time in history that historical romances aren't normally set in. This was set in 1661, Charles II was king, so it's a couple of monarchy's after Elizabeth I. However, it took forever (at least from what I remembered) to mention that Charles II was king. He was just mentioned as "the king" and there wasn't anything mentioned about what was happening during this time, or a couple of historic events to give me a solid foundation. Which kind of bugged me as I was reading because, while I'm not nearly as familiar with this time period or monarchy, as I am with earlier and later ones, it still would have given me more information to solidify when this was taking place.

The first half of the book, I was struggling to get through. Not much was happening and the connection between Mina and Garrett just wasn't great. It did pick up about 60% through but it still wasn't great.

What kept me interested though was the secondary romance between Mina's Aunt and Garrett's friend/second in command. Those two were wonderful and saved this from being a two star book. Even though they weren't in enough of this book, there was still enough there to bump this up to three stars.

[Elis Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marianne Winchilsea is the daughter of a man who supposedly tried to kill King Charles II. She was implicated in the plot as well, so she faked her own death and now lives with her gypsy aunt (her mum was a gypsy—her father loved the woman so much he married her anyway).

But she's not on the run. Nope. She's gonna find out who framed her and her father. She's hanging around her father's estate, which was usurped by Garrett Lockwood, the Earl of Falkham. He gained from her father's arrest and death, so he seems the obvious suspect.



Garrett is finally home after spending much of his life in exile. He was once the heir to this estate, but he had to leave when the Roundheads came to power, and his uncle, a Cromwell toady, claimed the family lands and then sold them to Sir Henry Winchilsea, physician to and attempted murderer of the king. Garrett served the king well, so the king awarded the forfeited estate back to him. Unfortunately, his creepy uncle isn't done trying to kill him—after a life ducking assassination attempts, Garrett suspects every man, woman, horse, and turnip that gets in his way. And the masked Gypsy healer who keeps trying to avoid him is just too suspicious.



Not surprisingly, suspicion turns to love. There's an element of mystery, not so much whodunit as howcatchum, and a few good reasons for the HEA to get derailed. I liked the ending, although (this is a real spoiler, so don't read if you don't wanna know) I kind of hated the hero's declaration of love at the end—seriously, he actually SAID he didn't know he was in love with her until he met her dad—in other words, until he realized she was the legitimate daughter of a gentleman. Up to then, he was all about setting this bastard gypsy up as his MISTRESS, but evidently she wasn't good enough for a lifelong commitment or to be the mother of his heir. Given that Sonia's father loved her Gypsy mom enough to marry her, I felt like Garrett's love for Sonia lacked something important. I enjoyed the book up to that point and even after, but I had to knock off half a star for that. So 3.5.

[Lindap · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 Star

Deborah Martin is Sabrina Jeffries. I've always enjoyed her books, but this one was horrible. I gave up at 40%. No real storyline, most of it was Marianne aka Mina trying to hide a family secret from Garett, and him pawing, mauling, forcing his attentions on Mina. He won't let her leave the house until she reveals her truth but turns around and pushing his desires on her...to the point practically accosting her. Oh, and on top of that he thinks she's a spy for his uncle, but then he proceeds to rub all over her. At this point in the story I find no redeeming quality to this hero. I'm done.

Marianne is a weak heroine. She has absolutely no backbone, no self-respect. A man treats a woman like that and somewhere in her character she should stand her ground and tell him to piss off. Infact, she should have walked away from that situation from the very beginning.

[Jasminee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not read the original version of this book, this rating is based on the rewritten one. I love Deborah Martin's writing style. I will read other books by her but I will not reread this book. The story felt incomplete, there was some aspect of the book that I felt could have been better with a different approach, other than that it was a descent read.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dither, dither, dither. This was such a slow story. I got so frustrated with the characters lack of ability to communicate with each other, suspicions and slow pace of the story. I only finished it because the reader was superb.

[Nola Arganbright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent Historical Romance by Sabrina Jeffries. I loved the character's, the intrigue and the romance. Miss Marianne Winchilsea is a feisty heroine and Garret a strong yet somber hero wanting to know her secrets. A great read for Historical Romance readers!

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I didn't start with this book because it is my least favorite Sabrina Jeffries novel. It dragged on and on and had very little humor.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute book! Great storyline with a rugged handsome Earl and a stubborn noblewoman/gypsy healer. If you like historical romance I recommend it!

[Sha · Rating 3 out of 5]

27 Apr 2021

1. I'd say this holds up quite well for its age but I think that's not entirely true. There's a lot of toxic masculinity stuff in here and the hero is frequently a racist asshole. That said, it's not anywhere near as abusive as books from this era can get, and there are a lot of dramatic family centric plot points that kept it interesting.

2. A lot of tropes in this one. The half romani heroine who is of course blonde and blue eyed and was raised a lady. The heroine keeps secrets from the hero. A lot of instances of "gypsy" used in reference to very negative stereotypes, pretty much entirely by the hero. Casual offscreen sexual assault by the villain, presumably to bring his cartoonishly evil self to worse depths. The Romani aunt and her far more equitable relationship with the hero's sidekick was pretty cool. I kinda wish it was their book instead, tbh.

3. Plenty of "woman says no but then physically reciprocates to sexual overtures because she's just so turn on stuff" which... hmm. Really puts the evolving definitions of sexual assault into context doesn't it? It's fairly uncomfortable when read through what I know an believe today so watch out for that.

4. It's not a bad book. I don't think it was even a very bad relationship, not counting all the weird sexual dances. It just feels kinda dated.

[CJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed Sabrina Jeffries' books in the past, but this one left me really disturbed as first, the supposed hero feels it is his right to hold the heroine captive because she likes to wear a mask around in public and won't spill her personal secrets to him, and second, because when she tries to get away, he tells her that she has only two options. 1) Tell him her secrets or 2) Give up her innocence to his jaded lusts. Of course she is attracted to him or it wouldn't be a romance novel, but when he basically says you know you want it, she refutes him saying she doesn't know what she wants. He then says that means she does want it, but won't admit it. She then cries then no she doesn't, which he cuts off by kissing her into a submission she clearly stated she didn't want. That is rape, maybe date rape, but still rape. She wanted to wait to give herself to her husband. He denied her that option. These reasons just really knocked this book down in my opinion. This author is good. She could have done so much better than this one.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book in one of those 'take a book, leave a book' nooks in my neighborhood. I chose this book because I was enjoying the Bridgerton series (TV adaptation), so I wanted to see more on this historical romance side. In this book, you have a female main lead who is undercover after her father was imprisoned for potentially attempting to poison the king. She meets the new Earl of Falkham, and while Garret is rather handsome, she can't help but be wary of him, as he can't seem to keep his eyes or hands off of her. I do love the banter between Mina and Garrett in this book, but after a while, it gets a little annoying. It was not something I would normally read, but I have to admit it was a sweet book. Of course, we all have our things, and the writer kind of lost me when, during a spicy scene, she wrote something about sticking their tongue into the other person's ear. That was a bit gross to me lol. At any rate, if you are new to historical romance like me...give it a try, it's not a bad one to read!

[Eliza · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first historical romance I've read that I did not enjoy and that is because of how aggressive the man was and that the main woman and man were just constantly fighting. It wasn't like the other books where the woman is wary of the man at first but realises he's nice and they become friends and then she gets feelings for him. No, this was man is super aggressive throughout it all, even to the woman he supposedly loves. AND!!! He is so pissed that she won't tell him every little detail but then he is also keeping secrets and doesn't think that's a problem. I was not a fan of the main man.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story takes place after the defeat of Cromwell and the return of Charles ii and his exiles. The h at 8yrs old watched his parents murdered and his inheritance stolen by his Uncle (a truly evil villain). Though his property is returned he still wants revenge.

The hr father is framed for attempted murder of the king and She is a suspect as well. She tries to solve the crime.

Both have secrets but what stops the book from being great is the hr not trusting the h with the truth. You jus tut want to shout ," for the love of God tell him". Still s good read, worth the time

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the intrigue in this story.
I am disappointed that there's alot of tell, especially concerning Garreth's childhood, his time in France and working as a spy for the King.
However, the characters and setting are well rounded. Not fully fleshed out but better than one dimensional.
I have already began reading the next novel, Silver Deceptions, which features Garreth's friend, Hampden.
That story seems to have a darker tone.
3 solid stars for this ebook.

[Selene · Rating 1 out of 5]

The male lead is a hypocritical, idiotic asshole who wouldn't know consent if it pushed him off a cliff. The female lead loses her entire personality as soon as the male lead forces any attentions on her. No feelings of love are ever mentioned, not even stirrings or glimmers, until the final few chapters. Even after claiming that he cares deeply for her, the male lead is always more than happy to believe that the female lead is a villainess. Don't waste your time.

[Brittney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally love Sabrina Jeffries (pseudonym is Deborah Martin), but this one is definitely not one of her best. Some of the scenes pushed the boundaries of consent, which made it difficult to connect with the hero. I'm not a fan of 'no means yes'. Stick with her later work; the quality is much better.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 This retelling of Beauty and the Beast was not my favourite from Jeffries. In fact, I had to check the publication date because some of the behaviour exhibited by Lord Lockwood is borderline, and certainly not what I expect from Jeffries. That said, the story brought things around for me. Is this one I'll read again? No. But overall not bad.

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute, super easy read.

Loved the gypsy aspect, but I generally do. Wish there was a little more of that background it is. I liked Garret and I liked Mina, and I loved them together.

I just wish they learned early on that communication is the key to any relationship, but alas, there wouldn't be much of story then would there? :)

It was a good read.

[ECReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting enough to keep me reading to see what would happen in the end. However, I didn't really get the sense of any romance between the hero and heroine. Their relationship seemed more about lust than love. There are better books by this author.

[Echo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish this hadn’t been republished. It’s full of racist drivel about Roma people, the leading man doesn’t respect consent, and the book has a lot of people acting very uncharacteristically for the time period.

But mostly it’s really full of racist stereotypes about gypsies.

[Helena#bookdreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

novel had potential but he held onto his distrust too long. their love was not believable. Can't have love without trust.

[Annette Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to be in a different era for this story. Excellent narrator kept the story lively and engaging.

[Di Schlenk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raunchy but full of mystery and intrigue.

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neither of the main characters were all that interesting. I actually liked the heroine's aunt best.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A masked heroine, an emotionally wounded hero, all the angst and sweetness you could hope for. What more could you want from a romance?