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Gypsy in the Night
Does love only happen in the movies?
"Do your best for me, or I'll see you never work on a major picture again," he said threateningly.
Jo felt trapped. Somehow he'd sensed her reluctance. She hadn't wanted to stunt for a temperamental film star on the Spanish set of Dangerous Midnight, but her grandfather's future depended on it.
Now director Seb Corbell was bullying her into a superb performance; insisting that Jo give him her total response—both on and off the set. Yet there were reasons, secret reasons, why she could never comply with his demands…
"Do your best for me, or I'll see you never work on a major picture again," he said threateningly.
Jo felt trapped. Somehow he'd sensed her reluctance. She hadn't wanted to stunt for a temperamental film star on the Spanish set of Dangerous Midnight, but her grandfather's future depended on it.
Now director Seb Corbell was bullying her into a superb performance; insisting that Jo give him her total response—both on and off the set. Yet there were reasons, secret reasons, why she could never comply with his demands…
- GenresRomanceHarlequin Romance
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Weston
182 books43 followersJenny Haddon was born in London, England, where she always returns after the travels that she loves. When she was small, her mother couldn't bear reading aloud, so her mother taught her to read at an appallingly precocious age. She wrote her first book with her own illustrations at the age of four but was in her 20s before she produced her first romance as Sophie Weston.
She studied English Language and Literature at university. Choosing a career was a major problem. It was not so much that she didn't know what she wanted to do, as that she wanted to do everything. So she filed and photocopied and experimented. She worked as consultant at the Bank of England and all the time she drew on her experiences to create her Mills & Boon books. She edited press releases for a Latin American embassy in London (The Latin Afffair); lectured in the Arabian Gulf (The Sheikh's Bride); waitressed in Paris (Midnight Wedding); and made herself hated by getting under people's feet asking stupid questions under the grand title of consultant all over the world (The Millionaire's Daughter). She also is an active member of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association's Committee, and was its twenty-three Chairman (2005-2007).
Jenny has one house, three cats, and about a million books. She writes compulsively, Scottish dances poorly, grows more plants than she has room for, and makes a mean meringue.
She studied English Language and Literature at university. Choosing a career was a major problem. It was not so much that she didn't know what she wanted to do, as that she wanted to do everything. So she filed and photocopied and experimented. She worked as consultant at the Bank of England and all the time she drew on her experiences to create her Mills & Boon books. She edited press releases for a Latin American embassy in London (The Latin Afffair); lectured in the Arabian Gulf (The Sheikh's Bride); waitressed in Paris (Midnight Wedding); and made herself hated by getting under people's feet asking stupid questions under the grand title of consultant all over the world (The Millionaire's Daughter). She also is an active member of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association's Committee, and was its twenty-three Chairman (2005-2007).
Jenny has one house, three cats, and about a million books. She writes compulsively, Scottish dances poorly, grows more plants than she has room for, and makes a mean meringue.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 23, 2019
Well, this one was different.
I've been wanting to read this ever since I saw it on the "Angsty, Tearjerker Harlequins List." And after 200 days on the Open Library waiting list, here it is.
Heroine is a stuntwoman from a “broken home.” Her mother is married to a younger man who *trigger* tried to molest the heroine when she was 13. Her father is a millionaire real estate broker who wants to throw his own father out of home so he can build timeshares. Heroine is working night and day to pay off her grandfather’s mortgage. Heroine fell into the stunt profession at 16 when she was holidaying in Ireland and the director needed someone to ride a horse.
Hero is the director of a historical saga set in Spain. He has a reputation as a womanizer. The film has gone into cost and time overruns because the lead actress is a diva who can’t be fired because her husband is a financial backer. Three stuntwomen have been injured on the set so far. Heroine initially refused the job when she heard who the actress was, but the director has doubled her fee.
Seems this diva actress wants to do all of her own stunts so she won’t have to share credit and she is causing all the stuntwomen to be injured. .
What? This is stated by the author as a given. The heroine knows this actress is crazy – like homicidal crazy - but still blindly follows a change of plans and performs dangerous stunts *without checking with the hero first. *
She does this three times – first with a dive off of a cliff, then with a horse stunt, and finally with swordplay. Heroine never speaks up and has no sense of self-preservation. The rest of the cast and crew know what is going on, but they never speak up, either.
The heroine feels a great attraction to the hero, but fights it because she is afraid of sex after her step-father’s abuse. The hero is intrigued with the heroine, but has to keep the lead actress sweet. Heroine has no clue that the hero is only faking his attraction to the lead actress.
The title refers to two times heroine mistakes the hero for a legendary gypsy. Once when she sees the “gypsy” escorting the lead actress to her room and dancing with her. The other when she kisses the “gypsy” after watching flamenco dancing under the stars. She goes into this weird fugue state where she disassociates the hero from reality. I don’t know if this is supposed to be some sort of self-protection after being molested as a child or what. But it doesn’t spell romance to me.
The H/h get together long after the movie wraps in an abrupt ending where all of the heroine’s issues with sex magically disappear. The crazy actress is still roaming movie sets. The grandfather’s mortgage has not been paid. So not a satisfying ending.
While this was a memorable story, I don't know why it was the angsty tearjerker list.
I've been wanting to read this ever since I saw it on the "Angsty, Tearjerker Harlequins List." And after 200 days on the Open Library waiting list, here it is.
Heroine is a stuntwoman from a “broken home.” Her mother is married to a younger man who *trigger* tried to molest the heroine when she was 13. Her father is a millionaire real estate broker who wants to throw his own father out of home so he can build timeshares. Heroine is working night and day to pay off her grandfather’s mortgage. Heroine fell into the stunt profession at 16 when she was holidaying in Ireland and the director needed someone to ride a horse.
Hero is the director of a historical saga set in Spain. He has a reputation as a womanizer. The film has gone into cost and time overruns because the lead actress is a diva who can’t be fired because her husband is a financial backer. Three stuntwomen have been injured on the set so far. Heroine initially refused the job when she heard who the actress was, but the director has doubled her fee.
Seems this diva actress wants to do all of her own stunts so she won’t have to share credit and she is causing all the stuntwomen to be injured. .
What? This is stated by the author as a given. The heroine knows this actress is crazy – like homicidal crazy - but still blindly follows a change of plans and performs dangerous stunts *without checking with the hero first. *
She does this three times – first with a dive off of a cliff, then with a horse stunt, and finally with swordplay. Heroine never speaks up and has no sense of self-preservation. The rest of the cast and crew know what is going on, but they never speak up, either.
The heroine feels a great attraction to the hero, but fights it because she is afraid of sex after her step-father’s abuse. The hero is intrigued with the heroine, but has to keep the lead actress sweet. Heroine has no clue that the hero is only faking his attraction to the lead actress.
The title refers to two times heroine mistakes the hero for a legendary gypsy. Once when she sees the “gypsy” escorting the lead actress to her room and dancing with her. The other when she kisses the “gypsy” after watching flamenco dancing under the stars. She goes into this weird fugue state where she disassociates the hero from reality. I don’t know if this is supposed to be some sort of self-protection after being molested as a child or what. But it doesn’t spell romance to me.
The H/h get together long after the movie wraps in an abrupt ending where all of the heroine’s issues with sex magically disappear. The crazy actress is still roaming movie sets. The grandfather’s mortgage has not been paid. So not a satisfying ending.
While this was a memorable story, I don't know why it was the angsty tearjerker list.
May 28, 2011
I keep wondering why I love this book soooooo much. And the only thing that comes to mind is that it reminds me of old Hollywood movies (and real-life love stories from the Indian subcontinent). Every look, every sentence has a meaning. There's so much conveyed by them that you don't miss the other flashy stuff.
On the face of it, the hero is unlike the other passionate 'alpha-males' that we see in other stories - He's a movie director and the heroine is a female stunt performer. She doesn't really like him and he knows it ( and tries patiently to try to make her aware of their feelings towards each other).
However, the hero is not the only man in our heroine's life - there's the mysterious gypsy she's only met in the dead of the night and who turns her world around with his kisses....So whom shall she choose? The guy who understands her so well or the gypsy who lights her up with passion?
I love that the romance is subtle and it gives the reader a chance to put their own interpretation on some of the things. I always cry when I read this story cuz I can feel how scared the h is to lose her head over the H and the way she fights it (and wins). Also very in line with One More Time by Karen Van Der Zee where the interplay of H/h was superb
=)
On the face of it, the hero is unlike the other passionate 'alpha-males' that we see in other stories - He's a movie director and the heroine is a female stunt performer. She doesn't really like him and he knows it ( and tries patiently to try to make her aware of their feelings towards each other).
However, the hero is not the only man in our heroine's life - there's the mysterious gypsy she's only met in the dead of the night and who turns her world around with his kisses....So whom shall she choose? The guy who understands her so well or the gypsy who lights her up with passion?
I love that the romance is subtle and it gives the reader a chance to put their own interpretation on some of the things. I always cry when I read this story cuz I can feel how scared the h is to lose her head over the H and the way she fights it (and wins). Also very in line with One More Time by Karen Van Der Zee where the interplay of H/h was superb
=)
March 29, 2015
This book was endearing and fun. The last chapter had me smiling the entire time, as all good little Harlequins should. Different sort of idea for a story, there was always ups and downs happening that weren't forced with pacing, the characters weren't obnoxious, melodramatic, or anything...and the romance wasn't unrealistic or eye-rolling.
May 30, 2024
Unusual set up but romance is similar to other SW romances. Both h and h fall in love, neither wants to, plenty of excellent minor characters including vicious OW prima donna who happily sets up h for serious injury, stupidly gullible patsy/henchman for OW, fun plot, good setting.
May 16, 2018
2.5 generous, "it wasn't even romantic" stars
Not at all what i expected. The "gypsy" was only in two scenes, so the title is pretty misleading. When I started reading I was confused, I felt like there were sentences missing... I guess it was just the writing style. But what annoyed me the most is the miscommunication... the characters weren't able to have a proper conversation, talk openly and say what was bothering them, leaving the door open to misunderstandings. The heroine was kind of dumb, too. In short, it's a book that made me really angry.
Not at all what i expected. The "gypsy" was only in two scenes, so the title is pretty misleading. When I started reading I was confused, I felt like there were sentences missing... I guess it was just the writing style. But what annoyed me the most is the miscommunication... the characters weren't able to have a proper conversation, talk openly and say what was bothering them, leaving the door open to misunderstandings. The heroine was kind of dumb, too. In short, it's a book that made me really angry.
October 2, 2023
Nope
Wasn’t that great.
H and h both were boring and h specially was idiot.
Seems too lunatic with no comeuppance to any bad characters.
I don’t understand h being friendly with the guy who was too stupid to believe the evil ow.
And also the scene where the H kisses the OW initially was also not explained properly i feel.
Having read few of her books i don't think this author is for me.
Wasn’t that great.
H and h both were boring and h specially was idiot.
Seems too lunatic with no comeuppance to any bad characters.
I don’t understand h being friendly with the guy who was too stupid to believe the evil ow.
And also the scene where the H kisses the OW initially was also not explained properly i feel.
Having read few of her books i don't think this author is for me.
December 19, 2023
Jo Page was a substitute for heroines in movies where she does the stunts instead of them. She's the best in her profession with 10 years of experience. However, even though she wanted so much to choose the jobs she wanted after all these years, she had to take Seb Corbell's job offer after rejecting it because of a financial crasis created by her unfeeling father.
Seb both inferiarated her and scared her. She thought she was professional enough to hide both facts, but it seemed this complex character knew it all and was secceeding in making her fall in love against her well.
To be honest the book is boring and in some parts totally confusing. It mentions things that never happen! For example, when it was mentioned that Jo fained while kissing Seb passionately and this was never written in the scene!! Not a book I would read twice. Once was more than enough to give me a headache. I usualy enjoy Sophie Weston books, but this book didn't do it for me.
Seb both inferiarated her and scared her. She thought she was professional enough to hide both facts, but it seemed this complex character knew it all and was secceeding in making her fall in love against her well.
To be honest the book is boring and in some parts totally confusing. It mentions things that never happen! For example, when it was mentioned that Jo fained while kissing Seb passionately and this was never written in the scene!! Not a book I would read twice. Once was more than enough to give me a headache. I usualy enjoy Sophie Weston books, but this book didn't do it for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2022
Does love only happen in the movies?
"Do your best for me, or I'll see you never work on a major picture again," he said threateningly.
Jo felt trapped. Somehow he'd sensed her reluctance. She hadn't wanted to stunt for a temperamental film star on the Spanish set of Dangerous Midnight, but her grandfather's future depended on it.
Now director Seb Corbell was bullying her into a superb performance; insisting that Jo give him her total response--both on and off the set. Yet there were reasons, secret reasons, why she could never comply with his demands...
"Do your best for me, or I'll see you never work on a major picture again," he said threateningly.
Jo felt trapped. Somehow he'd sensed her reluctance. She hadn't wanted to stunt for a temperamental film star on the Spanish set of Dangerous Midnight, but her grandfather's future depended on it.
Now director Seb Corbell was bullying her into a superb performance; insisting that Jo give him her total response--both on and off the set. Yet there were reasons, secret reasons, why she could never comply with his demands...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews