Review of The Sheikh and the Virgin Secretary by Susan Mallery

My love for the sheikh and desert romance genre stems from it being the first romance and adult book I got my hands on. I've since branched out to fantasy, historical and modern romances penned by Brenda Joyce,and Jayne Ann Krentz. But as it always goes with first love, it never dies so sheikh romances are my ultimate, quickie romantic escape.

That being said, looking for a well-written one is a lot like searching for a diamond among peanuts or however you say it. Needle in the sand. Needle in the haystack. But there are good ones, and Susan Mallery's got one of them.

Susan Mallery wrote the Desert Rogues series. You can read it any order or chronologically. I 've only read one so far, which is The Sheikh and the Virgin Secretary,# 10 in the series. I don't like the title (I bemoan the lack of creative titles in romance these days and will get to that in another post) but this is a jewel of a book! Simply unputdownable!

Characters

Prince Rafiq of Lucia-Serrat and Kiley Hendrick

Plot
Kiley catches her fiance Eric cheating on her just days before the wedding. In revenge, she calls on her boss, Rafiq, to be her lover. Kiley's attractive and smart so of course, Rafiq agrees. Things are easy-breezy until his stepmother comes along and shakes things up. As it goes with stepmothers, she's a bitch and knows how to get to Rafiq. He reacts by proposing marriage to Kiley. Again, things are easy-breezy until Eric makes another appearance (this guy pops out like a jackrabbit, really) and, whether intentionally or out of genuine concern for Kiley (really now), bursts the happy bubble of fun and sex the boss and secretary are floating in. 

I Love Them Both!
I've never seen a couple as well-matched as Kiley and Rafiq. They are both strong, assertive people. 

Of all the fictional sheikhs I've come across, I like Rafiq the best. He's really sweet on Kiley, is pretty down-to-earth, friendly and he trusts her to fight her own battles though he would step in the second she snaps her fingers. Kiley too is no wimpy, weepy heroine. She's sure about what she wants, and doesn't hesitate to let them be known. I just love her.

And they're really funny together. Kiley keeps on reminding Rafiq what a waste of time it is for him to put on all those seductions moves as she's "the sure thing:" but he's just as insistent that her first time should be perfect.  

Hands down, Kiley and Rafiq are my favorite couple. 

Best Lines

"So is there a place one goes to find a woman fit to be a princess? Like a princess store?" 

Her eyes were bright with humor and the corners of her mouth curved up.

"There's an Internet site, he said, pretending to be serious.

"Oh, I'd love to see it. Do you type in specifications? Height, weight, number of sons required."
"Of course. Along with how many languages I want her to speak and what accomplishments she should have."

Goes into the Kasbah or Cast Out
Are you kidding me? I'm never letting this book out of my sight!

Another Classic: Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey

I don't know exactly how I feel about Johanna Lindsey. I find that it takes her characters too long to get it on and when they finally do, it's limited to only a couple of instances or she resorts to the 'fade to black' device. I believe the goal of romance is to give it all. While as a writer you do have to tickle the imagination of the reader, people these days are just too tired to conjure up what happens after the curtains have been drawn, the door closed,etc. I like my romance given. I want specific instructions. And I want plenty of passion, sex and fire between the romantic leads. Entertain me!

I have more than a couple of Johanna Lindseys and frankly, if someone wants them, I won't hesitate to give them all away. But my friends aren't huge fans of Lindsey either, so it's gonna be a while before someone takes these books. The first Lindsey sheikh romance I read wasn't from my bookshelf as well, but my sister's.

 

Captive Bride is Lindsey's first book, if I'm not mistaken. I won't be nitpicking the writing for the moment. What makes this quite different from her subsequent books is that there's a good number of sex scenes by comparison. That's one plus because frankly, this book bats negative all the way. 

Characters

Christina Wakefield and Philip Caxton a.k.a. Sheik Abu

Plot
Christina Wakefield is a goddess come to earth. Philip Caxton wants her. She rebuffs him. So he hatches this plan that  brings her to Egypt to be abducted and to be brought into his desert encampment. In his robes and around horses, he's not Philip Caxton but Sheik Abu, barbarian and thief.

Gripes
Phillip is no Alpha male but actually comes off as a sociopath. The man's got no guilt, no conscience. Here's a list of his transgressions:

abduction

beatings

rape
if he isn't saying bullshit like "your body was made for love" he threatens her.

he's alive (and thank God, only in this book)

Christina is no good either. How can she stand being around this dick?  You know it's a bad romance when you go, "Man! Oh, yeah!" when Christina stabs Philip. She should've aimed lower.

Philip cements his top spot in the Dick Hall of Fame by insisting that it won't be rape between them. I don't care how you say it, package and wrap it in shit but when a woman says, yells, shouts, No, it sure as hell ain't yes. Rape is rape. 

EVERYONE SCREAMS! EVERYONE! AAAH! 

Goes into the Kasbah or Cast Out?

Out. Out. Out.

Here's A Golden Oldie: The Sheik's Captive by Violet Winspear

Much has been said about the popularity of sheikh and desert romances. It's a genre in which opinion doesn't swing to great extremes, alternating between revulsion and plain confusion. People often forget that one of the aims of romance is to provide escape from reality. And there's nothing wrong with hopping on the dream plane every now and then. We need to entertain ourselves, and if it involves some two hundred pages about swarthy desert Alpha males, then why not?

I have to say that this Violet Winspear-helmed romance (uh-huh, she of the writing her males as "capable of rape") will always be special (though I think she's nuts). She gave me my first swarthy desert Alpha male, after all.

Characters
Sheikh Khasim ben Haran and Diane Ronay

Plot

Our heroine gets thrown off her horse and ends up crawling her way to the Sahara until our desert hero comes her way. She's given water, is rescued, plunked on the divan. Standard hospitality, so far so good. Then the big reveal: Diane is the granddaughter of the man who massacred Khasim's tribe, his mother among the victims. Khasim then thinks to keep her and terrorize her grandfather about all the unthinkables he'd be doing to her.

And did he?

*SPOILER ALERT*
Except for two instances that had them horizontal and him "wandering the soft hollows and curves" (i.e., boobs) and when he was "at the very gates of her innocence," this Harlequin romance is pretty GP.

Best Line

"I should hope I've more sense than to behave like a frustrated nitwit out of a novelette!"

I Like Her and I Also Don't Like Her

Diane really fights Khasim. Among the women of the many sheikh romances I've read, she's pretty up there when it comes to keeping her head on her shoulders and absolutely refuses to be swept away. But then she does an about-face. Ah, love. The extremes we're driven to.

Goes into the Kasbah or Cast Out:
I'm keeping this one. Flowery language aside, this book is pretty decent.

Desert Prince, Defiant Virgin by Kim Lawrence

Main Characters

 Prince Tair Al Sharif and Molly James

Plot

First impressions not only last with Tair, but it also drives him to abduct Molly James. Molly is the half-sister of his cousins Tariq and Khalid. Molly’s English mother leaves Zabrania because she can’t stand desert life and it’s only now that Molly’s been made aware of her link to royalty. But such good news should not only not spread fast, it shouldn’t be spread at all. For the moment. Molly is then introduced as the friend of Beatrice, Tariq’s wife. Since Tair is completely clueless, he assumes that the looks of concern exchanged between Molly and Tariq mean an affair in the works. That is simply not going to fly with Tair, who, of course, takes Molly away via plane and camel, along with dehydration-induced fainting.

Worth Noting

Tair calls her Miss Mouse. Derides her for her love of beige-y and mushroom colors.  Tair actually has a sense of humor. Despite the false assumptions and the kidnapping. Yes. I can't believe I'm saying these things but he is  a funny guy.

Typical

Tariq Exhibits the classic male disability for not listening and interrupting females who have something really important to say. Molly, of course, is outspoken. But she’s always yelling.

Best Lines

“I was not quiet. I made a great deal of noise, and if it makes you feel any better I had no desire to leave you..”

Gripes:

Honestly, if this much miscommunication, yelling and non-listening are already taking place before they leaped into the sack, I’m willing to bet both would have busted ear drums in three years, tops. Why is being outspoken often synonymous to being a shrew?

Goes into the Kasbah or Cast Out:  

I’ll keep it on the threshold. I'm not a big fan of the book but it's not that bad. It's a relief to read sex scenes where you don't have to worry if both hero and heroine are on the verge of an asthma or panic attack because of the volume of gasps and breathless moments. I don't think you even do that much gasping if your kink is asphyxiation.