SYNOPSIS:
In order to marry Faisal, Felicia Gordon flies to Kuwait to meet his family and get the approval of his overbearing uncle, Raschid. Now Raschid believes that Felicia is just another gold-digging British girl with loosened morals and non-existent virtue. Which of course, pisses off Felicia. It's definitely hate at first sight but slowly, Felicia begins to realize that she might be engaged to the wrong man...
Unlike the bulk of sheikh romances these days where things are so steamy each page burns to the touch, Penny Jordan stokes the fire gently until it blossoms into a stunning conflagration as Raschid and Felicia begin to accept their feelings for each other. I thought to point this out because the wringing out of tension in this manner is so rarely done these days, and this well. This book is a triumph!
Another plus is the story's real setting: Kuwait. The novel was written in 1981, just nine years before the shit Saddam ignited that led to the first Gulf War. Reading this novel thirty-one years later, knowing what had happened, was devastating, in fact. Yes, Raschid and Felicia are only fictional characters, but because of what had happened, you want to know if they survived the war. It's rare for a book to make the reader long to know what happens beyond "happily ever after."
Unfortunately, I'm never going to know because Penny Jordan died only last December.
I think the rendering of Faisal comes off as almost caricature-like because of his over-the-top possessiveness and how he blows then scorching. Raschid, though also blowing hot and also cold, has been tempered. Of course he's arrogant, autocratic, and comes off as an asshat in the first few pages that he comes in but after that, you begin to feel..well, sorry for the guy. He's the uncle, for crying out loud. And he's got the hots on his nephew's fiancee. He knows it's an impossible situation but the harder her pushes Felicia away by throwing the scarlet paint at her and painting A's all over her body, the more he longs for her.
This book, a bit unusual for a Mills and Boon novel at the time, gives a brief perspective of the novel from the male protagonist. A huge part of why I don't like the vintage novels much (sheikhs and beyond) is that it's told only from the female protagonist's point-of-view. So I remained unconvinced when, five pages into the end of the novel, the guy crashes to his knees and confesses his love. By giving the reader some flashes of story as seen from Raschid's eyes, I couldn't help getting all tingly and hot when he finally said, "..I want you! I have wanted you from the first moment I saw you."
Unoriginal, true, but Raschid's confession pole-vaults over the waiting abyss of cliche because of the development of his character. And may I say that it's a relief to read about this romance without the sheikh tormented by some great tragedy or loss or mounting bitterness? I'm sick of reading about men who swear to never love again because they were betrayed or the wife/girlfriend/insert relevant female in his life here died/had something tragic happen. Or detachment/insert any angsty feeling here about his homeland. And don't even get me started on those reunion plots. Or revenge. Or kidnappings! UGH.
Felicia too is another character that's written well.You feel for this girl whenever Raschid gets to her, and it's not because she resorts to to all-too passionate outbursts (there are defensive ones), or she weeps in some dark corner and wishes for the ground to swallow her up. Felicia's pain and confusion over her feelings for Raschid beautifully steps over the all-too-common mistake of making her a pathetic, clueless boob because she does her damnest to rise over his taunts. She is determined to do what's right and, good for Raschid, he respects her for it. Not to say that he doesn't sneak in a kiss or two and a boob feel. He does. But as said already, these are characters that are so well-written that in spite of the cliches, they are pulsating, they're real. It is difficult to depict "normal" without being "too normal."
If you can get your hands on Falcon's Prey, I suggest that you do so now, as soon as you're done reading this post. By the way, this was Penny's first novel accepted by Mills and Boon, and I can see why. Falcon's Prey by Penny Jordan--definitely staying in the kasbah, people!
