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Rescued by the Sheikh
by Barbara McMahon
Romance of Solitude and Sharing ---
can love bring life to the desert?
Barbara McMahon's Rescued By The
Sheikh is a romance that maximizes the exotic location with a
richness in description that touches hearts, revealing the inner values
of the hero and heroine. Rescued By
The Sheikh is a romance of a man and woman, each encircled and
comfortable in solitude, who reach beyond themselves and find that love
is worth sharing.
Lisa Sullinger takes an excursion from the the archeological dig in
Moquansaid where she has been photographing artifacts. Exploring the
harsh visual contrasts of the desert for her next book, she stumbles
and hurts her ankle. Sheihk Tuareg al Shaldor discovers her as a fierce
sandstorm strikes. Taking her to his desert tent and then to his
palatial home, Tuareg protects her and gets medical care for her ankle.
As Lisa's accident brings an unexpected entry into the world of
Tuareg's family's life, will she also find a place in the sheikh's
heart? When their two jobs conflict, hers to support the archeological
dig and his to shut it down to begin dam construction and flood the dig
area, will the sparks fly or will the conflict somehow open their
hearts to one another's inner values?
Lisa lost her parents at an early age. Independent and used to doing
alone, Lisa has always dreamed of having a family. When faced with the
reality of Tuareg's extended family and history, can she open up her
heart before it is too late? Tuareg's heart was broken when his
beautiful wife Nura died suddenly. Lisa is nothing at all like Nura
with her elegant beauty and jet-setting personality. With his love of
the desert, family and home, can Tuareg open his heart to love again?
Although neither can replace their past loses, can they find love again
in their hearts? Drawn together by the inner solitude of their hearts,
will Lisa and Tuareg somehow find that the very solitude that kept them
apart from others somehow opens their hearts to one another?
Barbara McMahon sees the desert landscape through the eyes of her
photographer heroine, giving this exotic-setting romance a rich and
dynamic depth. The reader and indeed the hero see Lisa's heart through
her eyes and her choices of photographic subjects. The conflict between
ancient and modern Moquansaid, between the archeological dig and the
dam construction, opens up Tuareg's heart for the reader at the same
time as it presents a conflict between the hero and heroine.
Rescued By The Sheikh
creates a rich inner and outer space with parallels between the heart
and the landscape. Emerging from such depth, the ending comes a little
too fast. The reader feels Tuareg's mourning for Nura almost to the
end, giving depth rather than using it as a mere plot device.
Nevertheless, a bit more space given to the hero's changing feelings
and his evolution would have made this romance an stunning romance on
all levels. Likewise, the conflict between the dam and ancient history
adds a nice dimension to this sheikh romance and yet the intriguing
twist towards the end may resolve a bit quickly. This romance would
have benefited from the publisher allowing a bit extra in the page
count or to slate it as the first book in mini-series, allowing future
development of the rich threads Barbara McMahon established. As is,
however, Barbara McMahon's Rescued
By The Sheikh is a good lose-yourself exotic romance read after
a long work day or for a comfortable afternoon read. Hopefully, the
character of Tuareg as well as the future significance of the
archeological finds will reappear in a future romance to give the
reader another glance at his life with Lisa and Moquansaid.
Publisher: Harlequin
Romance (February 2008)
(Desert Brides)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
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