Chosen by the Sheikh (M&B) (Lords of the Desert Collection) [Paperback]

I quite enjoyed reading this collection of 3 desert romances. Taken by the Sheikh by Penny Jordan is an old favourite though not her best desert romance in my opinion but it is still enjoyable. Set in Dhurahn, the desert kingdom jointly ruled by twin brothers, Vere and Drax, it tells the story of how Drax set out to find a temporary, naive and virginal bride for his brother and ended up loosing his heart to her. Sadie the naive English gradute who was duped and fired by her employer in Zuran was rescued or blackmailed by Drax on the pretext of offering her a job, the nature of which she had no idea until she was ensconced in the Royal palace of Dhurahn. The unforseen problem in Drax's plan was the incredible attraction and chemistry between him and Sadie, but Drax is a man of honour and will not act on it, Sadie belongs to Vere in his mind and he is honour bound to keep his promise to his brother. However Vere thinks Sadie is not his type and having suddenly taken off to London, left Drax with Sadie and cupid's arrow to change the best laid plans. Will Drax stay honourable or will he succumb to the attraction.

The Sultan's Bed By Laura Wright is the surprise gem in this book, having never heard of this author or read her book before, I was pleasantly surprised by the heart wrenching emotional tale of how a cynical heart hardened by bitter marriage and divorce experiences was opened to love again and allowed it to heal, forgive and rip away the cynicism and fear that had enveloped and hardened it. It tells the story of Sultan Zayed Al-Nayal of Emand who on discovering that his late father sired a daughter the family knew nothing about went undercover to Ventura California to investigate and meet this half sister Jane Hefner .However it was Jane's flatmate, best friend and honorary sister the cynical divorce lawyer Mariah Kennedy that caught his attention first. Following a whirlwind romance they were both head over heels in love, but Mariah`s happiness and elation at trusting again and opening her heart to love crashed to earth when she found out that Zayed was not who he said he was and that he had lied to her all through their time together. Will they get past this obstacle or will she be plunged back into the darkness of distrust, cynicism, fear and suspicion? This is a very well written story, simple with a lot of depth.

The Sheikh's cast away by Alexander Sellers tells the story of Princess Noor who on discovering that her bridegroom Sheikh Bari al Khalid did not love her but was marrying her to fulfil an ultimatum from his grandfather ran away minutes before her wedding. She hijacked the bridegroom's small plane at the airport and took off into a mighty storm. However, the bridegroom had stowed away on the plane, such that when her distress at the impending doom was at its highest, he surfaced to land the plane on water. They found their way to one of the uninhabited gulf islands. The Sheikh wanted Noor to suffer for her selfish and reckless behaviour and refused to send out a signal for their rescue. In their bid for survival they had to depend on one another and discovered the truths about themselves, each other and their hearts. Both learnt so much from their time in the jungle, stripped of all veneer of sophistication and pampered royal life style, their misconceptions of each other fell away as they began the wonderful journey of self discovery and what their hearts yearned for. The story was a good one but Sellers use of multiple flashbacks was sometimes very confusing and derailed the flow of the story.