What do you think?
Rate this book
L'enchantement Du Désert
Après une mission diplomatique périlleuse, Tyrone Strome espérait trouver un havre de paix dans la splendide villa de sa sœur, sur la Côte d'Azur.
Espoir déçu ! C'est un drame qu'il découvre : son neveu David est au désespoir, prêt au suicide par la faute d'une jeune américaine, Nevada Van Arden. D'une ensorcelante beauté, d'une cruelle coquetterie...
Pour sauver l'adolescent de cette emprise fatale, Tyrone, animé d'une froide détermination, n'hésite pas à user de la force : il enlève Nevada.
Face à cette créature de feu, n'a-t-il pas tort d'être si sûr de lui ?
Espoir déçu ! C'est un drame qu'il découvre : son neveu David est au désespoir, prêt au suicide par la faute d'une jeune américaine, Nevada Van Arden. D'une ensorcelante beauté, d'une cruelle coquetterie...
Pour sauver l'adolescent de cette emprise fatale, Tyrone, animé d'une froide détermination, n'hésite pas à user de la force : il enlève Nevada.
Face à cette créature de feu, n'a-t-il pas tort d'être si sûr de lui ?
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published February 26, 2001
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Cartland
1,592 books834 followersBorn in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 10, 2012
Clean.
October 1, 2012
A good book for light reading
July 6, 2011
The "Barbara Cartland period" continued.
August 18, 2025
I have read this book.
I wasnt much motivated by this story. But i had no other book at hand so as a sort of. ..exercise to understand Barbara Cartland's genre i decided to give it à go.
First I did think the female character was very cold ( spoiler alert): she is showing zero empathy to a young man. This young man desperately loves her. He so despairs of her detachment from Him that he says to her that he wants to kill Himself.
So Not good obviously!
His Mother is very worried.
His uncle hearing this decides upon himself to "kidnap" the lady on His boat: To teach her some "manners".
Kidnapping someone to teach someone's manners felt quite wrong to me to read. But I carried on.
If someone shows no empathy, throwing this lady out of their house and demanding her never to come back or be in touch with the family would be a better approach to me.
Or asking this lady to leave the area would make more sense.
But i guess Barbara liking to write about extreme "dramas" behaviours as well as enjoying writing about machist male behaviours, she must have decided that on this particular story, the male character would force her to board His boat.
Then in the story, he forces her to Cook her own food ( she never has had to Cook food her entire life because she is à rich heiress).
Then he brings her to the Morrocco desert. They get into trouble. Have to escape. Then he shows her how à dead body looks like ( to show her the value of life! )
She finally gets the lesson of valued life. Finds him safe.
At this point she sort of fall for her kidnapper.
This feels like the Stockholm syndrome. So really by no means healthy behaviour.
( Of course in Barbara Cartland books, all male are beautiful, tall, strong, ressourceful, above average clever in all situations, often well travelled, well educated, socially savvy and often politically savvy too ) so this héroïne falls for him.
(Surprise! Surprise! )
Where i seriously disagree with the story is near the end: (more spoiler)
Whereas this female character was "educated, feisty, independant in mind and body, ( but cold hearted) she has now no opinion or Will of her own.
She was American in this story. Now She is willing to stay with him, in his house. Totally depends on him for everything.
And wait for it. .. is willing to stay in the middle of the desert, for the rest of her life, ( staying inside 4 walls most of her days and waiting for him because it isnt "safe" for women to be alone outside. In this village. And Will have to fully wear The muslim cloth to cover all her body when going outside. With him.
Willing also to Cook all his meals. And have his children.
Talking about messages of enslaving a woman to all forms possible? As "romantic"?
No! I dont think so! Clearly Barbara had a strange way of thinking " romance".
I should add this was written in 1977. Not 1877.
I have read older books that were more feminist than this. Even Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte had more feminist messages.
I wasnt much motivated by this story. But i had no other book at hand so as a sort of. ..exercise to understand Barbara Cartland's genre i decided to give it à go.
First I did think the female character was very cold ( spoiler alert): she is showing zero empathy to a young man. This young man desperately loves her. He so despairs of her detachment from Him that he says to her that he wants to kill Himself.
So Not good obviously!
His Mother is very worried.
His uncle hearing this decides upon himself to "kidnap" the lady on His boat: To teach her some "manners".
Kidnapping someone to teach someone's manners felt quite wrong to me to read. But I carried on.
If someone shows no empathy, throwing this lady out of their house and demanding her never to come back or be in touch with the family would be a better approach to me.
Or asking this lady to leave the area would make more sense.
But i guess Barbara liking to write about extreme "dramas" behaviours as well as enjoying writing about machist male behaviours, she must have decided that on this particular story, the male character would force her to board His boat.
Then in the story, he forces her to Cook her own food ( she never has had to Cook food her entire life because she is à rich heiress).
Then he brings her to the Morrocco desert. They get into trouble. Have to escape. Then he shows her how à dead body looks like ( to show her the value of life! )
She finally gets the lesson of valued life. Finds him safe.
At this point she sort of fall for her kidnapper.
This feels like the Stockholm syndrome. So really by no means healthy behaviour.
( Of course in Barbara Cartland books, all male are beautiful, tall, strong, ressourceful, above average clever in all situations, often well travelled, well educated, socially savvy and often politically savvy too ) so this héroïne falls for him.
(Surprise! Surprise! )
Where i seriously disagree with the story is near the end: (more spoiler)
Whereas this female character was "educated, feisty, independant in mind and body, ( but cold hearted) she has now no opinion or Will of her own.
She was American in this story. Now She is willing to stay with him, in his house. Totally depends on him for everything.
And wait for it. .. is willing to stay in the middle of the desert, for the rest of her life, ( staying inside 4 walls most of her days and waiting for him because it isnt "safe" for women to be alone outside. In this village. And Will have to fully wear The muslim cloth to cover all her body when going outside. With him.
Willing also to Cook all his meals. And have his children.
Talking about messages of enslaving a woman to all forms possible? As "romantic"?
No! I dont think so! Clearly Barbara had a strange way of thinking " romance".
I should add this was written in 1977. Not 1877.
I have read older books that were more feminist than this. Even Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte had more feminist messages.
December 30, 2024
This was a dark romance set in the early 1900s. It has it all: misogyny, kidnapping, racism, Stockholm syndrome (even before it was a thing), white saviour complex, sexism, violence towards women (though it’s very subtle, it’s there). The only thing this is missing, thankfully, is rape.
MMC kidnaps fMC to “make her a woman” as if, because she was an independent one, she didn’t deserve the name. Sure, she was an asshole, but saying she wasn’t a woman because she wasn’t “feminine” (whatever femininity meant here), was very sexist. And in the end, she becomes a timid, hesitant creature who only needs children to be happy. Yeah, right. I like Barbara Cartland novels, but this one didn’t sit well with me.
MMC kidnaps fMC to “make her a woman” as if, because she was an independent one, she didn’t deserve the name. Sure, she was an asshole, but saying she wasn’t a woman because she wasn’t “feminine” (whatever femininity meant here), was very sexist. And in the end, she becomes a timid, hesitant creature who only needs children to be happy. Yeah, right. I like Barbara Cartland novels, but this one didn’t sit well with me.
April 24, 2020
The h felt flat and just mean. No depth what so ever. The hero made her cook her own meal on his luxury yacht, ohhh poor heroin.. And then ,in the desert, it became more like travel log then romance or kidnap.
DNF at 70%
DNF at 70%
October 9, 2024
Good easy reading
This book is great for light clean reading. It made me curious to learn more about Morocco. A quick read that doesn't have to solve any world issues. Just read for enjoyment.
This book is great for light clean reading. It made me curious to learn more about Morocco. A quick read that doesn't have to solve any world issues. Just read for enjoyment.
September 10, 2018
beautiful book
April 17, 2023
While staying at Lady Merrill’s French Riviera villa, flame haired and beautiful American heiress Nevada van Arden passes her time by casually breaking the hearts of her many ardent suitors – particularly that of young David, Lord Merrill.
When his uncle, intrepid explorer and diplomat Tyrone Strome, overhears her cruel humiliation of his lovelorn nephew, he resolves to teach this ‘vixen’ a lesson – and save David from his misery.
Tyrone Strome abducts Nevada, spiriting her away in his luxury yacht to Morocco.
There the reluctant voyager, swaddled in native clothing, is terrified by the perils of the Sahara and its nomadic tribesmen. But, as they flee from certain death or worse, they find sanctuary in a beautiful hidden valley, a second Garden of Eden, where to Nevada’s surprise, love begins to blossom in the desert.
She was cruel, selfish and utterly spoiled.
An American heiress as rich as she was beautiful, she delighted in encouraging young men to fall in love with her so that she might break their hearts.
Enraged by her callousness, Tyrone Strome decided to teach the young lady a lesson. He drugged her, abducted her, imprisoned her aboard his yacht and set out to sea--denying her servants, forcing her to cook her own meals.
Tyrone was determined to find the woman behind the vixen.
When his uncle, intrepid explorer and diplomat Tyrone Strome, overhears her cruel humiliation of his lovelorn nephew, he resolves to teach this ‘vixen’ a lesson – and save David from his misery.
Tyrone Strome abducts Nevada, spiriting her away in his luxury yacht to Morocco.
There the reluctant voyager, swaddled in native clothing, is terrified by the perils of the Sahara and its nomadic tribesmen. But, as they flee from certain death or worse, they find sanctuary in a beautiful hidden valley, a second Garden of Eden, where to Nevada’s surprise, love begins to blossom in the desert.
She was cruel, selfish and utterly spoiled.
An American heiress as rich as she was beautiful, she delighted in encouraging young men to fall in love with her so that she might break their hearts.
Enraged by her callousness, Tyrone Strome decided to teach the young lady a lesson. He drugged her, abducted her, imprisoned her aboard his yacht and set out to sea--denying her servants, forcing her to cook her own meals.
Tyrone was determined to find the woman behind the vixen.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews