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La fiancée du désert
Aller délivrer une aristocrate britannique prisonnière du pacha de Tripoli: voilà la mission de Nathan Sloan. Lui, un Américain, qui déteste les nobles !
Elle est bien telle qu'il l'imaginait, cette lady Hampton : coquette, capricieuse, hautaine. Mais belle à damner un saint... Dire qu'ils vont devoir traverser le désert ensemble ! Furieux contre lui-même, Nathan ne peut détacher les yeux de ce corps superbe, à peine voilé par la robe.
"Mon Dieu, qu'il est beau ! se dit Lorna en observant à la dérobée le visage bronzé et le torse musclé du capitaine Sloan. Mais quel regard ironique et méprisant !
bien sûr, il me prend pour lady Hampton. S'il devine la vérité, adieu la liberté ! Alors jouons le jeu, soyons odieuse..." Un jeu dangereux : il est des chaînes encore plus solides que celles d'une prison…
Elle est bien telle qu'il l'imaginait, cette lady Hampton : coquette, capricieuse, hautaine. Mais belle à damner un saint... Dire qu'ils vont devoir traverser le désert ensemble ! Furieux contre lui-même, Nathan ne peut détacher les yeux de ce corps superbe, à peine voilé par la robe.
"Mon Dieu, qu'il est beau ! se dit Lorna en observant à la dérobée le visage bronzé et le torse musclé du capitaine Sloan. Mais quel regard ironique et méprisant !
bien sûr, il me prend pour lady Hampton. S'il devine la vérité, adieu la liberté ! Alors jouons le jeu, soyons odieuse..." Un jeu dangereux : il est des chaînes encore plus solides que celles d'une prison…
318 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 22, 2026
I have mixed feelings.
The FMC, Lorna (redhead, European, violet-eyed, fair-skinned, tall, thin), was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Normally, I'm quite partial to the majority of FMCs, regardless of their personalities, but Lorna often said things that irritated me—particularly, her xenophobic and racist remarks towards Arab customs. She complained that Arabic sounded "ugly", and expressed disgust at practices like henna, complaining that colourful attire was "immodest" and would make her look like a Romani woman. However, I did admire that she refused to submit to patriarchal standards being enforced onto her.
I was rather indifferent to Nathan (brunet, European, green-eyed, light-skinned, tall, muscular). He was just okay. If anything, he was a glorified tour guide.
Although the story itself was adequate, I was quite annoyed with a few things: how thinly the idiotic miscommunication was stretched out when it could have been easily solved, especially when they already had a big confession scene mid-book, which should have logically made things easier; and the narrative's weird shaming of complaining and wanting better for oneself. These takes aggravated me.
Here are some new words I learned:
❥ Steerage: Low-class ship cabins
❥ Companionway: Ship stairs
❥ Sloop: A small, single-masted boat that uses a fore-and-aft rig
❥ Dey: Ottoman governors and military commanders in the Barbary States
❥ Bowsprit: Long pole at a ship's bow
❥ Reefing: Reducing a sail's size
❥ Galley: A low ship driven by oars and sails
❥ Muezzin: The chosen person at a mosque who gives the call for 5 daily prayers
❥ Minaret: A tower near a mosque
❥ Pasha: A high-ranking civil or military leader of the Ottoman Empire
❥ Jannisary: An elite Ottoman foot soldier
❥ Burnoose: Long, hooded cloak made of wool or camel hair
❥ Keffiyeh: A checkered cotton scarf
❥ Élan: Zeal
❥ Ketch: Small, 2-masted sailboat
❥ Artesian: Groundwater trapped underneath underground pressure
❥ Deadlock: Impasse
❥ Hashish: Marijuana
❥ Litter: A flat bed to be carried
❥ Amir: Leader
❥ Brazier: A metal container for burning coal or charcoal
❥ Turgid: Swollen
❥ Abreast: Side by side
❥ Midshipman: Navy trainee
❥ Eyeteeth: Upper canine teeth
❥ Spume: Seafoam
❥ Capstan: A rotating device used to move rope
❥ Cuss: Stubborn person
The FMC, Lorna (redhead, European, violet-eyed, fair-skinned, tall, thin), was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Normally, I'm quite partial to the majority of FMCs, regardless of their personalities, but Lorna often said things that irritated me—particularly, her xenophobic and racist remarks towards Arab customs. She complained that Arabic sounded "ugly", and expressed disgust at practices like henna, complaining that colourful attire was "immodest" and would make her look like a Romani woman. However, I did admire that she refused to submit to patriarchal standards being enforced onto her.
I was rather indifferent to Nathan (brunet, European, green-eyed, light-skinned, tall, muscular). He was just okay. If anything, he was a glorified tour guide.
Although the story itself was adequate, I was quite annoyed with a few things: how thinly the idiotic miscommunication was stretched out when it could have been easily solved, especially when they already had a big confession scene mid-book, which should have logically made things easier; and the narrative's weird shaming of complaining and wanting better for oneself. These takes aggravated me.
Here are some new words I learned:
❥ Steerage: Low-class ship cabins
❥ Companionway: Ship stairs
❥ Sloop: A small, single-masted boat that uses a fore-and-aft rig
❥ Dey: Ottoman governors and military commanders in the Barbary States
❥ Bowsprit: Long pole at a ship's bow
❥ Reefing: Reducing a sail's size
❥ Galley: A low ship driven by oars and sails
❥ Muezzin: The chosen person at a mosque who gives the call for 5 daily prayers
❥ Minaret: A tower near a mosque
❥ Pasha: A high-ranking civil or military leader of the Ottoman Empire
❥ Jannisary: An elite Ottoman foot soldier
❥ Burnoose: Long, hooded cloak made of wool or camel hair
❥ Keffiyeh: A checkered cotton scarf
❥ Élan: Zeal
❥ Ketch: Small, 2-masted sailboat
❥ Artesian: Groundwater trapped underneath underground pressure
❥ Deadlock: Impasse
❥ Hashish: Marijuana
❥ Litter: A flat bed to be carried
❥ Amir: Leader
❥ Brazier: A metal container for burning coal or charcoal
❥ Turgid: Swollen
❥ Abreast: Side by side
❥ Midshipman: Navy trainee
❥ Eyeteeth: Upper canine teeth
❥ Spume: Seafoam
❥ Capstan: A rotating device used to move rope
❥ Cuss: Stubborn person
March 7, 2023
The author evidently researched the subject and is knowledgeable about that time period and the area. The heroine, Lorna Winters, is very annoying. Whenever something happened and she was asked to do something, she refused, claiming to be a "strong independent woman." Her "independence" boiled down to wanting to go shopping for clothes because she wanted to choose them herself, refusing to wear a veil when being in a desert around people who all did, even men, and refusing to evacuate from a besieged city because she wanted to go pick up her trunk with souvenirs which nearly killed her and Nathan.
She is also very entitled. When Chedlya explained to her why she couldn't keep her and how it would endager Chedlya's life, she threw a tantrum. When Chedlya arranged it the way Lorna liked it, Lorna again threw a tantrum, because it was all arranged for her and she was a strong independent woman.
She is also very entitled. When Chedlya explained to her why she couldn't keep her and how it would endager Chedlya's life, she threw a tantrum. When Chedlya arranged it the way Lorna liked it, Lorna again threw a tantrum, because it was all arranged for her and she was a strong independent woman.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews