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Khamsin: Warriors of the Wind #4
The Panther & the Pyramid
Graham Tristan had been tormented too long. For years he had lived in fear. He was physically strong: during his childhood exile, he had ridden with the Khamsin - Egyptian Warriors of the Wind. He had learned their code. been called The Panther. Now he was returned t his rightful place as the Duke of Caldwell. But still he feared. And there was a new face that haunted his dreams. It was the face of a woman.
Red hair, the color of blood. Green eyes, the color of emeralds. And that face, that body - the memory threatened to consume him. True, he was a dangerous man, accepted back to the ton despite his upbringing. But there were those who dared oppose him, and in certain ways he remained untried. In his dreams, this woman threatened all he sought to protect, all he thought to hide. She was more perilous even than the ancient treasure that would draw him back to Egypt, back to the shifting sands where he'd been raised. This woman would uncover his heart.
337 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 2006
5 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
Bonnie Vanak
136 books506 followersBonnie Vanak fell in love with romance novels during childhood. While cleaning a hall closet, she discovered her mother’s cache of paperbacks and started reading. Thus began a passion for romance and a lifelong dislike for housework.
After years of newspaper reporting, Bonnie became a writer for a major international charity. She travels to destitute countries such as Haiti to write about famine, disease and other issues affecting the poor. When the emotional strains of her job demanded a diversion, she turned to her childhood dream of writing romance novels.
She lives in Florida with her husband Frank and two dogs, where she happily writes books amid an ever-growing collection of dust bunnies.
After years of newspaper reporting, Bonnie became a writer for a major international charity. She travels to destitute countries such as Haiti to write about famine, disease and other issues affecting the poor. When the emotional strains of her job demanded a diversion, she turned to her childhood dream of writing romance novels.
She lives in Florida with her husband Frank and two dogs, where she happily writes books amid an ever-growing collection of dust bunnies.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 10, 2011
I knew I was going to love Graham’s story when I was introduced to him in his brother’s book, The Cobra and the Concubine. He was angry and isolated, but he had an inner sadness that called to me. I have been excited to read this book for a while, but I put it off. I’m so glad I finally read it. It was a wonderful book, and it made me cry.
Graham was everything I hoped for, and more. I love him dearly! He’s fierce and deadly, tough and masculine, but sweet and gentle. His loneliness and anguish called out to me, and made me want to soothe him. His inner battle with despair and rage at his past, and the progression to peace and contentment was not an easy thing to read about. Like Jillian, I suffered, longing to see this man gain some inner tranquility. However, his journey was realistic. The wounds that a man like Graham carried would not be easily lanced and healed. It was a struggle for him, and for Jillian, and Ms. Vanak illustrated this process beautifully. I liked how she wrote Graham going full circle, back to the desert that had created the man he was. The Khamsin men say that the desert will strip a man bare of all pretense, leaving only the essential man, and some are driven crazy in the process. Jillian watched as the civilized English duke that she knew and married became a fierce, cold desert warrior. She railed at the gulf that separated them, and as Graham's friend Ramses had told her, she would need all her strength to save Graham and to bring him back across that void and into her loving embrace.
The passion and love between Jillian and Graham was thrilling. I loved their tender moments together just as much if not more, the way their hearts reached out to each other. They were like two lost souls who found each other, even though their circumstances and the fate that binds them were not ideal. In a way, it felt like their destinies were to love each other, so that their wounds (caused by the same man) could be healed. I loved how Graham encouraged Jillian to emerge from the gray cocoon her father had imprisoned her in. He admired her intelligence, finding it attractive. He coaxed her to be free and to embrace her wild inner spirit. Jillian had to tame the wild animal within Graham that had been terribly abused, teach him to open up and to love and to trust. I loved that they were both virgins, and had the rare privilege to explore passion for the first time together. Both of them were nervous their first time, but felt a connection, a powerful attraction that drew them together. The love scenes were enthralling, enticing and fiery—-the way good love scenes should be.
This book was a success on so many levels. The courtship of Jillian and Graham, the resolution of Graham and Jillian’s pasts, the beautiful and sometimes harsh depiction of life for the Bedouin in Arabia. The majestic and treacherous nature of the desert. This is what I long for in historical romance. Ms. Vanak wrote a fantastic book here. It has definitely earned its five star rating and a spot on my keeper shelf. I treasure the time I spent reading Graham and Jillian’s deep, emotional, beautiful love story.
Here are the actors I pictured as Graham and Jillian:
Ben Barnes as Graham:
Sienna Guillory as Jillian:
Graham was everything I hoped for, and more. I love him dearly! He’s fierce and deadly, tough and masculine, but sweet and gentle. His loneliness and anguish called out to me, and made me want to soothe him. His inner battle with despair and rage at his past, and the progression to peace and contentment was not an easy thing to read about. Like Jillian, I suffered, longing to see this man gain some inner tranquility. However, his journey was realistic. The wounds that a man like Graham carried would not be easily lanced and healed. It was a struggle for him, and for Jillian, and Ms. Vanak illustrated this process beautifully. I liked how she wrote Graham going full circle, back to the desert that had created the man he was. The Khamsin men say that the desert will strip a man bare of all pretense, leaving only the essential man, and some are driven crazy in the process. Jillian watched as the civilized English duke that she knew and married became a fierce, cold desert warrior. She railed at the gulf that separated them, and as Graham's friend Ramses had told her, she would need all her strength to save Graham and to bring him back across that void and into her loving embrace.
The passion and love between Jillian and Graham was thrilling. I loved their tender moments together just as much if not more, the way their hearts reached out to each other. They were like two lost souls who found each other, even though their circumstances and the fate that binds them were not ideal. In a way, it felt like their destinies were to love each other, so that their wounds (caused by the same man) could be healed. I loved how Graham encouraged Jillian to emerge from the gray cocoon her father had imprisoned her in. He admired her intelligence, finding it attractive. He coaxed her to be free and to embrace her wild inner spirit. Jillian had to tame the wild animal within Graham that had been terribly abused, teach him to open up and to love and to trust. I loved that they were both virgins, and had the rare privilege to explore passion for the first time together. Both of them were nervous their first time, but felt a connection, a powerful attraction that drew them together. The love scenes were enthralling, enticing and fiery—-the way good love scenes should be.
This book was a success on so many levels. The courtship of Jillian and Graham, the resolution of Graham and Jillian’s pasts, the beautiful and sometimes harsh depiction of life for the Bedouin in Arabia. The majestic and treacherous nature of the desert. This is what I long for in historical romance. Ms. Vanak wrote a fantastic book here. It has definitely earned its five star rating and a spot on my keeper shelf. I treasure the time I spent reading Graham and Jillian’s deep, emotional, beautiful love story.
Here are the actors I pictured as Graham and Jillian:
Ben Barnes as Graham:
Sienna Guillory as Jillian:
April 8, 2013
Oh, what a delightful trainwreck! Worth every cent if, like me, you are fond of the same.
Hero is a Victorian Duke (!!!) who was kidnapped by evil Arab raiders as a child (!!!!) and made into a sex slave (!!!!) and eventually killed his captors and joined a different tribe as a Bedouin fighter (!!!!) and then somehow eventually got back to England to be a Duke (!!!!) Oh, and heroine is an aristocrat whose dream is to go to Radcliffe and she plans to finance it by selling her virginity (!!!!). And hero orders a virgin as being one himself (as far as hetero sex is concerned, at least) he doesn't want someone to tell he has no experience and that is how they meet (!!!!) Oh, and did I forget to mention the little detail that he marries the heroine to get close to her father so as to get revenge, because her father raped him when he was kept captive by evil tribe as a child? (!!!!) And all this is still somehow less than the full total insanity of this book - it's not every day you have the hero and heroine bond over drinking camel blood.
I was very satisfied, even if not for the reasons the author likely intended.
Hero is a Victorian Duke (!!!) who was kidnapped by evil Arab raiders as a child (!!!!) and made into a sex slave (!!!!) and eventually killed his captors and joined a different tribe as a Bedouin fighter (!!!!) and then somehow eventually got back to England to be a Duke (!!!!) Oh, and heroine is an aristocrat whose dream is to go to Radcliffe and she plans to finance it by selling her virginity (!!!!). And hero orders a virgin as being one himself (as far as hetero sex is concerned, at least) he doesn't want someone to tell he has no experience and that is how they meet (!!!!) Oh, and did I forget to mention the little detail that he marries the heroine to get close to her father so as to get revenge, because her father raped him when he was kept captive by evil tribe as a child? (!!!!) And all this is still somehow less than the full total insanity of this book - it's not every day you have the hero and heroine bond over drinking camel blood.
I was very satisfied, even if not for the reasons the author likely intended.
April 29, 2014
From 5 stars, the last few pages had the rating plummet to 3.
I can even accept the H's molester asking for forgiveness (though I can't quite wrap my head around it), and accept the use of love-cures-all potion, but
Actually, the entire novel was rather gruesome...
Why can't we have a virgin hero without tragic circumstances in his past? Sally Mackenzie's Naked Duke (The Naked Duke, Sally Mackenzie) is probably the only one I've ever read where the hero just has a disgust of using women/girls like that and vows to be celibate until marriage.
I can even accept the H's molester asking for forgiveness (though I can't quite wrap my head around it), and accept the use of love-cures-all potion, but
Actually, the entire novel was rather gruesome...
Why can't we have a virgin hero without tragic circumstances in his past? Sally Mackenzie's Naked Duke (The Naked Duke, Sally Mackenzie) is probably the only one I've ever read where the hero just has a disgust of using women/girls like that and vows to be celibate until marriage.
March 8, 2011
The book was fine. Written well, with a beautiful setting (HUGE plus for hist/rom), a tight plot and a turn I didn’t see coming. Oh the characters were drawn perfectly too. There is no reason technically why this book shouldn’t be given a 5 out of 5.
I’m giving it 3.
The hero got over his anxst too fast. Don’t get me wrong, Vanak waited till the end, but it would have taken years together as a couple and at least nine hundred more pages for me to believe that love truly does heal all wounds in this case- especially the ones Vanak threw at Graham, the hero. I know from what I speak of. (Not personally, but I’ve been around enough people who have. Sad to say that kinda crap really does go on, and way too frequently.) Kudos for her addressing the issue, but, sorry, not buying the ending.
AND
Spoiler :
In the end, I liked that the hero and, more importantly, that the heroine gets their HEA.
It was just too unbelievable to make it a good one for me.
I’m giving it 3.
The hero got over his anxst too fast. Don’t get me wrong, Vanak waited till the end, but it would have taken years together as a couple and at least nine hundred more pages for me to believe that love truly does heal all wounds in this case- especially the ones Vanak threw at Graham, the hero. I know from what I speak of. (Not personally, but I’ve been around enough people who have. Sad to say that kinda crap really does go on, and way too frequently.) Kudos for her addressing the issue, but, sorry, not buying the ending.
AND
Spoiler :
In the end, I liked that the hero and, more importantly, that the heroine gets their HEA.
It was just too unbelievable to make it a good one for me.
July 26, 2023
Esse é o primeiro livro que eu leio com essa temática "desértica" kkk (não sei como descrever uma trama que se passa em partes no deserto kkk)com direito á caça ao tesouro,tumbas e tempestade de areia..Enfim,confesso que essas partes não me interessem,e não foi desenvolvido de uma forma que ficasse muito instigante,por isso não vai p/ os favoritos. Mas o romance entre o casal e os traumas do mocinho foram o diferencial do livro.
Temos um mocinho que sofreu muitos abusos sexuais durante sua infância,e quando consegue se libertar têm um claro objetivo na vida: vingança. E a trama gira em torno dele articulando essa vingança contra o homem que fez isso com ele. Paralelamente têm se um romance que já começa com o mocinho querendo perder a virgindade (!) em um prostíbulo com outra virgem (!),e aí entra em cena a mocinha Jillian,que decide passar uma noite com um estranho em troca de dinheiro que tanto precisa para fugir de casa e viver seus sonhos pois seu pai a aprisiona e quer usá-la como moeda de troca através de um casamento. Depois desse encontro entre os dois, ambos vão embora mas não conseguem esquecer um do outro,e por obra do destino acabam se reencontrando nas suas posições verdadeiras e temos o desenrolar do romance...Enfim,estou sendo vaga por que o livro têm alguns detalhes que surpreendem,fiquei passada com quem era o estuprador do mocinho,e como se desenrolou a trama a partir disso.
Mas o que mais me tocou foi o nível de sofrimento do mocinho,ao ponto de ele ter que viver com o "karma" de provar ser um homem de verdade,e que por conta dos abusos ele não consegue deixar ninguém ocupar seu coração,e não se abre com a mocinha,apesar de ter se apaixonado por ele..e ele dá uma das maiores provas de amor que já vi,se oferecendo para algo que é pior que a morte para ele,para salvar a mocinha,além da luta e sacrifícios brotados do desespero extremo para manter a mocinha viva perante as angúrias do deserto..nossa,foi tocante essas cenas,e eu amei mais ainda o Graham
****SPOILER**** A única coisa que não engoli foi o arrependimento do estuprador dele no final...se a poucos minutos atrás ele estava tentando matar o Graham,como que só nos segundos finais ele se arrepende? Para mim foi um arrependimento fruto do desespero e não por remorso ou arrependimento em si ...Além de que esperava uma maior revolta por parte da mocinha quanto á tudo isso.
Temos um mocinho que sofreu muitos abusos sexuais durante sua infância,e quando consegue se libertar têm um claro objetivo na vida: vingança. E a trama gira em torno dele articulando essa vingança contra o homem que fez isso com ele. Paralelamente têm se um romance que já começa com o mocinho querendo perder a virgindade (!) em um prostíbulo com outra virgem (!),e aí entra em cena a mocinha Jillian,que decide passar uma noite com um estranho em troca de dinheiro que tanto precisa para fugir de casa e viver seus sonhos pois seu pai a aprisiona e quer usá-la como moeda de troca através de um casamento. Depois desse encontro entre os dois, ambos vão embora mas não conseguem esquecer um do outro,e por obra do destino acabam se reencontrando nas suas posições verdadeiras e temos o desenrolar do romance...Enfim,estou sendo vaga por que o livro têm alguns detalhes que surpreendem,fiquei passada com quem era o estuprador do mocinho,e como se desenrolou a trama a partir disso.
Mas o que mais me tocou foi o nível de sofrimento do mocinho,ao ponto de ele ter que viver com o "karma" de provar ser um homem de verdade,e que por conta dos abusos ele não consegue deixar ninguém ocupar seu coração,e não se abre com a mocinha,apesar de ter se apaixonado por ele..e ele dá uma das maiores provas de amor que já vi,se oferecendo para algo que é pior que a morte para ele,para salvar a mocinha,além da luta e sacrifícios brotados do desespero extremo para manter a mocinha viva perante as angúrias do deserto..nossa,foi tocante essas cenas,e eu amei mais ainda o Graham
****SPOILER**** A única coisa que não engoli foi o arrependimento do estuprador dele no final...se a poucos minutos atrás ele estava tentando matar o Graham,como que só nos segundos finais ele se arrepende? Para mim foi um arrependimento fruto do desespero e não por remorso ou arrependimento em si ...Além de que esperava uma maior revolta por parte da mocinha quanto á tudo isso.
August 27, 2020
I tried so hard to like this book. It has all of my favorite troops, the secret heir/heir turned fierce warrior trope, the virgin lovers trope, the hero of other culture trope, etc. But this book also has one of my pet peeves, the English-ton-are-all-awful trope or the England-is-the-worst-place-on-earth trope. This trope is born out of poor researching.
For example:
The corset (In this novel) is an evil oppressive machine that opresses the fiery spirits of women in Victorian era (The heroine couldn't wait to get rid of such contraption). If you take the time to research, you would know that Corsets are actually quite comfortable, especially a well made one that is tailored to your body. In fact, women with generous bosoms would find corsets more than adequite to hold that ample weight compared to that of an easily acquired modern bra. The myth that corsets are uncomfortable and dangerous was actually penned by a male journalist during that time. Ironic.
Another thing, riding sidesaddle. Riding side saddle, Is actually not that limiting or uncomfortable if you are good at it, and my, the women back then were definitely good at it.
Demure does not equal doormat. This novel will batter you with the imagery that demure and modest women of that era are nothing more than timid creatures who are actually cruel, gossipy and shallow.
Why do I give it a 3 stars and not 1? Because this book is quite enjoyable in some scenes. I like the characters, they are complicated and nuanced. I also like the tropes as stated above.
For example:
The corset (In this novel) is an evil oppressive machine that opresses the fiery spirits of women in Victorian era (The heroine couldn't wait to get rid of such contraption). If you take the time to research, you would know that Corsets are actually quite comfortable, especially a well made one that is tailored to your body. In fact, women with generous bosoms would find corsets more than adequite to hold that ample weight compared to that of an easily acquired modern bra. The myth that corsets are uncomfortable and dangerous was actually penned by a male journalist during that time. Ironic.
Another thing, riding sidesaddle. Riding side saddle, Is actually not that limiting or uncomfortable if you are good at it, and my, the women back then were definitely good at it.
Demure does not equal doormat. This novel will batter you with the imagery that demure and modest women of that era are nothing more than timid creatures who are actually cruel, gossipy and shallow.
Why do I give it a 3 stars and not 1? Because this book is quite enjoyable in some scenes. I like the characters, they are complicated and nuanced. I also like the tropes as stated above.
July 17, 2018
After reading the first 10 chapters, I skimmed through the rest of the book.
This book is too long. It contains too much pain, too much suffering, too much helplessness, too much cruelty, too much arrogance, too much humiliation, too much misfortune, too much... EVERYTHING!
I do not regret skipping through a lot. I cannot sit through 31 chapters of such horrible events occurring. Let me make it clear. I am sure the book was well-written. However, it was TOO MUCH.
For example, remember the 2017 move Sing!<\i> Buster Moon becomes bankrupt, his theater is on the verge of shutting down, his theater is hijacked, his entire theather is reduced to a pile of rubble, etc? THe situation there was just too helpless. That movie was too much for me to like it fully.
This book was MUCH MORE helpless. I couldn't handle it. I don't want to handle it.
This book is too long. It contains too much pain, too much suffering, too much helplessness, too much cruelty, too much arrogance, too much humiliation, too much misfortune, too much... EVERYTHING!
I do not regret skipping through a lot. I cannot sit through 31 chapters of such horrible events occurring. Let me make it clear. I am sure the book was well-written. However, it was TOO MUCH.
For example, remember the 2017 move Sing!<\i> Buster Moon becomes bankrupt, his theater is on the verge of shutting down, his theater is hijacked, his entire theather is reduced to a pile of rubble, etc? THe situation there was just too helpless. That movie was too much for me to like it fully.
This book was MUCH MORE helpless. I couldn't handle it. I don't want to handle it.
Read
September 11, 2022Is simply amazing 😍😍😍😍
July 26, 2013
The book started with a white guy raised in Egypt who was acclimating himself to be an English duke who were having nightmares and one of it include a green-eyed red-haired woman. Apparently the duke never had a woman before and so he went to a brothel asking for a virgin and specifically didn't want anybody similar to his nightmare lady. Of course, obviously he didn't get what he want. So, the girl he deflowered unceremoniously turns out to be a lady who want to escape from an arrange marriage and run away to go to school in America but the duke found out that she was the daughter of an Earl who is the nightmare man of his dream who abused him as a child and who at the same time psychologically abusing his own family. So the duke announced that he slept with the girl and want to marry her while plotting to end the nightmare guy's life.
The blurb does look like it came from Edith Maude Hull's The Sheik but then it went away from conventional Sheikh romance I've ever read. The language style took sometime to get used to but I became hooked by the layered characterizations. It is fascinating to read the circumstances bringing the characters together and tackling the harder subject of rape as it is without romanticising it one bit. The book is probably not everyone's cup of tea but for a sheikh pulpy romance novel, this one probably the most memorable one I've ever read. I don't even care for the 19th century Arabic exoticism and borrowed element from The Mummy and The Sheik. But the ending is quite nerve-wrecking.
Fuller review much later.
The blurb does look like it came from Edith Maude Hull's The Sheik but then it went away from conventional Sheikh romance I've ever read. The language style took sometime to get used to but I became hooked by the layered characterizations. It is fascinating to read the circumstances bringing the characters together and tackling the harder subject of rape as it is without romanticising it one bit. The book is probably not everyone's cup of tea but for a sheikh pulpy romance novel, this one probably the most memorable one I've ever read. I don't even care for the 19th century Arabic exoticism and borrowed element from The Mummy and The Sheik. But the ending is quite nerve-wrecking.
Fuller review much later.
April 3, 2015
Out of the entire series this one is my 2nd favorite; the 5th is my absolute fave and to be honest these are the only ones from this series that made it onto my keeper shelf. I realize that means I don't have the complete set and some may find that irritating but at the moment in terms of space I had to make a decision based on which would I recommend or could see myself reading again and 4 and 5 made the cut.
August 20, 2010
Was intrigued by title. On assumption that 'panther' meant the hero, wanted to see how 'pyramid' would mean the heroine. Turns out, pyramid refers to another male character.
In terms of story - liked unusual middle eastern references, couldn't quite let go of disbelief at several plotpoints.
In terms of story - liked unusual middle eastern references, couldn't quite let go of disbelief at several plotpoints.
no-thank-you
February 8, 2013Not my cuppa, but it is free today.
March 10, 2016
awesome
Read
February 28, 2019No man with honour would make a whore of a virgin as the hero in this book did. Hate him
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews