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Quicksands

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He looked like a hero, or perhaps a hunter!

When Clemence Harrell's partner left her to finish their club act alone, Jassim Al Fori immediately assumed the worst. He thought Clemence's natural friendliness was a plot to trap his younger brother in a scandal, and he acted accordingly.

But even as Clemence tried to prove her innocence she found herself becoming attracted to Jassim--dare she trust him with her secret?

Things could not go on as they were, though. Soon she would have to choose--risk her life in Oman, or risk her heart.

187 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1987

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Elizabeth Oldfield

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Profile Image for boogenhagen.
1,993 reviews889 followers
September 21, 2016
Re Quicksands - EO brings us a fairly lighthearted desert romp with no sheikhy lurve in sight. In fact, the h is a classical harpist who works at various Grand Hotels playing contemporary pop music on her harp. Usually she has a partner who travels and plays with her, the guy is actually her cousin but for the purpose of getting a visa to work at the premier hotel of Oman, their agent listed the h and cousin as man and wife. In this version of HPlandia Oman, single Western ladies are not permitted to enter or harp about the country.


The h likes playing in big hotels and resorts, her family is a bit unhappy that it isn't classical chamber music as her father is a symphony conductor and her mother a cellist. The h herself graduated from the Royal College of Music, but classical music doesn't pay much and hotel resort gigs pay huge - the h and her cousin even have specific costumes for their various evenings of music. They wear Stetson hats and cowboy outfits for Country and Western night, cat suits and stiletto heels for disco night, etc. The h and her cousin also have no problems allowing the audience to believe that they are married, it saves the h a lot of hassles from enthusiastic men. The h is described as a very lovely lady with very long blonde hair.

So the h is in Oman and playing at the big premiere hotel there and politely accepting the conversation of the hotel's owner - an 18 yr old male from a prominent local Arabic family. Her cousin has left the country temporarily to return to England cause his manipulative girlfriend got herself preggers and is demanding his presence. The h isn't too fond of the girl, she uses tears and subtle ploys in sneaky ways, but she figures the cousin will be back soon to complete their contract and she is managing okay on her own, so she isn't TOO worried.

Except there is this kinda scruffy looking guy with a bit of engine grease on him that keeps coming in and he is always dressed like a working guy from the Australian Outback or The Great White Hunter garb popular in the old desert movies. He comes in every night and sits at the same table in the corner and stares at her. The h wonders why one of the exclusive hotel staff doesn't escort him out, but she figures he just looks too intimidating for anyone to challenge him.

Later on, the h is drinking fruit juice after her set with the young hotel owner, (who has seen the h in London before with a guy his age and Hotel Boy connives to get her to Oman because he thinks the h cheats on her supposed husband with younger men and he wants some of that.) The staring man comes over to meet the h and we find out he is the hotel owner's older brother. It seems Hotel Boy and the unusually dressed man share an Arabic father. But the man is actually half Arabic, his mum is Australian, as is our Queensland H, and he came out to Oman two and a half years earlier. He tells the h he is a mechanic at the local cement mixer depot.

The h is a bit attracted, but mindful of her supposed married status. Worried that she is in the country illegally because of the lie, she is a bit elusive and distant around the H, plus the step brother has a very drama queen domineering Arabic mother who loves to throw little scenes when things don't go her way and really doesn't like the h, there have been a few WORDS.

The h pretty much just wants her cousin to get back so they can finish out the contract and she won't get kicked out of the country or pilloried or something and then she can go home. Things get a bit dicey when the Hotel Boy invites her to a seaside barbecue and the h things it is a big gathering and it turns out to be a private party of the h, Hotel Boy and his man servant and the Hotel Boy tries to seduce her.

The h tells the Hotel Boy she isn't interested in beach blanket bango, but HB isn't interested in hearing the word NO, so the h is forced to use a well placed knee in a tender male area and runs off into the desert and takes HB's car. She is forced to stop on the one lane road by the H, who shows up in his trusty desert jeep. The h isn't hysterical exactly, she is really just irkolated and there is sharp banter between the H and h as he decides to take her to his desert lurve shack when the h threatens to turn his younger brother into the police.

The h isn't sure if the H is genuinely helping or if this is another set up, especially when the H wants her to stay for a few days to discourage the pursuit of a mysterious Mrs. X who seems to want to enjoy a VERY intimate acquaintance with the H and he isn't interested. The h decides during their verbal banter that the H is up to no good, and stands up in the jeep in an attempt to flag down help. She winds up falling out of the jeep and knocking herself out.

She wakes up at the H's desert shack of heavenly deelites and it seems he isn't much for a lot of furniture or home comforts. He does have a very nice mountain side oasis in his back yard tho, with a great little fern grotto swimming hole. Except the h wants to go back to the hotel, she has a bit of a wrist injury so she can't play her harp, but she is tired of being told what to do by the H. The H wants her to stay for a few days, he is still intent on pretending a relationship with the h to ward off Mrs. X.

The H takes off to check on the truck depot and the h sees a distant village from the H's shack and so she steals his safari hat and some handkerchiefs and marches herself across the desert in hopes of getting a taxi. It turns out to be a long walk and the villagers don't speak English and don't have a phone. The H has to come fetch her and tells her he wished there was quicksand in the area, cause he would like to throw her in it. She seems to really be exasperating him.

Finally the H and h declare a truce and they stay at his house for a few days while her wrist recovers. The attraction is building, but the H suddenly decides the h has to go back to the hotel when it looks as if he is going to kiss her. The h is really interested in the H by this point, but he seems pretty adamant their acquaintance is over, so it is back to the hotel we go.

The h wants to hunt down Hotel Boy to issue a few choice words about when a lady says no, but despite playing her sets for several days and keeping a sharp lookout, she can't find HB anywhere. The H never shows up either and the h finally finds out that Hotel Boy got sent to America for a two year hotel course by his domineering mother. The h figures the H wasn't really interested in her, he was just distracting the h while his family sneaked Hotel Boy out of the country so the h couldn't contact the police. (Not that she was actually going to do that, but it seemed to be a good threat at the time.)

Finally the H shows up again one night after the h is done with her Country and Western night and the h and H have some more bantering words. The h explains that she isn't really married, cause the H says that is why he returned her to the hotel, he wanted to get a lot closer and he doesn't fool around with the married ladies. The H is really happy to hear that, tho the h is worried about being in the country illegally. The H doesn't care, his major obstacle to passionate kissing of the h is removed.

Things are getting passionate when the phone rings and it is the h's cousin, he has married his pregger witch and will be returning to finish the contract really soon. The H only hears the h's side of the conversation and he thinks the cousin (that he doesn't know is a cousin, he thinks they were lovers,) is proposing to the h on the phone and she is accepting. The h tries to call him back, but the H storms off and her cousin is being annoying about mooning over his pregger man trap and the h needs to get his flight details so she can't chase the H down right away.

The h can't find the H later on and wonders what is up with him now, when the drama queen stepmother shows up and demands the h travel with her. The h thinks it is a reconciliation outing to make up for the woman's earlier rudeness, but the drama queen drags her to the H's house. The H tries to throw both of them out, but the stepmother insists that the H realize that the h is so worthless her own husband has run off and gotten another woman preggers and that she is the better choice for a passionate session of boudoir bouncing and romantic partnership. The drama queen step mother has been having the h's phone calls listened in on.

The H does a one eighty on kicking the h out, now that he knows she isn't marrying the OM. The step mother is still insisting that she is a better choice for a partner than the h and the H has to explain that he doesn't like brunettes or women ten years older than him and that he REALLY isn't interested in a tower of power rides with his father's widow.

The h finally clues in that the step mother was the H's mysterious Mrs. X he wanted to deter by using her as a shield, and she gets a lot of amusement watching the H try to run the woman off. The drama queen REALLY doesn't want to go and then she storms off dramatically, leaving the h behind. The h finally gets to get word in edgewise while the H is acting like a big baby about a little cut on his foot and when the h goes into his city house, she sees that it is VERY nicely furnished and we find out that the H is a mechanic, but he also owns the cement truck depot in Oman plus a big freight haulage business in Queensland AU.

The H's stepfather is currently running the Aussie side of things, but the H plans to leave Oman to move back home in six months. We get the rest of the H's backstory too. His dad and mother married and had him, but his father's Omanian family put a lot of pressure on the dad to divorce his first wife and move home. The dad did so and then 9 years later he married the drama queen, sadly his family prevented him from visiting the H in Queensland again, but the dad did send smuggled out letters to the H and his mum.

The dad wasn't good at resisting his family's demands, but he was very good a making money. He bought the hotel to appease the drama queen and then left the H a lot of property and the cement trucks and he left the H's mum a lot of money when he died a few years earlier. The H had dumped his gold-digging fiance when he found out she thought he was the heir to big Middle Eastern oil fortune and he was a bit hurt by her mercenary maneuverings, so he came to Oman to find out about his father's family.

They did not accept him at first because technically he was the first born son and could have claimed ALL of his dad's property, including the hotel. The H just decided to build a house or two and get the truck depot set up as a viable business and then the drama queen decided that the H should be her next romantic interest. The H had been useful in extracting his younger brother from the clutches of a genuine gold-digger (which was why he was so watchful of the h at first,) and the father's side of family began to accept him. Now the H wants to go home, but he is still wary around the h, even tho he admits there is a big attraction , because he thinks she is in love with the OM cousin.

The h explains that the OM isn't a lover, he is really her cousin and she isn't in love with him at all, nor does she like his new wife. The h tells the H about her family background of musicians and that every time she tried to explain the whole situation the H would cut her off. The H cuts her off again to avow eternal love and the h avows true love back and an afternoon of desert passion ensues. The big HEA is the H and h planning to move back to Queensland for marriage and babies with occasional trips to Oman to check on the H's truck depot business while they go to pick up the h's clueless cousin from the airport.

This one is funny, it is very much a fluffy desert romp with the banter between the H and h being very reminiscent of Bogart and Bacall or Hepburn and Tracy. It is a fun little read and a nice change when you need a regular person HP with low drama. It isn't the funniest or the best EO has ever written, but it does provide a jaunty little HPlandia visit when you need a spot of time filling - even though we never actually see any real quicksand.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
548 reviews16 followers
February 3, 2021
Average fare.

She is a Brit, stage singer on a tour of some Gulf countries. She is performing in the hotel owned by the hero's family. She is accompanied by her cousin who is play acting as her husband for the sake of visa entry.

The hero keeps coming to her performances, but thinks she is married. Some crazy events lead the two of them to get marooned in the middle of the desert. Of course its time for instant combustion. But the question about the questionable husband resurfaces. She clarifies, she is single. But another set of messy events intervene. And the HEA declaration her further pushed by another 50 pages.

Nothing of any great consequence happens in the story. An average story with a western girl, an eastern setting and a mixed race hero.
Profile Image for LLC.
252 reviews35 followers
June 22, 2011
The h along with her cousin are musicians in nightclub act in Oman. In order to discourage unwanted male attention they present themselves as a married couple. The cousin rushes back to London because his girlfriend is pregnant leaving h on her own to continue their contract. The H is related to the family who own the luxury hotel where she works. He is half brother to the young manager there who is hot for the h. The H figures the h is on the make and continually keeps an eye on her treating her like trash
The h and H are attracted to one another but he continues to believe she is married and to question her morality.
This was an ok read but not one of EO's better books.
379 reviews
September 27, 2025
Dnf. Started out interesting enough, but my enjoyment was quickly lost. I do not share the same beliefs as the author.

Honestly, the heroine lack intelligence. Basically, she almost got R A P E by the younger half-brother of the hero——but instead of knocking the jackass out senseless, she merely corrected his wrong use of English words in her struggle! Then!!!! The author, hero, and even the heroine try to justified the jackass’s criminal actions! Hero doesn’t think she should go the police with the story because that will send his brother to prison and how will she feel ruining the future of such a young misguided man? Wtf!!!

Absolutely disgusting! The younger brother wasn’t written to be misguided at all, the way the author wrote the assault he was straight up lewd and a pervert! He has been a nice host but in that moment there was such a 360 change in him. He boasted of picking women’s cherry, claiming he brought another woman out there before and was successful! He sure doesn’t sound like a young man who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He definitely does it often and for a living. Either the brother should quickly fall in quicksand or they all should, and take this book with them down under!
Profile Image for Deane.
880 reviews5 followers
July 15, 2024
Clemence Harrell and her partner have a musical gig in Oman in west Asia...her partner is really her cousin but he has to leave her to go see his girlfriend who is having health problems.

Clemence is a professional harpist and has to carry the show by herself...she is very pretty but most men admire her but don't bother her because she is supposedly married to her partner.

One man watches her play every night but doesn't come near her...makes her nervous and eventually introduces himself because she has gotten very friendly with his younger half brother...who is younger than she is.

As usual, all works out for the best in the end.
Profile Image for RomLibrary.
5,789 reviews
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
November 13, 2019
He looked like a hero, or perhaps a hunter!

When Clemence Harrell's partner left her to finish their club act alone, Jassim Al Fori immediately assumed the worst. He thought Clemence's natural friendliness was a plot to trap his younger brother in a scandal, and he acted accordingly.

But even as Clemence tried to prove her innocence she found herself becoming attracted to Jassim--dare she trust him with her secret?

Things could not go on as they were, though. Soon she would have to choose--risk her life in Oman, or risk her heart. (less)
Profile Image for Vicki.
1,606 reviews43 followers
April 7, 2019
Professional musicians on tour in Oman, but under false pretenses.
Profile Image for Kinga.
118 reviews9 followers
December 31, 2017
Maga az alaptörténet jó lett volna, de pont a lényeg hiányzott belőle: az érzelmek átadása. A fordítás sem volt valahogy az igazi. Sajnálom, pedig a cselekmény itt-ott felkeltette az érdeklődésemet, na és az egzotikus környezettel megspékelve ebből sokkal többet ki lehetett volna hozni. Mindenesetre egyszeri olvasásnak jó volt.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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