The Eagle and the Dove

by Jane Feather

An Imperious Captor

Heading a thundering cavalcade of richly dressed Moorish soldiers, Lord Hassan commands attention with just one glance from his deep black eyes. And with one look, he knew that he had to have the chestnut-haired beauty who returned his stare with such bold, sensual defiance.

A Willful Captive

Fascinated by the enigmatic horseman, spirited Sarita is swept up by the arrogant stranger and carried off to his mountaintop palace. Enslaved to this mighty lord, Sarita's untamed and passionate nature swiftly makes a prisoner of Hassan's yearning heart. But their powerful love could topple a vast empire... and in doing so, endanger the future of this destined pair.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Medieval Romance, Historical Fiction, Adult, Spain

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Jane Feather (born Jane Robotham) is a popular British–American writer of historical romance novels. In 1984 she wrote five contemporary romances under the pseudonym Claudia Bishop. She is a New York Times-bestselling, award–winning writer, and has more than ten million romance novels in print.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel in itself was too long for so little action, yet the ending seemed to me to be rather abrupt. We do not really know what became of the Abul and Sarita, they talk about going to live together but given the length of the novel I expected more detail. likewise we are only given a brief paragraph on the events what happened to Boabdil and his mother and how they lost the Granada. The ending to be was unsatisfactory for the time time I put into reading the novel, which was not helped by the fact that the story line to me was a bit wishy washy. I had no problem with Abul loving Sarita and essentially abandoning Aicha since she was not a likable character, but what of the other secondary wives and the children he had with them? As for Abul losing control of his kingdom it all happen rather suddenly with little information as to why he was losing. I found it hard to believe that he gave it all up without any fight and Satita's actions of sacrificing herself all seemed rather stupid.
When you reach the end of this novel the disappointment far outweighed the enjoyment I experienced when reading some parts of the novel, the ending does a disservice to what had the potential to be a good novel.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

October 11, 2025 Third reread review: It’s been ten years since I last read this book. I have forgotten a lot of what happened. So it was a pleasure to find that I was swept away by the story and the love between Sarita and Abul! The intrigue inside the Alhambra was gripping and a lot of times I found myself sneaking a peek forward just to see what happened to our hero and heroine.

To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. It’s quite funny considering the first two reviews which were less than complimentary. ☺️

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(April 26, 2013 Original review: Unfortunately, the story did not appeal to me.)

(September 9, 2015 Second reread review: That was how I viewed this book 2 years ago. I simply did not like it. I just finished re reading it now and to my surprise I liked it better this time around. Thus, I am changing my rating of 1 star to 3. Though mind you, there's still the initial distaste for the fact that Abul is married with several wives and has five children. I guess I like my heroes to be generally unmarried and childless upon meeting the heroine :) But I came to appreciate the story more this time. Although I wish that the ending was not rushed. It seemed all too convenient for me. I am still struggling with the decision that does not at all look believable considering the character of the protagonist.)

[Tammy Ng · Rating 2 out of 5]

The struggle was real for both the protagonists and this reader. As mentioned in previous reviews this book is quite long for the story it tells. While Jane Feather does a great job of building the backstory and developing the main characters, it was hard to find either protagonist likable. On one hand you had the female lead who puts her former lover and mother at risk in order to assert her independence and establish her own future. However, her immaturity is shown when she faces consequences to her decisions and is unable to reconcile why things aren't going her way (I can survive if I run away, it'll be fine. Oh #$%*, actually I can't. Where are the servants?). We also have a male lead who spends more time trying to achieve repose, minimizing the role of women in his life, and getting sex then actually running his supposedly lucrative kingdom. His sound judgement and supposedly excellent leadership skills are never demonstrated through his actions. The ending could have saved this book. If we got more insight about what covertly transpired and the various motivations of the supporting cast, it could have changed the whole tone. However, the ending was rushed when it should have been expanded.

I have read other Jane Feather books and find her storylines predictable, but thoroughly enjoyable because of her character development. This book was an exception to that evaluation. I read it to finish, but I was left disappointed.

[Isabel Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

La historia está ambientada en Granada, cuando todavía era un reducto musulman y de hecho la autora utiliza un marco histórico real para darle forma a la historia de amor de Sarita y Abul Hassan.
Ella es gitana y él es el sultán de Granada. Sarita es llevada al harén y pronto se convierte en la favorita; y no solo eso, pronto ella va ser la única en el afecto del sultán.
La trama gira en torno a este romance, a como Abul empieza a obsesionarse con Sarita y ella se va convirtiendo en todo su mundo; algo completamente impensable para un hombre de ese tiempo y cultura, acostumbrado a tener varias esposas y concubinas.
La fortaleza de la historia es obviamente el romance Sarita&Abul condimentado por las intrigas palaciegas para deshacerse de la infiel q esta monopolizando el afecto del sultán, lo cual siempre es peligroso x el riesgo de q le de un hijo y éste termine siendo nombrado heredero.
Luego, sorpresa, sorpresa aparecen unos personajes históricos de gran importancia para explicar xq, unos años después Granada deberá caer en manos católicas y aunq sabes q es ficción, me habría encantado q todo ocurriera exactamente de la forma en q lo cuenta la autora.
Muy buena novela para los q gustan de la ficción romantico-histórica con un pikito de historia real...

[Debbie Dodd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn’t like it, but I finished it.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long, not a cohesive story, not thanks

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book on a whole lot of levels. It's a compelling story with good emotional impact, likable characters but with flaws that make them interesting. And it's based on real people and a period in history and culture that I wasn't familiar with. Highly recommended.

[Renae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long. About 300 pages is my tolerance for this sort of book. Last 100 pages dragged. On the other hand, one of my favorite covers.

[Anchansiri Sriyananda]

My most love of Jane Feather.