Customer Reviews

The Cobra & the Concubine (Leisure Historical Romance)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Setting - Egypt and England 1890's --- For Badra, her childhood ended early for at the age of 11 she had been sold as a slave to a maniacal sheik who raped and beat her unmercilessly for the next four years. After an attack by an enemy tribe, the Khamsin, she and another slave begged the attackers to take them away promising to be slaves to a new master. The sheik of the Khamsin was kind and when Badra's terror of being touched by another man was revealed and Badra's history related to him by the other concubine, he assigned one of his finest warriors, Khepri, to be her Falcon guard, admonishing him that he should guard her with his life and let no one touch her including himself until she was ready. For Khepri, this would be both a trial and a labor of love for he'd fallen head over heels with the beautiful young girl from the very first moments. Over the next five years they would become friends with Khepri's feelings intensifying, and though Badra loved him, the memories of the pain of intimacy still held her hostage and kept her from admitting to Khepri how she felt.

At around this time it was revealed that Khepri, only adopted by the Khamsin was Kenneth Tristan, English by birth and heir of a wealthy English Duke who came to claim him. Not wanting to leave his Arab brothers, the desert, or woman he loved, he asked Badra to marry him only to be turned down. Devastated thinking Badra didn't love him, he turned his back on all he loved and went to England. When he saw Badra a year later in England, he realized he still loved her, and when he discovered she was making the ultimate sacrifice to save a child, he would risk everything he possessed to save her, praying that he would one day be able to heal the woman he could not touch with his love.

*** Once more this author has revisited Egypt with another exciting and thrilling tale featuring the Khamsin Warriors of the Wind, the women they loved and who loved them! In this entry, the author tells the story of the young child Badra, sold to a brothel at the age of 4 by her parents then sold as a slave to cruel master who raped and brutalized her until at the age of 11 until she was lucky enough to escape. (Unfortunately, a horrendous practice that while fictionalized here with a happy ending, still exists in the world today.) This was an emotional as well as lovely romance with the lead protagonist's motives and feelings fully developed into characters whom the reader can truly empathize with. The action and suspense was well paced with just enough humor injected into the dialogs to add a little levity into the mix. This author just sweeps you away with another exhilarating Egyptian romantic adventure. --- Marilyn , for www.historicalromancewriters.com ---

Novels like this are the reason I started reading romance in the first place. Exotic locations, a woman who keeps both her humanity and her determination despite impossible circumstances, a passionate and dangerous hero...

I was caught up in Badra's tale and could not stop until I got to the end. A completely satisfying romance. More, please!

A wonderful story that flowed from start to finish.Our hero Khepri is adopted by the khamsin when his parents are killed in Egypt.Badra the heroine is rescued from a sadistic sheik and given sanctuary by these warriors.Khepri is given the responsibility of protecting Badra but forbidden to touch her.He consequently falls in love with her and worships her from afar in true courtly love fashion for a time.Badra returns his love but is afraid to show this because of the horrors of her past.Khepri believing she doesn't love him returns to England vowing to forget her.They are reunited,and face obstacles to their love which they overcome.I enjoyed this book because the hero and heroine were sympathetic characters.The hero wasn't arrogant and overbearing which is a plus in my book as I get tired of reading about these types of men who ride roughshod over their heroine's feelings.After being rejected by Badra Khepri was hurt but he was still very protective of her,he did not seek to get any form of revenge on her,very chivalric like a knight of old.he's my favorite hero to date.Badra's story is sad and I'm glad the author did not have her getting over her traumatic experiences very quickly.There was a progression from her facing what happened to her,talking to khepri about it and being able to make love with Khepri-superbly done.This book is a sad love story but it's beautifully written.There are enough truly romantic moments in that it doesn't become morbid.I will be buying The Tiger and the Tomb and The Falcon and the Dove by the same author because of this book.

This was my first Vanak book and I am ordering 2 more. The ending was a surprise, and was wonderful. I hope Ms. Vanak expands in another book, the story of Rashid. He would make another interesting book. I would highly reccomend this book. History seemed very accurate and at times, I wanted to reach through the book and help them with the battles.

Fans of Bonnie Vanak's sensuous - and riveting - "The Tiger and the Tomb" won't be disappointed by her latest effort. Again set against the mysterious and exotic world of 19th-century Egypt, Ms. Vanak gives her readers another irresistible hero and determined, strong-willed heroine.

I was turned off by the sexual abuse of child Badra, but the reader heals from this initial repulsion even as the heroine does. Ms. Vanak handles this trauma truthfully and with good taste, a pitfall that has ruined many another otherwise excellent book. I highly recommend this writer's works. Her talent for hot, sexy romance blends so well with thrilling adventure. Check out "The Tiger and the Tomb" if you haven't already.

In the late nineteenth century in the Egyptian desert, Khepri of the Warriors of the Wind learns that he will inherit a dukedom from his English grandfather, Lord Caldwell, who the desert Cobra forgot when his parents died while digging amidst the pyramids. He struggles with leaving behind his family and friends, but knows he must do the right thing. Still to stay connected he asks Badra to marry him, but she refuses.

Badra has a secret that she has hidden from Khepri. As a child of the Sahara, she learned how men behave when Sheikh Fareeq took more than her virginity; he took her trust in men and her passion for life with him. Though her nemesis is dead and the her rescuers, the Khamsin the Warriors of the Wind, have proven honorable, Badra cannot sleep with any man even one she loves like Khepri because the pain of Fareeq's rape lingers. For Khepri, Kenneth Tristan when he returns to the land of his ancestors, all is like the sand in the wind blowing away since he knows he failed to protect Badra and worse failed to win her.

Bonnie Vanak's latest historical romance is a wonderful tale that brings alive a bygone era on the sands of the Sahara at a time when Egyptology was the rage in London. The story line brings back Badra, a victim in THE FALCON & THE DOVE as the female lead, who exasperates the man who cherishes her. Khepri is an intriguing protagonist struggling between his heritage and his lifestyle. Ms. Vanak is at her best with this triumphant tale of second chances.

Harriet Klausner

The locale of Egypt for a romance novel is what really got me interested in this series, and since this is my favorite book in author Bonnie Vanak's series, I have to start my reviews here.

Badra (first seen in "The Falcon and the Dove") is barely more than a girl when she's sold into slavery to a disgusting, evil man. She and her friend Farah are saved by Khamsin warriors, led by Jabari bin Tarik Hassid. Badra is immediately attracted to Jabari's adopted brother, known as Khepri, and vice versa. However, she's suffered a lot at the hands of her former leader, so she's skeptical about all people. Over time, she grows to love her adopted clan, especially Khepri.

A few years later, it's discovered that Khepri is actually Kenneth Graham, heir to a fortune in England. When he leaves, he feels alienated from his family (of course) and can't adjust well to life in England... until Badra returns. But is she there because she genuinely wants to see him, or because he happens to have two precious necklaces that she needs to truly be free?

I liked Badra. She had some issues, but she was a decent person. The fact that she is Egyptian--and a romance heroine--is just plain awesome. And Khepri... my oh my!

Some of the mystery about one of the villains is kind of far fetched and yes, sometimes Badra makes cutesy mistakes that have me rolling my eyes, but I'm still enjoying this story. The sex scenes are steamy, but they don't have my toes curling. Still, as is well in my part of the world when I read this novel. Long live the Khamsin!

Good book that I actually finished (I don't waste precious time forcing myself to finish books I'm not crazy about) I love the locale of Egypt and England and the historical era. The characters were complex and emotions and history were essential to the conflicts in this book. The love scenes were wonderful and satisfying after all the suspense about it. (I hate books that build you up and say nothing.)

All the characters were intriguing and I especially loved Badra. No, she wasn't a mixed breed (with a European) or noble or wealthy or anything. She was a poor regular egyptian woman with brown hair and eyes (a rarity in romance novel although it is how most people look)and was sold as a concubine. This is one of the few times I've actually read about a regular human being like myself (I'm not egyptian but I still related to her)overcoming her fears and finding love with a good man (I love that he is English and light-eyed, good contrast). I definitely recommend this book.

I was so looking forward to enjoying my time on maternity leave with a good sexy romance novel...and this book just could not deliver on any level. In fact, I am tempted to quit reading reviews in order to determine which books to buy since the reviews were quite fine for this novel...and I am not sure how these reviewers could possibly be talking about the same book that I tried to read. The sexy scenes were so poorly written and constructed that they could not thrill a love-starved teenager let alone a more mature audience. Two thumbs down for this one and I will not be attempting her other novels either.

Like a previous reviewer I was very disappointed in this book.
Maybe if I have never read other books of this genre I would
have found it stimulating. But, as a reader of romance novels
for many years there was nothing new here.