Customer Reviews

And the Desert Blooms

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

 

 

And the Desert Blooms is a book that you really have to suspend all disbelief for. If you don't, the fact that our sheikh hero isn't remotely Arabic will make you want to throw the book against the wall. There's also a bit of a Sleeping Beauty mythos to it--the heroine disappears from the hero's world from the time she's 15 until she's 21--just like Sleeping Beauty, she's out of touch until she's grown up. Ah, I knew that fairy tale seminar I took in college would come in handy some day.

Pandora grew up under the protection of shiekh Philip El Kabbar and fell in love with him. But she knew he would never see her in a romantic way, so she ran away from home at the age of 15... and became a world-famous rockstar. Now, six years later, she's back, and offering him a deal: she wants to be his Khadim--his mistress--for three months, in exchange for the usual financial rewards he gives his various mistresses.

Of course, Pandora is gambling that she can convince Phillip he can't live without her, despite the fact that he's famous for never keeping a mistress for more than a few months. And of course it works.

Then comes the doubt and mistrust--they're both upset because they think the other one doesn't want a commitment, and only wants sex, but their solution is just to have more sex, and then to avoid rejection by being the first to push the other away.

Despite the parts that are hard to swallow--the complete absence of any sort of cultural authenticity, the transition from destitute runaway to international rockstar in 4 years, and the transformation of Mr. Promiscuity into Mr. Monogamy--it is a readable story. I did find myself enjoying the characters' predicaments, and the subplot of Pandora's problems with her father.

And it's a nice object lesson in the hazards of substituting sex for verbal communication.

One of Ms. Johansen's earlier romances, this book is a reprint. As with all of her earlier books, before she began writing mysteries, this book is very much in the traditional romance tradition. The hero is strong and capable; the heroine spunky and defiant; and the book reminds us what it's like to love even when the odds are against you and your love seems impossible. This book was always, and continues, to be one of my favorites.

This is a great end to Pandora's story. This is a part of Iris Johansen's romance books so they are very different from her latest novels. I really loved Pandora and was so happy to get a copy of this book and finish the story. Very fast read.

(I was a little startled when I opened the page to write this review. Amazon has added a new line: Are you over 13? I wonder what that's about. Anyway . . . )

This is one of Johansen's old Loveswepts. It has the usual elements: overwhelming sensuality, light humor, melodramatic fun, and characters about whom you care. I think the heroine was a little too fond of running away in the face of emotional turmoil - to jump on a horse, no less. EVERY single time. And I wasn't that enamoured of the hero in general. Actually, I enjoyed both leads more as the secondary characters in The Summer Smile than as stars in their own story.

But these are minor issues. When I am in the mood to suspend disbelif and be briefly swept away, I adore Johansen's romances. I am thankful that they have gone digital, even when I have to wait to buy until they are on special. I cannot recommend that anybody pay the $7 and $8 price tags normally asked on her Category-length backlist books. But when the price drops, snatch it up.

The theme was expected and the characters were beautiful and predictable but the story was a perfect summer reading/listening experience.

I enjoy all of Iris Johansen's book. The Desert Blooms is a wonderful conclusion to Pandora's Daughter. If you didn't read the first book, you are able to figure out what happened. Ms Johansen writting is very imaginative. If you want to escape from the hard knocks your life is taking at any given time, pick up any of her books & loose yourself for a while.

I have read several of Ms Johansen's books, many of which are intelligent and worthwhile, but but this one is just trash. No different than a Harlequin Romance. Don't bother...a nauseating waste of time, unless you are a Harlequin fan.

Thought the book was a great difference from her newer work. Not used to her writing such a graphic romance novel but she did well as it turned out. Price was fair for the item.

Was not expecting Iris Johansen's book to be a romance novel. Had been reading her adventure titles. Still this was a passable, if not predictable tale.