Sailing toward the sun-scorched dunes of Egypt, Mallory Stanhope falls for fellow passenger Lord Michael DeWinter, a man preoccupied with rescuing his father from the desert prison of a treacherous enemy. Reprint.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"Desert Song" - out of tune:,
By SusieQ (New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Desert Song (Mass Market Paperback)
Michael DeWinter, the hero of this romance novel, sets off to rescue his father, the Duke of Ravensworth, kidnapped by Bedouin ruffians during his secret mission in Cairo, Egypt, circa 1845. Michael has been looking for meaning to his empty playboy life, and rescuing his beloved father may be just what is necessary to finally mature him.
On board ship to Cairo, Michael meets Lady Mallory, a lonely young woman who's on her way to visit her parents (artifact collectors for the British Museum); parents who have neglected Mallory all her life, leaving her in England in the care of an older cousin. That's the basic outline of this story. For a romance novel, none of this is actually a bad beginning. Unfortunately, there's the extreme suspension of disbelief required of the reader, that Michael, heretofore nothing but an overindulgent playboy, would be in any way capable of rescuing his father from the hands of cutthroat Bedouin kidnappers in the unfamiliar Egyptian desert. And that he sets out to do it totally alone, no assistance whatsoever. But really what I despised about this story was the absolutely leaden way the author told it. For example, the use of British titles is incredibly lazy. Every character is Lady or Lord Something. The two main characters perform like wooden puppets, and dialogue between them is terse and abrupt. It's the most unromantic romance between 2 people that I've read in quite some time. Michael and Mallory marry, not out of roaring physical attraction or even (gasp) genuine love, but so Michael can father a child before he goes on the certain-death mission to rescue his father. Michael's non-romantic reasoning might be forgivable, if the reader felt there was affection, or even a strong physical attraction, between these two characters; or that he was concealing some deeper feelings for Mallory. But Michael has no feelings for Mallory except pity, and a kinda/sorta sex attraction (she's a young female and she's there - that kind of attraction). Mallory's feelings for Michael are more than that, but she's so vapid a character it doesn't make much difference. Interestingly, Michael's parents are portrayed with a more openly loving relationship than the two protagonists. But the constant lovey-dovey the author provides for the parents only ends up subtracting even more from Michael/Mallory's romance - the parents' feelings and 'scenes' really belonged to Michael/Mallory! I offer my one-star for the best part of this story, that being Michael's arrival in the desert, when he forms a friendship with an Egyptian prince and performs heroic deeds on behalf of the man's tribe, becoming a hero to them in the process. The writing in these couple of chapters briefly has a spark and liveliness that the other phases of this story profoundly lack. One of the British authorities - who has failed to offer any help regarding the father's kidnapping - contemptuously refers to Michael's "going native", a British attitude that is captured perfectly. Purely a personal hate of mine are the characters' names. It frankly drives me nuts when very unusual, incorrect-for-the-time-period names are used in historical romance fiction. (Bad enough to be lazy in depicting the era and/or social nuances - no author should triple-wammy herself by giving her characters crazy monikers, too.) Michael is the most normal name used here. But his father is Raile; his mother is Kassidy, and his sister is Arrien. Ugh. The name Mallory, too, makes me think of the 1980's TV show "Family Ties". This novel is apparently the third of a trilogy, but I read it as a stand alone and there's no reason why anyone unfamiliar with the other two books should have any difficulty following the story. But if you take my advice, you won't bother.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow,
By A Customer
This review is from: Desert Song (Harper Monogram) (Paperback)
This is a great book! as usual, Constance O'banyon tells a great story, which i am not surprised! i haven;t read a bad book by her, and i have read all her books. Desert Song is the last of the DeWinter trilogy, and it tops them all. this time, It's Michael's turn, and his character is well developed. i loved hearing about how Arrain and Garrick are doing, and i loved to see how much in love Kassidy and Raile were after all these years. i recommend this book to every lover of romance.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not that good,
By
This review is from: Desert Song (Mass Market Paperback)
Lord Michael DeWinter has traveled to Egypt to find his missing father. One the way he meets Lady Mallory Stanhope, a young woman on her way to meet her parents, people who really didn't want a daughter. Danger has follow Lord Michael and now he finds himself protecting Mallory, who has been drawnen to the danger.
"Desert Song" was written Constance O'Banyon and it an okay book. I found that characters of Michael and Mallory to be not that interesting and they really didn't like each other and I found it surprising that even got together in end. Overall "Desert Song" was ok and I am glad that its off my bookshelve
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