His Desert Rose (Harlequin Romance, No. 3618) [Paperback]

Liz Fielding (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373036183
• ISBN-13: 978-0373036189
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,033,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Reading is, and always has been, the first love of my life. Except writing.
Success came early -- I was twelve when I won an Easter egg in a hymn writing competition at school - but life intervened with my plans to become a hot shot author. The day job. Not that this was dull. I travelled to Zambia at the age of twenty where I worked as a secretary, before following my personal hero to the Middle East, Kenya, Botswana and ambition became buried in the joyful business of raising a family.

I never forgot that I was a "writer", however. I wrote children's stories for Listen With Mother. Magazines articles. Ghost stories. I was at a point where I wanted to move onto something bigger when I read a magazine piece about Charlotte Lamb and Anne Hampson and discovered, rather late in life, romantic fiction. I read everything I could lay my hands on, then, feeling certain I had a grasp of the genre, began writing. I had three rejections - I still have those letters! -- but my fourth submission became An Image of You and was published in 1992.

Since then seven of my books have been shortlisted for RWA's RITA award - two of them, THE BEST MAN & THE BRIDESMAID and THE MARRIAGE MIRACLE winning in 2001 and 2006, respectively. A FAMILY OF HIS OWN always won the RNA's Romance Prize in 2005.

My best-beloved and I are empty-nesters these days, living out in the country where excitement means a visit from the mobile shop, the travelling library, the fish man. But I'm a writer, I invent my own worlds. Once the door to the my cabin in the woods is closed I can be anywhere my imagination takes me; the desert kingdom of Ramal Hamrah, the villages of Upper Haughton, Little Hinton and Longbourne where romance is always just around the corner, or I can jet off to New York, the Mediterranean, even the Himalayas. Come and see where I'm headed next - http://www.lizfielding.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not one of her best., July 23, 2000

By 

L. S. Tucker (Port St. Lucie, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: His Desert Rose (Harlequin Romance, No. 3618) (Paperback)

In an effort to distract the Regent of his country from a planned coup, Prince Hassan al Rashid kidnaps visiting journalist Rose Fenton. Hassan needs time to find his young half-brother and heir to the throne. Hassan didn't expect Rose to be so feisty or to feel an attraction to her.

I love a good sheikh story. I enjoy books by Fielding. So I should be overjoyed by a sheikh book by Liz Fielding, right? Unfortunately, there was no magic between the characters and the story wasn't very engrossing. Even the conflict and tension were lacking. Very flat.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pure Fantasy, January 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: His Desert Rose (Harlequin Romance, No. 3618) (Paperback)

What I liked about this book:
My favorite thing about this book was that Rose was a journalist and by golly if she didn't stay in character almost the entire time. Bravo Mrs. Fielding! I am so tired of the heroines in these books having high profile up-scale jobs but not having the sharp, intelligent personalities that should go with the jobs. In this book Rose is sharp, witty, personable, fearless and tenacious just as she would have to be to be successful at her job. I also love that she was able to laugh at herself. All in all I felt confident that she would be able to fit into her role as described at the end of the book. Prince Hassan was not too badly written and I enjoyed much of the banter between the prince and Rose.

What I didn't like about the book:
The plot of the book was ridiculous at best and in poor taste at worst. Considering that several journalist in the mideast have been kidnapped, tortured, and even killed I found Rose's predicament to be unromantic. The fact that she falls in love with her captor is a psychological syndrome NOT romance! And the princes actions make no sense. Why would he personally kidnap her and not immediately tell her his reasons. He should be doing everything he can to gain her coorperation so that she doesn't turn on him once he lets her go. He doesn't seem to realise that she could get the world to turn against him and his brother once she is free. The whole plot is built on a house of cards that comes tumbling down with the slightest breath.

My main complaint:
Rose is a smart, mouthy person yet she shies away from telling Hassan how she feels about him towards the end. It was so out of character. I would have liked it so much better if they had had a frank discussion of the problems that would be involved with them getting married. They didn't talk about religion, culture, being a royal or anything. It made for a very dissatisfying ending. I realise that romance novels are about fantasy but this one takes it to the extreme.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your average "sheik" book, September 10, 2000

By 

Mrs. Linda A. Allsopp (AMMANFORD, Carms United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: His Desert Rose (Harlequin Romance, No. 3618) (Paperback)

Great sexual tension, a genuine feel for the Middle East and a warm, fulfilling story. I loved this book and I'll be adding Liz Fielding to my "must buy" list.