Customer Reviews

The Falcon & the Dove

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Setting - Egypt 1892 - American Elizabeth Summers has always wanted to be accepted as an archaeologist. She travels to Egypt with two purposes in mind - one to meet with her Uncle on an archaeological dig and the other to find a cure for her sick grandmother. Elizabeth had found an old papyrus that told of a special artifact, the Almha, that contained special writings for a cure. Unfortunately, being a woman, she would only be assigned the mundane tasks of cataloguing the findings.

Sheik Jabari and his desert warriors were honor bound to keep the Almha safe from infidels and routinely send warriors to the dig to monitor their activities. During a raid to frighten off the workers Jabari is first introduced to Elizabeth who has just arrived. Jabari overcome at seeing this beautiful, blond, and brave woman among the diggers soon decides, that because he understands English better, he is best suited to discover what is going on. He goes undercover pretending to be a worker and also to discover just what it is about Elizabeth that attracts him.

With what appears to be a mystical connection to the long dead queen who originally hid the Almha, Elizabeth realizes where the artifact is hidden and attempts to unearth it. Jabari, discovering her about to unearth the Almha, and rather than kill her on the spot, as tradition would dictate, abducts her so that the artifact remains hidden and brings her to his harem. Although, there exists a strong attraction between Elizabeth and Jabari to begin with, when he sees a dove shaped birthmark on her, he believes that she is the reincarnation of Queen Kiya, whom the ancient prophecy claims that one day she would return. He knows that for the good of his people he must marry her - but more than that - for himself as she's captured his heart.

This is a fast-paced tale that hooks the reader from the first chapter when Jabari sees Elizabeth among the excavators. The story is fast-paced and loaded with action and stimulating dialog, and a plethora of interesting and colorful secondary characters. The love developed between the lead protaganists is wonderfully and sensually done and the mystical reincarnation aspect is a unique touch that simply adds more enjoyment to this wonderful love story as East meets West. Tension and suspense leading up to the conclusion in the final chapters will leave you fully satisfied with this fabulous read and leave you yearning for more and looking forward to the next tale in this series.

In 1892, Elizabeth Summers travels to the Egyptian desert to join her uncle on an archeological dig in the ancient city of Akhetaten. She desperately wants to find the Almha, a large gold disk supposedly buried in the ancient city; it purportedly possesses strong powers and ancient remedies. She needs the disk to hopefully find a cure for her grandmother's tuberculosis; however, her uncle wants it for an entirely different reason. Despite her vast knowledge of the Egypt's 18th Dynasty, her uncle will only allow her to assist in the cataloging of the dig site's discoveries. Possessing a papyrus she found in her grandmother's attic and strange images/memories she does not understand, Elizabeth sets out on a secret dig where she not only locates the Almha but meets her destiny in fulfilling an ancient prophecy.

Jabari bin Tarik Hassid, Sheik of the Kahmsin warriors, is a descendant of a long line of warriors sworn to guard the Almha from discovery and destroy any efforts to unearth the disk. Posing as a field worker (Asim) to spy on the "infidels", Jabari soon finds he cannot deny the strong attraction he feels for Elizabeth. When she unearths the Almha, he cannot find the strength to follow his tribe's tradition and destroy her, so he spirits her away to his harem to spare her life. Overcome by his lust he sets out to seduce her only to find out she is not only his fated bride but possibly the answer to his tribe's prayers.

I highly recommend reading this enchanting love story full of romance, sensuality and adventure. Bonnie Vanack demonstrates a true skill in making her characters not only human but humorous as well. I really enjoyed the plot, found it well-paced and the dialogue between Jabari and Elizabeth had me chuckling at the idiosyncrasies of Middle Eastern men and "modern" British women. The secondary characters, Uncle Nahid, Nkosi (Jabari's grandfather), Badra (a member of Jabari's harem) and Nazim (Jabari's best friend) not only made the story well rounded but added another key piece to this wonderful tale. I can't wait to read Nazim's story, "For A Warrior's Heart", currently in the works based on Bonnie's website. Happy reading!

The Falcon and the Dove tells the story of Jabari, a warrior sheikh, and Elizabeth, an American archeologist, who, at the turn of the 19th century, play out a love story that began during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Weaving fact and fiction, author Bonnie Vanak takes readers on an exciting journey into a foreign land and time to offer the familiar thrill of romance fiction. And she does it with strong characters, snappy dialog, a sense of humor and, of course, lots of steamy romance.
Although the hero and heroine have much ground to cover to find each other (and like each other!)it's a trip well worth taking.

In 1892, American Elizabeth Summers accompanies her uncle on his archaeological dig in Egypt to find a special artifact, the Almha. Though Elizabeth wants to be at the excavation site, as a woman she is only capable of cataloguing the findings.

As his ancestors have done, Sheik Jabari and his desert warriors pledged to keep the Almha safe from infidels. They monitor the progress of the outsiders. Jabari is shocked to see a beautiful, blond woman among the diggers and he goes undercover pretending to be a worker. When Elizabeth realizes where the artifact is hidden, Jabari abducts her so that his charge remains hidden. Stunningly, Elizabeth and Jabari are attracted to one another. When he sees a dove shaped birthmark on her, he believes that she is the reincarnation of Queen Kiya, whom the ancient prophecy claims that one day she and the chief of her guards will return as lovers.

Fans of paranormal historical romance will want to read THE FALCON AND THE DOVE, a fast-paced tale that hooks the audience from the moment Jabari sees Elizabeth among the excavators. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action yet has time to develop a love subplot between the lead characters. Though the reincarnation angle adds suspense and an otherworldly feel to the novel, it also detours around a strong bi-cultural romance that makes for a riveting novel that glues the audience to their seat until the final page is read.

Harriet Klausner

The Falcon & The Dove is one of the books that makes you feel like you are right there watching the characters as the story unfolds.

The book starts off with a brief story from the 18th Dynasty of Egypt and then fast forwards you to 1892 Egypt. The heroine is an outspoken and well educated American woman who is working on an archaeological dig with her uncle. In addition to her love of history and archaeology, Elizabeth has a hidden agenda, to find the cure for her Grandmother's illness.

The hero is the young ruler of a tribe of Egyptian nomads. Thier historic role has been to protect the Almha, the very thing that Elizabeth believes holds the information to cure her grandmother. Jabari is concerned about his people, they've been involved in a conflict with another tribe for years and there is a shortage of food and money.

Elizabeth and Jabari meet when he leads an attack on the archeological team in an attempt to get them to leave. Very fitting for the first meeting because the two characters send war like sparks flying whenever they meet.

There is a group of secondary characters that help to build and strengthen the primary characters and leave you wondering about their stories.

My hope is that this is the first of many books that Bonnie Vanak will write about this group of people... I want to know what happens in that desert.

Wow! What a great book. I immediately fell in love with this sheik hero, Jabari. Ms Vanak set us firmly in the middle of 19th century Egypt on the first page and kept us entralled to the very end. A delightful story with plenty of suspense. I love how she wrapped the tale around a true mystery that will most likely never be solved. Anyone with an interest in Egyptian archeology, mummies, lost artifacts, and a hero and heroine's love that lasted throughout the ages will devour this. Love truly does extend beyond death. Get this book. You won't be sorry!!!

I just finished this book, and now I'm off to look for other books by Bonnie Vanak. This is the first Egyptian historical I've read, and I want more!

Set in Egypt and in the desert is a different twist. I found I liked the people and enjoyed the culture. I thank the author for making me think about the differences and explaining the clothes, etc.
Yes, the story had a few moments of stupid heroine, but overall it's enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book by Bonnie Vanak....it is original and the characters are so different. The heroine in this novel is an adventureous out to discover treasure in a foreign land, the hero is of an ancient tribe bound to protect the treasure. When the hero sets out to protect the tomb of his ancestors and the characters meet,the chemistry is explosive. To protect the integrity of the tomb, he kidnaps our heroine who is being blackmailed into excavating more than she should. The passion between the two is hotter than the surrounding desert and of course, they can't resist each other. Ms. Vanak will be on my must read list from now on.

She claimed she was intelligent, but she did stupid things. In addition, the hero and heroine did not communicate with each other as clearly as normal people would. This was a cheap way to provide conflict. Some other parts of the story I did not like, as well as examples of the heroine doing stupid things, follow.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
1. The sheik kidnapped Elizabeth and took her to his harem, which provided some anticipatory suspense. Then we learn that he did not have a true harem. Instead, he had one girlfriend for sex and one platonic friend and planned to find them husbands if and when he eventually married. That was a little too sugary for me. He either had a harem or he didn't. What was this? A "nice guy's harem?"

2. When Jabari asked her why she was digging for the Almha, she should have told him the truth - looking for a medical cure for her grandmother that was supposedly written on it. He would have told her the cure. Instead, she lied, and he believed she was after the money.

3. She sent a note to her uncle Nahid to come rescue her. Instead of just saying where she was, she also said where to dig for the Almha. Then, instead of rescuing her, she saw that Nahid went to dig for the Almha, and his eyes were full of greed. She then knew Nahid was not being honest with her.

4. Next, Nahid was imprisoned, and she set him free even though she had recently learned he had lied to her. Then, Nahid knocked her out, stole the Almha and took it to the enemy clan.

5. Jabari and his clan were having secret ceremonies to prepare for battle, and would kill any woman who witnessed them. But Elizabeth said she must go and risk her life just to tell Jabari that she loved him. Since she had told him she loved him earlier, she did not need to risk her life to tell him again.

6. Next, she ran off during the night to the enemy camp with plans to retrieve the Almha, but she had no means to do it. Instead, she was immediately captured and they planned to kill her. Then, Jabari and his clan had to put themselves at risk and attack to save her life. Throughout the book Elizabeth kept talking of how smart she was, yet her actions were stupid and her perceptions about her uncle were wrong.

7. Next, Jabari did something stupid. He was sword fighting Fareeq, the leader of the enemy. During the middle of the fight, Fareeq dropped his sword, Jabari should have killed him in that moment, but instead, Jabari gave the sword back to Fareeq, who then cut Jabari's arm before Jabari killed Fareeq. That did not make sense to me. One does not give the enemy a weapon in the middle of the battle.

Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: five. Setting: 1892 Egypt. Copyright: 2002. Genre: historical romance.