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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This latest Book in the Khamsin Series by Bonnie Vanak seduces the reader with amazing twists and turns on every page!, September 8, 2009
This review is from: The Lady & the Libertine (Leisure Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
Nigel Wallenford, Earl of Claradon is a man in hiding. He is hiding from his family, the disreputable life he had chosen to live and his emotions toward a child he thought was his son. He is pretending to be his twin brother Thomas to ensure that he will be regarded with the respect that his brother has gained and that Nigel had lost through bad deals and abuse of everyone's trust. Nigel spent so much time convincing himself that he has no feelings for anyone that when he is faced with them he does what he does best - run as far as he can from them. But running away from Karida was not a possibility once he realized how deep those feelings ran and that possessing her was not an option but a necessity.
Nigel meets Karida while in Egypt trying to steal her necklace. This necklace holds the secret to a treasure that he needs to regain his titled home, save his son from certain demise and help him become what he really is at his core a gentleman. But from the first moment that he meets Karida he is confronted with a feeling he thought he was not capable of - unbridled and deep affection for another human being.
Karida had been hiding as well in the desert with the Khamsin tribe since she was a child released from the workhouses of England. She feels that she is a fraud living amoung people that are not her family or share her past. But her duty to protect the necklace that she has been entrusted with is real and she must keep the secret to the tombs of Egypt safe.
Nigel is as determined to keep his feelings and emotions in check while he attempts to take the jewels from Karida. However what he discovers is that there is so much more to this woman than he could have ever expected or hoped for. She is a person that has felt unloved by her true father and jilted by suitors who were to take her as their bride but feel she is damaged due to childhood injuries. Nigel does not see himself as her salvation but once he sets his sights on her there was little she could do to stop his pursuit. Nigel follows her across England and back to Egypt to convince her of his feelings which unlike anything else in his life are true and real. While he thinks it is not quite appropriate to use trickery to have her become his wife if that is what it takes than he will not be above it.
Once they are married and take their trek across the desert to unravel the secrets of the tomb both of them discover what it is to love and more importantly be loved by someone else with no inhabitations.
This book is the latest is an amazing series that never stops moving from page one. The characters are real, flawed and try as they might to make themselves unlovable they are. Bonnie Vanak has kept this series fresh with each book and though this one moves back in the series by a number of years you never feel that you are cheating with information you already know about other characters. While it is always a good idea to read a series from the beginning this book as with all the others stands alone and is a pleasure to read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another sensual thriller from Bonnie Vanak!, March 29, 2009
This review is from: The Lady & the Libertine (Leisure Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
Bonnie Vanak proves yet again why she's one of Leisure/Dorchester's best authors with this latest offering. Her talent for mingling exotic settings with captivating heroines, guaranteed-to-melt-your-butter heroes, and spellbinding story is unsurpassed.
Set again in Egypt, "Lady and the Libertine" gives us a romance with Nigel, a handsome and seemingly conscienceless thief, and Anne/Karida, guardian of a treasure he's determined to make his own. Ms. Vanak gives us a hero whom we want to dislike yet yearn to redeem, and a heroine who has been scarred by life yet still full of love and innocence. (Such a refreshing change from dewy-eyed virgins that permeate so much of romance).
I highly recommend this book, as well as "Tiger and the Tomb." Enjoy.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vanak's latest is a winner, April 30, 2009
This review is from: The Lady & the Libertine (Leisure Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
Set in the Egyptian desert, The Lady and the Libertine is a wonderful story of unconditional love and redemption. The characters are a delight.
Hero Nigel Wallenford, Earl of Claradon is a bad boy in every sense of the word. He has lied and cheated to get what he wants and he desperately desires a beautiful ruby worn around the lovely neck of heroine Karida. The ruby holds the key to a treasure trove buried in the desert.
Karida is a complex woman. She is a British subject rescued from a workhouse as a child and adopted by a Bedouin Sheik and his British wife. She at one time was a thief but now wears the ruby as a matter of honor to show the world she has reformed, she is now the protector of the ruby. She has no marriage prospects as she is believed to be barren. When she discovers that Nigel has stolen her ruby, she follows him to London to retrieve her stolen gem.
Nigel has a good reason for needing money, even an honorable one but he never tells Karida this, instead he is content to let her think the worst of him because he truly believes he is unredeemable. There is great desire between the two of them though and when they act upon their feelings they are tender, passionate and giving. Karida sails back to her homeland hoping to forget Nigel.
Ah, but that is not to be because Nigel is just two steps behind her and here the story gets even better. Now both people have to really come to grips with their feelings and learn to trust one another, a difficulty for both of them, but especially so for Nigel. I loved how the author created such complex characters. Nigel is a wonderful, wounded hero who wants to do the right thing but recognizes that it may hurt those he cares for the most. Karida must give up cherished notions and recognize that life is not always black and white. The inner musings these two have is profound but so is their outward dialogue, which always move the story forward. Their conversations are beautifully written. Nigel's transformation from angry nobleman to self sacrificing hero is utterly convincing. I have read many of Bonnie Vanak's Egyptian set novels and have to state that this is her best.
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