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Desert Barbarian
What the desert claims, it keeps
Was the saying true, Marie wondered. On the moonlit sands of a desert oasis, they were utterly alone.
"Why have you brought me here?" Marie's voice was husky with alarm. Did this arrogant stranger want only the ransom her wealthy father would pay... or was there something more?
Her captor gave her a mocking smile. "You wanted to see the wild, free spaces of the desert," he gibed. "So I brought you here to fulfill your dream!"
Was the saying true, Marie wondered. On the moonlit sands of a desert oasis, they were utterly alone.
"Why have you brought me here?" Marie's voice was husky with alarm. Did this arrogant stranger want only the ransom her wealthy father would pay... or was there something more?
Her captor gave her a mocking smile. "You wanted to see the wild, free spaces of the desert," he gibed. "So I brought you here to fulfill your dream!"
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Charlotte Lamb
262 books316 followersSheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 23, 2022
"The secret of your power,you witch, is that i no longer want to be free.For weeks i have yearned to be totally enslaved, even while i struggled against the desire to see you again." - Stonor Grey
***
Come on, this story could have been SO FREAKING GOOD but ended up being a disaster all together! It is obvious that this is a undeveloped and poorly executed adaption of The Sheik in a time where almost every author tried to write a sheikh romance. CL wrote this book like she didn`t even care enough of it, and that is also one of the reasons it hurts me to give it 2 stars since i have NEVER given any CL book 2 stars before. I liked the scene where the rich and bored tycoon Stonor Grey pulled a prank on Marie by kidnapping her and making her endure the harshness of the desert, while also giving her quite an romantic experience of it. I also wish we could get to know him more since he is born half arab and half english.I absolutely related to him saying how romantic the arab language sounds.To me personally,it is the most beautiful language in the world.Both Marie and Stonor Grey were characters with potential and i wish CL had delivered that potential full out. Looks to me that she was too much of a hurry to finish this book.
***
Come on, this story could have been SO FREAKING GOOD but ended up being a disaster all together! It is obvious that this is a undeveloped and poorly executed adaption of The Sheik in a time where almost every author tried to write a sheikh romance. CL wrote this book like she didn`t even care enough of it, and that is also one of the reasons it hurts me to give it 2 stars since i have NEVER given any CL book 2 stars before. I liked the scene where the rich and bored tycoon Stonor Grey pulled a prank on Marie by kidnapping her and making her endure the harshness of the desert, while also giving her quite an romantic experience of it. I also wish we could get to know him more since he is born half arab and half english.I absolutely related to him saying how romantic the arab language sounds.To me personally,it is the most beautiful language in the world.Both Marie and Stonor Grey were characters with potential and i wish CL had delivered that potential full out. Looks to me that she was too much of a hurry to finish this book.
June 7, 2018
“Desert Barbarian” is the confused story of Marie and Stonor.
I’m not sure where the author wanted to go with the plot, so in this one she included many disconnected elements- that did not make any sense pieced together!
When our heroine Marie is vacationing in the desert, she wishes to have a pure Arab experience- hence one night a stranger kidnaps and whisks her away, only to kiss and return her back!
As she returns home, she realizes the man is actually Stonor- her father’s boss who wanted to teach the rich girl a lesson. The story then has the heroine learning various things by getting chastised by the hero, suddenly becoming a nanny and moving to India, getting kidnapped again and an weird love confession.
At some parts, I didn’t even know if I was reading the same book I had picked up. I didn’t like the couple, I didn’t like the authors portrayal of India, and the story (I hate you so I’ll kiss and paw you without your consent) didn’t work for me.
Safe?
1.5/5
I’m not sure where the author wanted to go with the plot, so in this one she included many disconnected elements- that did not make any sense pieced together!
When our heroine Marie is vacationing in the desert, she wishes to have a pure Arab experience- hence one night a stranger kidnaps and whisks her away, only to kiss and return her back!
As she returns home, she realizes the man is actually Stonor- her father’s boss who wanted to teach the rich girl a lesson. The story then has the heroine learning various things by getting chastised by the hero, suddenly becoming a nanny and moving to India, getting kidnapped again and an weird love confession.
At some parts, I didn’t even know if I was reading the same book I had picked up. I didn’t like the couple, I didn’t like the authors portrayal of India, and the story (I hate you so I’ll kiss and paw you without your consent) didn’t work for me.
Safe?
1.5/5
April 6, 2010
I enjoyed the exotic aspects of the book, but really the whole thing was just nonsense. Plus it's hard to take a guy who's unfortunately named Stonor seriously (in all seriousness).
pback-to-read
November 12, 2019What the desert claims, it keeps
Was the saying true, Marie wondered. On the moonlit sands of a desert oasis, they were utterly alone.
"Why have you brought me here?" Marie's voice was husky with alarm. Did this arrogant stranger want only the ransom her wealthy father would pay... or was there something more?
Her captor gave her a mocking smile. "You wanted to see the wild, free spaces of the desert," he gibed. "So I brought you here to fulfill your dream!"
Was the saying true, Marie wondered. On the moonlit sands of a desert oasis, they were utterly alone.
"Why have you brought me here?" Marie's voice was husky with alarm. Did this arrogant stranger want only the ransom her wealthy father would pay... or was there something more?
Her captor gave her a mocking smile. "You wanted to see the wild, free spaces of the desert," he gibed. "So I brought you here to fulfill your dream!"
February 9, 2025
I did not like this one. The H behaves in an absolutely demented way yet somehow it's all the h s fault. I mentally rewrote the book, giving her ninja powers where she overpowers him, escapes and reports him to the authorities. And her mom is a bib whiny baby bitch.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2019
This one goes many places.
March 9, 2021
DNF.
No sheikh-y goodness in this one. I would say only a third of the book involves the h and H together. The rest is the h and other characters
No sheikh-y goodness in this one. I would say only a third of the book involves the h and H together. The rest is the h and other characters
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews