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beastreader's review against another edition
3.0
Saba Tarcan is a singer. She leaves home and auditions for ENSA aka Entertainments National Service Association. Saba becomes the newest member of ENSA. ENSA travels all over entertaining wounded soldiers with their shows. This is a big opportunity for Saba as she has never traveled the world.
Dom Benson is a fighter pilot. Dom is recovering in a hospital after being wounded in combat. It is in the hospital that Dom first meets Saba and hears her voice. She was filling in for a fellow singer. Dom and Saba share a instant connection. Although, Saba starts off their relationship slow. As time passes and with each new location, Dom and Saba's relationship blossoms.
Saba gets an exciting opportunity to assit the British Secret Service. There will be danger.
I liked this book. I thought that Saba and Dom made a cute couple. I do mean cute. Their relationship to me seemed more on the sweet side then the spicy side. While, I don't always have to have spicy, I would have liked it to be more, only for the fact that it would have helped with the story. The story was intriguing but it felt like it was slow moving otherwise. I wanted to get to the "meat" of the story, where Saba helped become a spy for the British Secret Service. This did not happen until the last half of the book. Although, the locations that Saba and Dom travelled to in this book were amazing. I did feel like I was right there with them. I did find the concept that women back then were used as spies during the war an very intriguing story. I was glad to see that Saba was a strong female character. I would have had a harder time believing her story if she was not strong. Jasmine Nights is a intriguing, fun, enjoyable read!
Dom Benson is a fighter pilot. Dom is recovering in a hospital after being wounded in combat. It is in the hospital that Dom first meets Saba and hears her voice. She was filling in for a fellow singer. Dom and Saba share a instant connection. Although, Saba starts off their relationship slow. As time passes and with each new location, Dom and Saba's relationship blossoms.
Saba gets an exciting opportunity to assit the British Secret Service. There will be danger.
I liked this book. I thought that Saba and Dom made a cute couple. I do mean cute. Their relationship to me seemed more on the sweet side then the spicy side. While, I don't always have to have spicy, I would have liked it to be more, only for the fact that it would have helped with the story. The story was intriguing but it felt like it was slow moving otherwise. I wanted to get to the "meat" of the story, where Saba helped become a spy for the British Secret Service. This did not happen until the last half of the book. Although, the locations that Saba and Dom travelled to in this book were amazing. I did feel like I was right there with them. I did find the concept that women back then were used as spies during the war an very intriguing story. I was glad to see that Saba was a strong female character. I would have had a harder time believing her story if she was not strong. Jasmine Nights is a intriguing, fun, enjoyable read!
erincataldi's review against another edition
4.0
Gregson, Julia. Jasmine Nights. 13 CDs. unabridged 14 hours. Clipper Audio. ISBN 9781471200441.
Set amid the chaos of the second World War, young Saba Tarcan, an amazingly talented singer performing for the troops in Africa, embarks upon a journey of newfound freedom, first love, and Middle Eastern adventure. She falls for charming RAF pilot, Dom, and together they learn the ups and downs of war, seperation, and anxiety. Saba soon realizes that entertaining the troops and her lover won't be her only mission. Does she follow her British commanders orders or does she follow her heart? Loosely based on stories of female entertainers being turned into unofficial spies, Julia Gregson does a masterful job of weaving intrigue, andventure, and Middle Eastern culture into a powerful tale. Julia Franklin does a wonderful job bringing the story to life using her wonderful British accents to bring the characters to life. Recommended for fans of historical fiction and romance. - Erin Cataldi. Franklin College. Franklin, IN
Set amid the chaos of the second World War, young Saba Tarcan, an amazingly talented singer performing for the troops in Africa, embarks upon a journey of newfound freedom, first love, and Middle Eastern adventure. She falls for charming RAF pilot, Dom, and together they learn the ups and downs of war, seperation, and anxiety. Saba soon realizes that entertaining the troops and her lover won't be her only mission. Does she follow her British commanders orders or does she follow her heart? Loosely based on stories of female entertainers being turned into unofficial spies, Julia Gregson does a masterful job of weaving intrigue, andventure, and Middle Eastern culture into a powerful tale. Julia Franklin does a wonderful job bringing the story to life using her wonderful British accents to bring the characters to life. Recommended for fans of historical fiction and romance. - Erin Cataldi. Franklin College. Franklin, IN
princessjulia's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading this book, it was sweet, light and overall just a nice read. I did think that this book was unecessarily long and at times it would just drag on, nonetheless I did have fun reading it and there were beautiful scenes that would suddenly pop up and melt your heart. I especially loved the characters, they were all so unique and interesting.
I would not recomend this book though, unless historical romance was a something you loved. Even then, I would think twice before recommending.
I would not recomend this book though, unless historical romance was a something you loved. Even then, I would think twice before recommending.
female_scriblerian's review against another edition
4.0
How often does a book introduce the protagonist through the eyes of the love interest? That’s what Julia Gregson does here. Dom is recovering from his burns in hospital- he’s feeling sorry for himself and he’s feeling guilty for surviving. But what was really clever is that whilst he is convalescing the hospital hold a morale boosting concert and the singer is Saba. I was really fascinated by how Gregson introduces Saba first the way Dom sees her. We view her from Dom’s perspective and are privy to all his thoughts about her. We see how he is enthralled by her stage presence, her exotic beauty and her air of beauty. We don’t know anything about her that Dom can’t see or hear. For me, that was pretty clever. So much of this book is dedicated to the compromises that Saba’s desire to sing forces her to make that it was really interesting to be first introduced to her as a performer.
What worked well about “Jasmine Nights” was how the setting wasn’t just tacked on and given a cursory mention every couple of chapters. Gregson described war-torn Egypt and Alexandria so well that you could almost feel the dust rolling off the page. I’ve never read much about how WWII was played out in Africa and I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. It would have been so easy for Gregson to set this novel in the more familiar environment of WWII Europe, or even restrict it to the UK but choosing to set it in Egypt, amongst the faded grandeur of Alexandria felt really fresh and gave a new dimension to this much used time-period as well as sometimes feeling eerily evocative of current political events.
In addition I liked the dynamics of Saba and Dom’s relationship. It had a slow build which allowed both characters to really develop as individuals- which I enjoyed. It meant that when the circumstances finally did allow them time to be together it was very natural, and very romantic. Saying that, although this is marketed as a romance novel I wouldn’t personally class it as one in the traditional sense. So much more happens that it’s more like a story about WWII that happens to feature a well written romantic plotline. Part of my reasoning for this is that Saba and Dom spend most of the novel apart. It also raised questions about what war gives and takes away from people. For Saba it is an empowering experience, allowing her the opportunity to launch her career and break away from her strict family. On the other had Dom’s life is thrown into total disarray, changing him both physically and emotionally.
for more book reviews check out
www.femalescriblerian.wordpress.com
What worked well about “Jasmine Nights” was how the setting wasn’t just tacked on and given a cursory mention every couple of chapters. Gregson described war-torn Egypt and Alexandria so well that you could almost feel the dust rolling off the page. I’ve never read much about how WWII was played out in Africa and I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. It would have been so easy for Gregson to set this novel in the more familiar environment of WWII Europe, or even restrict it to the UK but choosing to set it in Egypt, amongst the faded grandeur of Alexandria felt really fresh and gave a new dimension to this much used time-period as well as sometimes feeling eerily evocative of current political events.
In addition I liked the dynamics of Saba and Dom’s relationship. It had a slow build which allowed both characters to really develop as individuals- which I enjoyed. It meant that when the circumstances finally did allow them time to be together it was very natural, and very romantic. Saying that, although this is marketed as a romance novel I wouldn’t personally class it as one in the traditional sense. So much more happens that it’s more like a story about WWII that happens to feature a well written romantic plotline. Part of my reasoning for this is that Saba and Dom spend most of the novel apart. It also raised questions about what war gives and takes away from people. For Saba it is an empowering experience, allowing her the opportunity to launch her career and break away from her strict family. On the other had Dom’s life is thrown into total disarray, changing him both physically and emotionally.
for more book reviews check out
www.femalescriblerian.wordpress.com
hannahmeir's review against another edition
5.0
Such a beautiful story! Definitely my kind of book, seeing as I love war stories and romance. I can't wait to read more of Gregson's work.
kath61's review against another edition
4.0
A satisfying historical romantic novel with enough depth to keep it interesting.
chrissireads's review against another edition
3.0
I was really torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. It's definitely a 3.5 for me. I really enjoyed parts of it, but was slightly let down by the pace at times. Still, it's an easy read and very interesting.
My full review can be found here: http://chrissireads.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/jasmine-nights/
My full review can be found here: http://chrissireads.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/jasmine-nights/
katykat3's review against another edition
3.0
I was pleasantly surprised at how deep the main characters were. They had slightly similar backgrounds that fit together nicely at the end. The side characters were a different story. They all had backgrounds, but I felt like they had one or two moments where you found out something about them and then you never found out anything else throughout the rest of the book, but you had a lot of questions as to what their motive was. The spy aspect was interesting, but it left you with a lot of questions as you were reading it; I had no idea where the book was going half the time, but I didn't enjoy that.
lostingothicmusic's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25