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A review by theeditorreads
Darker Side of Desire by Akiko Hazuki, Penny Jordan
5.0
Published ten years before I was born, in 1984, I had serious doubts about picking up this one. Even though the blurb intrigued me greatly. This is the tenth book that I'm reading by [a:Penny Jordan|19687|Penny Jordan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] and I have finally found my favourite book of hers!
Claire Miles is roaming around the posh areas of London only because her godmother, Susan Dupont, is in town for her birthday. It's her twenty-second birthday, and she's an adult on whom great responsibilities have been thrust upon since she was eighteen. Claire has to not only earn a living but also care for her twelve-year-old brother, Teddy. After losing their parents four years ago, she's all alone in the big bad world.
It is at The Dorchester, on a fully paid stay, that Claire meets him. Raoul D’Albro, who is Sheikh Ahmed ibn Hassan's mixed-blood nephew. Or rather she meets the Sheikh's heir first, Saud, who is another of the former's deceased nephew's toddler son. Whom she also saves from some gunmen! Quite Harlequin Intrigue-esque. Even later on throughout the book as there are murder attempts and kidnapping.
This 'saving the baby heir' endears her to the Sheikh, but Raoul has quite the hangups about his mixed-race heritage and is against employing a European nanny for the child. Raoul has had to suffer, not quite accepted entirely by his French father's side or his Omarah mother's side, even though he grew up in the desert country. In that tone, it has quite the clichèd arguments about East vs West. About Christianity vs Islam. But it's not without its defences too, which cut down some of those judgements. But what I loved about the book the most was the drama!
A book this old means you have to expect that the heroine is a total doormat, even if she was a working woman. And in typical old-fashioned writing, the title was also made sense of. There are misunderstandings, exes who bite (not literally, no), an attempt to overthrow the heir ... like I said, drama! I'm not going into any details here because this book is an experience you need for yourself. All that it missed out, in the end, was an epilogue. A nice sweet epilogue. *sniffs* An epilogue where I would have loved to see:
a) Raoul reconciled with his father.
b) Claire meeting with her brother and godmother.
c) There is a pregnancy. Where did the baby go? Girl/Boy?
d) The warm-hearted Sheikh. I wanted so many reunions and got none.
e) What about the villains and the vamps? Why is there no justice in the world? Or at least one that is shown to us. Lol.
This seems to be a problem with the old Harlequins, no closure at all. *sighs dramatically*
Claire Miles is roaming around the posh areas of London only because her godmother, Susan Dupont, is in town for her birthday. It's her twenty-second birthday, and she's an adult on whom great responsibilities have been thrust upon since she was eighteen. Claire has to not only earn a living but also care for her twelve-year-old brother, Teddy. After losing their parents four years ago, she's all alone in the big bad world.
It is at The Dorchester, on a fully paid stay, that Claire meets him. Raoul D’Albro, who is Sheikh Ahmed ibn Hassan's mixed-blood nephew. Or rather she meets the Sheikh's heir first, Saud, who is another of the former's deceased nephew's toddler son. Whom she also saves from some gunmen! Quite Harlequin Intrigue-esque. Even later on throughout the book as there are murder attempts and kidnapping.
This 'saving the baby heir' endears her to the Sheikh, but Raoul has quite the hangups about his mixed-race heritage and is against employing a European nanny for the child. Raoul has had to suffer, not quite accepted entirely by his French father's side or his Omarah mother's side, even though he grew up in the desert country. In that tone, it has quite the clichèd arguments about East vs West. About Christianity vs Islam. But it's not without its defences too, which cut down some of those judgements. But what I loved about the book the most was the drama!
A book this old means you have to expect that the heroine is a total doormat, even if she was a working woman. And in typical old-fashioned writing, the title was also made sense of. There are misunderstandings, exes who bite (not literally, no), an attempt to overthrow the heir ... like I said, drama! I'm not going into any details here because this book is an experience you need for yourself. All that it missed out, in the end, was an epilogue. A nice sweet epilogue. *sniffs* An epilogue where I would have loved to see:
a) Raoul reconciled with his father.
b) Claire meeting with her brother and godmother.
c) There is a pregnancy. Where did the baby go? Girl/Boy?
d) The warm-hearted Sheikh. I wanted so many reunions and got none.
e) What about the villains and the vamps? Why is there no justice in the world? Or at least one that is shown to us. Lol.
This seems to be a problem with the old Harlequins, no closure at all. *sighs dramatically*