Title: Cairo Nights
Author: Sandra Sookoo
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy from author
Published: March 2012 by Liquid Silver Books
Losing something you want the most makes you stronger -or an easy target.Joy Debinham, daughter of an English missionary, hides a secret heartache while working with Egypt's poverty stricken. As she attempts to save the children from easily curable diseases, she has another interest - keeping Egypt's treasures in the country. But the arrival of Quinn ignites her banked passion and becomes the obsession that might put her life in danger.
Quinn Handry, an enterprising American from humble roots, has come to Egypt for one reason - the money. He's done many things for a buck, but brokering stolen antiquities is the most lucrative. In order to reclaim what he lost years ago, he's always on the hunt for treasures until the day he meets Joy and everything dims compared to the desire she invokes in him.
During perfumed Egyptian nights, the heat between them flares while acquaintances conspire to destroy them. Danger doesn't stay confined to tombs and pushes them to finally realize what matters most - if they can live long enough to claim it.
Reviewed By: J9
In a Nutshell: Great sexy historical with strong leads and unique setting. Just why I read historical romance!
The Set Up: Joy is the daughter of an English missionary struggling to contain her heartache while working with Egypt’s poor. Quinn is a crass American treasure hunter but drawn to the sensual Joy. While enjoying each other, Quinn and Joy have enemies trying to destroy them.
Why I Read this Book: I’ve recently read a few Liquid Silver Books and enjoyed them. So I was on their website and read an excerpt of Cairo Nights and was hooked.
What I Liked: The characters of Joy and Quinn are realistic and compelling. I like that Joy is self-determined with her life and her sexuality even while living with deep heartache. Quinn too is a compelling character rather different in historical romance because he’s not wealthy or titled. He’s been a wanderer in life and searching for ties in the world. It’s lovely reading Quinn and Joy create a relationship that becomes home for both of them. I really liked these characters and their sexual and emotional romance.
What I Also Liked: The Egyptian setting is very well described. It’s rather rare to read historical romance set in place other than England or America and I loved this setting. The pyramids, the native people, the weather and the food combine to create a gorgeous backdrop to this romance.
What I Didn’t Like: As lovely as the setting and characters are, this isn’t the kind of book for historical sticklers, which I’m not. I noticed this multiple times, for instance, when Joy likened her attraction to Quinn to an addict needing his next hit; clearly not language of the 1888. This didn’t bother me much but it may for some readers.
Also, the villains were very stock evil with one of their motives simply being psychosis. It served to add the tension to the story so I don’t hold it against the novella but don’t expect anything nuanced with the villains. Still, even this wasn’t bad since it allowed Joy to rescue Quinn in a way that had me cheering.
IMO: I really enjoyed this novella and think other fans of steamy MF historical romance will too. I may just read more from this author too!
J9’s Rating:
I'm not a stickler for historical accuracy either (although phrasing like that might take me out of the story at times) and I like that Quinn isn't titled. For some reason I can't really enjoy a "proper" historical romance. I get to irritated by things like not being able to show your ankle lol
ReplyDeleteNot this one! I love that the hero/heroine are both so self-determined about their lives, including their sexuality. I think this was a great historical and highly recommend it.
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