Title: As You Desire
Author: Connie Brockway
Publishing Date: 1997
Genre: Historical
Rating: A
Sensuality: Warm
Desdemona Carlisle lives in Egypt with her Grandfather. She manages to get herself kidnapped by a young boy who belongs to a tribe of men. Her long time friend Harry Braxton comes to her rescue and brings her safely back home. Desdemona and Harry have had feelings for one another for years now that they have kept hidden from each other. When Harry’s cousin, Blake Ravenscroft comes to Egypt, he sets in motion a series of events which force Harry and Desdemona to face their true feelings for each other.
As You Desire is a wonderful book. It has everything I have come to love in a romance, plenty of adventure, a passionate and noble hero, and a good mixture of laughs and tension. Desdemona seems to find herself in little scrapes here and there and Harry is always looking out for her. Her grandfather who really should be the one to protect Dizzy (as Harry likes to call her) is like the absentminded professor. He is too busy cataloging his ancient relics to be bothered by Dizzy’s misadventures. Therefore Dizzy gets away with a lot of behaviors in Egypt that she wouldn’t normally if she lived in England.
A strength and point in favor to this book is that many of the characters were multifaceted. Just when you expect them to act a certain way, they surprise you and show you that there is more to them than just what is shown on the surface. Also, there are some beautifully written passages in this book that read more like poetry than a normal work of fiction. There is a scene where Harry waxes poetic about Desdemona’s attributes and it truly is a work of art. I also thought the addition of Dizzy’s thoughts as passages out of a gothic novel was a cute touch. This was a very well written and very enjoyable book.
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5 comments:
This looks really good. I'm a total sucker for Egypt, so I'll definitely have to see if I can find it somewhere.
I have tried reading this one so many times, but I just can't get into it.
I still have the book, and I will try again. I really want to know find out for myself all these things people seem to like about it.
Isn't this one wonderful???? And yet, I've read that it was one of her books that didn't sell so well. I don't understand it because I thought it fabulous. Maybe the setting had something to do with it, but I found it SO refreshing to see the change in location. And Harry - wasn't he just to die for?
This is one of my least favorite Brockway's, but I know many, many other readers adore it. Have you read All Through the Night? OMG, awesome!!
I also loved My Dearest Enemy. But for some reason this one just didn't work for me. I'm really glad you liked it though!
Lana, I totally love stories set in Egypt too. Have you read Elizabeth Peters? She is great if you haven't.
Seneca, Wow, I am kind of surprised because I remember you really liking The Bartered Bride. I would think that you would like this story. What is it about it? Does the pacing seem to slow for you?
Kristi, God yes! Harry was great. When he was describing Dizzy in comparison to Egypt it was so moving and touching. La sigh.
Kati, I have read All Through the Night and I don't think I liked it as much as I did this one. Of course it was a year or so ago and I can't seem to recall the details of that book. Sheesh, that's bad.
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