Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Sheik Retold by Victoria Vane and EM Hull


The wonderful Victoria Vane will be giving away an ebook copy of this fabulous book!!! Please comment and include your email. Check out the rest of the tour for more chances of winning. 



Book Blurb:

THE SHEIK RETOLD by Victoria Vane and E.M. Hull
ISBN-13:978-1492169956 
ISBN-10:1492169951 

The Desert Was Never Hotter!
Pride and passion vie for supremacy in this steamy retelling of E.M. Hull's romance classic.
A haughty young heiress for whom the world is a playground…
A savage son of the Sahara who knows no law but his own…
When pride and passion vie for supremacy... 
Blistering desert days are nothing compared to sizzling Sahara nights…

"There will be inquiries." I choked out. "I am not such a nonentity that nothing will be done when I am missed. You will pay for what you have done."

"Pay?" His amused look sent a cold feeling of dread through me. "I have already paid… in gold that matches your hair, my gazelle. Besides," he continued, "the French Government has no jurisdiction over me. There is no authority here above my own." 

My trepidation was growing every passing minute. "Why have you done this? Why brought me here?" 

"Why?" He repeated with a slow and heated appraisal that made me acutely, almost painfully, conscious of my sex. "Bon Dieu! Are you not woman enough to know?"



Teasers:  Please feel free to use a couple teasers if you would like but not allll the teasers ;)
Excerpt #1
(442 words/ PG rated)
"S'il vous plait." He waved me to a low Turkish divan. "Come and sit, mademoiselle. I shall call for coffee and then you shall recount to me all that is the cause of your great distress." He smiled and settled his girth into a large leather-covered chair. "I wish to know precisely how such a delicate English woman managed to survive alone for months in such inhospitable conditions."
"I am not so delicate, nor was I alone," I replied. "I was abducted and held captive."
"Were you indeed?" He lit a cigarette and then offered his case to me, but I didn't care for the scent of the cheap Gauloises tobacco, having become accustomed to the rich aroma of pure Turkish Murads.
"I suppose these savages demanded a ransom for your release?" he asked and took a long draw on his cigarette.
"No, he did not."
"He?" His brows rose as he blew a wispy cloud of grey smoke.
"Yes. My captor wanted nothing monetarily."
"Is that so?" He was silent for a long moment as his beady black gaze swept over me. The unspoken implication and his lascivious sent a profusion of heat to my face. Nevertheless, I forged on. "It is my belief, monsieur, that my own brother may have intended to kill me."
"You believe your own brother has intrigued against you? And where is he now, this brother?"
"He is in New York or perhaps Newport. He has a perfect alibi, of course, but I have evidence to support my suspicions."
He nodded slowly and then pursed his lips. "Then your abductor was an accomplice in this nefarious plot?"
"No. It is not as simple as that. As it turns out, my captor inadvertently saved my life."
"Alors! This is fascinating indeed. I wish to hear this tale en totalitĂ©, but first I shall  summon my scribe to record this story. After which, I intend to send an urgent dispatch to the British Embassy in Paris. I assure you, mademoiselle, justice will be served."
He stubbed out his cigarette. "As to your abductor, I shall deal with this heathen dog, this barbaric bâtard, personally." His gaze suddenly narrowed on me with a disconcerting intensity. "You must tell me now, Mademoiselle Mayo, who was the perpetrator of this…this… outrage to your person?"
And in that moment I knew.
 It was not the details of my intended murder that had captured his interest. No, he didn't care at all about me. He desired only to know what I knew—specifically, the name and location of the force behind the simmering unrest—my captor and my lover— Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan. 





Excerpt #2
(364 words/ PG rated)
"Diana, give up this insane trip."
"I will not."
"I've a thundering good mind to make you."
I gave an unladylike snort. "You can't," I said flatly. "I'm my own mistress now. You have no claim on me. We needn't make any further pretence about it, for I am not going to argue any more. I will not go back to Biskra."
"If you are afraid of being laughed at——"
"I am not afraid of being laughed at! Only cowards are afraid of that, and I am not a coward. I have said my last word, Aubrey. It is your own considerations and not mine that are at the bottom of your remonstrance. You do not deny it because it is true."
I knew exactly the grievance he had been nursing. Maybe he now suffered some small prickings of conscience on my upbringing, but I had no doubt that concern for his own comfort troubled him most. Aubrey always had been, and always would be, supremely selfish.
We stared each other down across the little table until his eyeglass fell with a little sharp tinkle against his waistcoat button. I watched his angry flush of color with an absurd wave of amusement. Although we were perilously close to degenerating into a vulgar quarrel, it was a true spectacle to rouse the lazy Aubrey to wrath.
"You're a damned obstinate little devil!" he exclaimed.
"I am what you have made me— as hard as yourself— so how can you quarrel with the result? It is illogical. This is your fault, not mine, but I don't want to wrangle with you any more. My life is now my own to deal with, and I will deal with it exactly as I wish. I will do what I choose when and how I choose, and I will never again obey any will but my own."
Aubrey's mouth hardened. His eyes narrowed. "Then I hope to Heaven that one day you will fall into the hands of a man who will make you obey."
I rose with a scornful laugh, flinging over my shoulder as I stormed back to my tent, "Then Heaven help him who tries!"


Jo-Anna's Review:

I will be the first to admit that I've never read a Sheik type story. At all. Well Angie J from Twinsie Talk Book Reviews told me that this story was really good and hot so I just had to see what she was going on about and boy am I glad I did.
We meet Diana, who of course is travelling and ends up getting kidnapped by the Sheik but let me tell you, I think this is a lot of women's fantasies...hot dark dominating man, capturing you and giving you indescribable amounts of pleasure. Yes he may have held Diana against her will...at first. 

I love these types of stories where the heroine starts off hating the hero but eventually falls in love with him and not after a couple of chapters either. Diana couldn't believe the attraction she felt towards the Sheik even though she knew it was wrong.

And now the Sheik...Ahmed...*swoon* Read the book to find out more about him.

The book also has some action where the Sheik saves Diana several times.

I also enjoyed the way the story was written. I really liked the way certain things were described. The author did a really good job and sucked me in right from the beginning. Thanx to this story, I'll probably read more and more Sheik type stories.

Author Information:



Victoria Vane is an award-winning romance novelist, cowboy addict and history junkie whose collective works of fiction range from wildly comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Victoria also writes historical fiction as Emery Lee and is the founder of Goodreads Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers and the Romantic Historical Lovers book review blog. 
Look for Victoria's Contemporary Cowboy Series coming summer 2014 from Sourcebooks

CONTACT:
victoria.vane@hotmail.comWeb:
Twitter: @authorvictoriav
Facebook: Author Victoria Vane


1 comment:

  1. Hi Jo-Anna! I'm so happy you enjoyed this story and thank you for hosting the virtual tour. Warmest regards, Victoria

    ReplyDelete