Now he's in Egypt, stranded in the depths of Cairo's most infamous prison, and his only way out is to accept a beautiful widow's dangerous proposal. Scholar Daphne Pembroke wants him to rescue her brother, who's been kidnapped by a rival seeking a fabled treasure. Their partnership is strictly business: She'll provide the brains, he the brawn. Simple enough, in theory.
Blame it on the sun or the blazing desert heat, but as tensions flare, and inhibitions melt, the most disciplined of women and the most reckless of men are about to clash in the most impossibly irresistible way.
Comment: This is the second installment in the Carsington Brothers series by author Loretta Chase that I've decided to read in the first months of the year.
In this story we embark on an adventure with Rupert Carsington while he tries to escape an Egyptian prison and his best bet is Daphne Pembroke, a widow who is fascinated by all things Egypt but who has been put aside in favor of her brother because it isn't accepted how much dedication and knowledge she should reveal. The truth is that behind her brother's public persona, it's actually Daphne who works and tries to decode the Egyptian's hieroglyphs and that puts them in a route of danger. Her brother Miles is kidnapped and Daphne's only option to go look for him is the Englishman in prison so Daphne pays for his release and they, along with their helpers, go on the pursuit of the people and the clues to rescue Miles back. Of course, during the journey they realize they love being with one another...
I can't decide what has made me sigh and be entertained the most, if the obvious delight the author had in creating this romp through Egypt or the fun but romantic way the main characters fell in love. Either way, I'd say these two elements were matched very well and the story was a pleasure to read.
I have now read several books by the author and her style is quite unique. I love how her characters seem to be larger than life and confident in their own worth as advocates for the things they believe in, even if when it comes to their personal feelings, things might not be as easy. But this is where the cleverness of the author comes to play, because by the end of the book, not only do I, the reader, believe the characters deserve their HEA, but they think that too, by the way they deal with comes their way.
Daphne is a wonderful heroine, she has that perfect blend of wanting to be independent and use her brain with the vulnerability her life has made her feel. I liked she wanted to do the things she liked, that made her happy even though that might put her role in jeopardy. It was very good to see the plot take place mostly in Egypt, where this certainly wasn't as difficult to hide/use to fit the plot as it would have been were they in England.
I liked Rupert a lot too, he is as clever and passionate as his brother Alistair (from the previous book) but he does seem to be a little better in control of his emotions. I liked the fact he wasn't as easy to be duped by his need to help and to please someone as Alistair seemed to have done before his HEA and I liked how ingenious he was, even if he was hiding that from others. His emotional journey was believable because of his actions but let it be said the author doesn't spend too long in inner monologues and tells her stories as they move along.
This to say the author has a strong plot to follow in this book and all the scenes and information regarding Egypt culture, Egypt details and geography must be something the author knows well or studied well because if does feel seamlessly inserted into what the characters were doing. I actually thought about certain parts of those Mummy movies and saw Daphne partially as Evey, so knowledgeable she was about all things Egypt of that time.
The romance between these two was very well done. It was slow but not so much that their feelings would come from nowhere. It was sweet at times, fun at others and always a sense they were a good team in all aspects. I was truly happy they were discovering one another and falling in love and who they trusted each other with the things they felt they were lacking from their past so they could grasp happiness as a team. I think the end was a little rushed for them as a couple, I'd have liked more scenes with them settled. I can only assume this is a trend through the novels though... for instance, close to the end we are aware of Alistair's happiness but we don't see him in this book so we don't really know how things are. I wish this was more important and visible from story to story.
The plot is filled with crazy scenes and almost unlikely scenarios but it works out in the big scheme of things. Daphne's brother Miles is not just a secondary character to fill a role, he is clever too on his own way and I was glad he was found and rescued. It is also to be expected the villains got their due and the loose points seemed to have been solved well enough.
As a whole, this was a very good novel, there are a few details which I'd change but all in all, it was a great fun to spend time with these characters.
Grade: 8/10
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