“Phillip had a sick feeling in his heart as he tried to imagine what his life would be without Christina.”

Hello everyone! I am sitting here enjoying a caramel frappe from McDonald’s thinking that I should do this every Friday; so I will. Thus, welcome to the new “Frappe Fridays.”

Today I will be reviewing the very first romance novel I have ever read.

Written in 1977, this was not only my first romance novel, but also my first exposure to historical romance featuring a sheikh (sheikh’s will come to be one of my favorite type of heroes…sigh).

This is a story set in Regency England in the year of 1883. Christina Wakefield is a beautiful young woman, sought after by men of the ton. She is approached by the handsome but arrogant Phillip Caxton while at a ball. His arrogance annoys her, so she rebuffs his advances.  Seeking excitement, she travels to an Arabian desert with her brother John. There she is kidnapped by Sheikh Abu and an adventure she hadn’t anticipated begins.

Phillip Caxton is a peer of the realm, who falls for Christina the moment he sees her. When it becomes clear she will not become his mistress, he sincerely offers her marriage. When Christina rejects his proposal, he comes up with a plan; he means to have her.

After traveling through the desert, Christina and her kidnapper arrives at the Sheikhs camp. She is shocked to find that Sheikh Abu is in fact Phillip Caxton who then informs her that she is now his slave. Of course they fall in love and live happily ever after, but the course of true love is never easy. They must overcome many obstacles and people determined to separate them, but their love helps them overcome all trials.

I love this book. After reading it, Johanna Lindsey became one of my favorite authors. I despise weak and stupid heroines. Christina is an intelligent woman who fights for what she wants and protects those she loves. She fought Phillip initially, but when she got to know and care for him, she did her best to adjust to her new life and when the life they were building was threatened, she had a new life to fight for and protect. “He is also my son! I carried him for nine months. I suffered the pain of bringing him into this world. I will not give him up.”  These characters made me care about them and I understood every decision they made. I definitely recommend this book. I don’t care how many times I have read this, it still remains one of my very favorite books.

Happy Friday!

The Book Diva