Strangers in the Desert was a most unusual "sheikh" romance as only the extremely talented Lynn Raye Harris can write. In order for this proud sheikh to move forward, he needed to deal with the past.  Here he thought his wife was dead and now she's been spotted in Hawaii......poor man!

Sheikh Adan and the entire country of Jahfar believed his wife was dead and that she had been buried in the sand, leaving behind Adan and their infant son Rafiq. However, Adam needed to marry in order to be crowned king and he also wanted a mother for Rafiq . An old friend Jasmine was a perfect choice. She would be an excellent mother and Queen. More so than his ex-wife Isabella.

So what could possibly go wrong? A fellow countryman spotted his ex-wife in Hawaii, using the name of Beth Tyler and she was a singer in a Hawaiian cocktail lounge. He immediately needed to confirm if there was a possibility she was alive and if so, how would this discovery affect his son and his country? He couldn't believe his eyes but for some reason Isabella didn't know Adan and he wondered if she was faking it for actually had amnesia. It all seemed quite strange reading their history, their arranged marriage, her immediately pregnancy, her father taking her to America to stay with her mother and how she got to Hawaii and I just knew this was going to be explosive in more ways than one could imagine.

Adan was determined to get to the bottom of things and so he literally dragged her back to Jahfar kicking and screaming, frightened and confused. Isabella realized one thing, she was a problem and an embarrassment. An issue to be dealt with. What she didn't understand was why her mother and father didn't tell her she had been married and then with a blow to her heart, she found out she had an infant son and in the end was told she was not going to see him. Well enough to that, Isabella couldn't remember Rafiq but if she were a mother she was going to see him, hold him, and Adan wasn't going to stop her. However, being the ruling sheikh and future King, Adan had other ideas. Even though the sparks flew between them, he didn't trust her so he confined her to the palace. However, his old nanny and a woman he loved like a mother, heard Isabella singing in her room and so did baby Rafiq, And then everything came crashing down upon them.

I got the distinct impression from reading about Adan's thought about their marriage, that Isabella was meek, mild and willing to please. However, not this new Isabella, she was fierce, determined and when she held her son nothing was going to stand in her way. They came to a mutual agreement, a two week period to see if Isabella could be trusted with her son and so he took them all, including Kalila the nanny and a minimal staff to a the Butterfly Palace located in the Jahfaran desert. It was so obvious Adan was concerned for his son because he loved him so much and he was afraid Rafiq would be confused. He was also concerned for Kalila his childhood nanny because she was older, should have been retired and he adored her. In the end, Adan's mistrust stemmed from his childhood because his mother used her son's as "show pieces", to brag to her friends and had never been much of a mother. It had been Kalila who had loved the raised the prince's not their mother. He was so attracted to Isabella but held back because she was so different now from the woman he married. She had spunk, was determined and she made him crazy from wanting to make love to her.

There was one thing for sure, she adored her son and with every breath fought her attraction for her husband, Adan, because he was still legally her husband until they could come up with legal documents so they could divorce and he could remarry. But there was one thing for sure, she was Rafiq's mother, she would not leave Zahfar and she would have a part in raising her son. But they were both confused as to why her parents had lied and how she survived the desert and why her father hadn't informed Adan she was alive. But that would have to wait, until her father returned from a business trip. I had my suspensions as to why, only meeting her husband a week before the wedding, being a virgin, him duty bound, her being left alone, pregnant immediately and giving birth alone. How depressing would that have been, thrust into royal life and alone?

Just like the hot desert sun, their passion blossomed and yet Adan held back his emotions. Sometimes he was curt with her, sometimes passionate yet she stood firm, so different from the woman she had been before the accident. And then it was time to return to the royal palace because Kalila had a heart attack, he was needed to govern his country. Plus there was the fact he need to speak with her father and get down to the bottom of things. Also proceed with the divorce? Bella, well she didn't agree with everything he said like she used but was she playing a game now so she could become queen? Also, first and foremost, was she play acting with their son to become queen? He didn't think so because he had watched her closely and he truly believed she loved their son.

Just when I thought they could all have it all, her father told Adan what had happened to Isabella and some of it was like I had suspected and some of it was not. And then, the divorce issues and papers were ready to sign. Add to that the complication of Jasmine and Adan's relationship and what she witnessed at the palace. But this new Isabella was stronger and I just knew she would survive. And would Adan realize all women were not like his mother and could be learn to trust his feelings for this beautiful woman.

I loved Strangers in the Desert for many reasons. The wounded young prince now in his adult life soon to be king and a caring and loving father. A woman transformed by an accident and her her singing. A darling sweet heir to the throne, Prince Rafiq and his doting nanny Kalila. A very unusual and powerful love story full of mystery and set in the desert.

Book Description:

The Desert King’s Lost Wife…

Isabella, the wife Sheikh Adan thought was dead, has just walked back into his life – on the eve of his wedding to another woman…

Now Adan is to be crowned King, Isabella must be his Queen – sharing his desert throne and the royal bed… But gone is the dutiful, pure girl he once knew – in her place is a defiant, sultry woman who makes Adan’s blood run hot… A woman who has no memory of being his wife…