The hero, Khepri, was adopted as a young boy by the Khamsin tribe of warriors when his family are killed in Egypt. Badra was sold as a slave at the age of 11 to a sadistic sheik and suffered years of rape and torture. Reading about this type of abuse was rather difficult and made me cringe but the author's note reminds the reader that this type of thing still goes on all over the world. Khepri is actually Kenneth, heir to an English dukedom (why is it always a duke?). When Badra is captured from the evil sheik, Khepri swears to protect her and he falls in love with her. Badra had many traumatic experiences and it takes her a LOOOONG time to overcome them as one would expect. I loved Khepri, totally yummy. But Badra was too meek for my taste. My favorite part was the camaraderie and teasing about 'male parts' between Khepri and his foster brothers; a nice touch of humor. Badra finally overcovers her fears culminating in some very hot sex scenes! The decriptions of life in the desert were fascinating too. All loose ends were tied up rather tidily including burning down the brothel where Badra was imprisoned. (Grade: B-) ( )