Silver Angel by Johanna Lindsey

Abducted and sold into slavery, Chantelle Burke has been brought to the palace of the mighty Pasha. Vowing never to bow to this ruthless master's will, the young Englishwoman weakens within the silken splendor of his chambers, and after on glance into his piercing emerald eyes.

The stunningly handsome Pasha is a powerful, muscular figure yet he caresses the lovely addition to his harem with a fond tenderness that only succeeds in driving her wild. But beneath his exotic eastern garb, the cryptic Pasha shrouds his true identity -- one that he finds difficult to conceal when he wants so much to surrender his heart and soul to the irresistible Chantelle.

The more I reread this book, the more I find flaws in the hero. But it seems that in spite of that, I just couldn't bring myself to hate this story.

Chantelle Burke was an heiress but since she was underage, her fortune and future were in the hands of her guardian. Her uncle, whose family had been the "poor relations" before they got their hands on her money, then arranged for her to be married to a decidedly old but rich man. She had no choice but to run away only to be captured by pirates in her escape.

I love this heroine. I love her spirit--she actually tried to escape her captors by jumping ship. But she was never stupid. She never lost hope during her captivity and even after she was bought. And neither did she make any more escape stunts that would have had her punished, most likely raped, when she got caught.

Derek Sinclair was twin brother to the Dey of Barikah. Their mother made him leave Barikah for England when he was ten so he could continue the Sinclair line. After all, she could no longer return to her country of birth without bringing down the scandal of her enslavement on the Sinclair name. But when Jamil asked for his help, Derek had no qualms returning to the country he once called home.

One of the reasons why I like this book is probably because Derek played Jamil--so the Dey could look for the person responsible for his many assassination attempts. "Trading" places is one of my fave plots because of the thrill of not being found out. And it's always fun waiting for a slip-up. And reading about the culture of a harem is always interesting.

The whole Chantelle and Derek-as-Jamil encounters were just absolutely fun to read. Chantelle, or Shahar as all women of the harem were always renamed, did manage to hold off the advances of the Dey for the first few days even if she was attracted to him. That was a brave thing to do, especially because no woman had ever said no the Dey.

Derek was a different story. I don't get why I like this hero so much. Maybe I was impressed by the many traditions of the Dey that he broke just so he could be with Shahar. Probably too impressed as to overlook the fact that he was engaged to be married to his childhood friend before he left England for Barikah. And during this engagement to Caroline he was still dallying with the maids and had no plans whatsoever to be faithful to her during their marriage. What a cad!

So when he left Barikah, he brought Chantelle home with him so she could become his mistress. But he conveniently found out that his fiancee and his best friend were in love, making it possible now for him to marry Chantelle. And she said yes after she heard the three magic words that make fools out of people. But I would like to think that she changed him regarding fidelity. After all, he slept with her and only her the entire time he had access to a harem when he lived as the Dey.

So I love the book. I can't blame you though if you want to hit me with a pan over my head.

Final verdict: 7/10. Read at your own discretion.