Horrible book :(

Were dropped in the midst of the heroine having been abducted by some egyptians.

Luckily her friend/enemy arrives in the nick of time and takes her home.This raises some questions...

How did he find her? How did he even know she was kidnapped? Its never fully explained (or I missed it because of trudging through the porridg-like dialogue)

At this point if youre 50 pages into the book and you still cant manage to care about the heroine its probably a bad book.

Shes a regular Mary Sue, as she began to read at age 2 and was famous as a child for being able to read hieroglyphics. But she just wants to be "normal"

Part of being normal was flinging herself at the hero as a teenager,but being rebuffed. They still remain friend/enemies and spend a large amount of time describing the others appearance/smell.

Conclusion: If you thought the "The Luxe" novels is the height of literature this might be for you,as both of them have this faux period setting thing going on.


( )

Pretty good book. I enjoy reading books about archaeology, especially in historical settings. Plus, it was set in Egypt. I loved Harry and Dizzy, even though I felt like Gibbs-slapping her upside the head a few times because she would not pull her head out of her behind and pay attention to what was happening around her! ( )

In June 21, 2011 I read "The Lady Most Likely... A Novel in Three Parts", I got it because I was an avid Julia Quinn fan. But I ended up falling the hardest for Connie Brockway's part. All 3 of the parts were amazing, but Connie's story stayed with me, so years later -5 to be precise- I ordered "As You Desire", I started last night and I fell in love from chapter one. Have you watched and liked "The Mummy"? This has the same feeling. ( )

I enjoyed the last half of this book much more than the first half. After the first chapter, the plot slowed to a crawl and it was hard to keep reading. It was a decent read with a fluffy HEA and obligatory Epilogue boinking, but I think it could've been fine tuned to be so much better. The author has a fantastic grasp on her characters and the chemistry between Harry and Dizzy was fabulous, I just needed more of it. ( )

Desdemona is a child prodigy; she has a gift for reading dead languages and before her parents died they sacrificed her girlhood to science, toting her around to scientific conferences and having her perform. She escaped into happily-ever-after books, and when her parents died she went to live with her grandfather in Egypt. The grandfather is a scholar and absentminded to the point of being neglectful; but at least he loves Desdemona and wants her to be happy.

Desdemona arrived in Egypt at the age of 17. She immediately fell head over heels for Harry Braxton; and, enthusiastically but rashly, she propositioned him. But he spurned her, wounding her deeply and causing her to mistrust him.

Braxton is dislexic. He had a miserable childhood in England, where he was treated like an idiot, and escaped to Egypt where he can hide his disability and find a use for his tremendous intellect...he can read heiroglyphs, because he can touch them, and he can hire scribes to write for him. He's very sensitive about his problem, however, after years spent being teased and taunted.

Braxton has loved Desdemona almost since he met her. He turned her down because she was, at 17, young and innocent - not somebody he was willing to take advantage of. Unfortunately, in the process he hurt her horribly. His reputation as a cavalier adventurer only cements Desdemona's mistrust of him.

In "As You Desire," five years after Desdemona's initial offer, Braxton and Desdemona are friends - Braxton is resigned to the role of hopeless, long-suffering lover; Desdemona has the habit of denying her feelings.

The book sends the pair on a host of merry adventures. Brockway does a magnificent job of capturing the setting and the social scene of Cairo in the late nineteenth century; her collection of genteel exiles and brash adventurers provide a magnificent backdrop for the romance itself, incredibly vivid and fun. Her integration of ancient Egyptian history and art is great too.

Both Desdemona and Braxton are spunky, totally captivating characters. Braxton's total perfection is made even more appealing (because it is more human) because of his struggle with dislexia...and Desdemona's beauty and brilliance are, likewise, tempered by the sentimental fantasy life she nourishes in romances, the leftover of a very lonely childhood.

It's well-written, well-plotted, well-paced, extremely satisfying. Bravo! ( )