High born Englishwoman Rose Carson is placed in an intolerable position after her father dies and leaves her fate in the hands of Jack Devereaux. While he is made her guardian, Devereaux is a disreputable, evil cad. Unfortunately for Rose, the conventions of polite society mean she is trapped. Devereaux does not care for convention. He wants Rose and he intends to take her. Rose refuses to remain a victim of her fate and flees to Central Asia to find her long lost brother Stephen.

But an even worse fate is in store for Rose as she rides across the barren landscape of Central Asia searching for her brother. She is captured by bandit tribesmen who intend to use her for their own means. That is until Leo Davenport staggers into Rose’s life. To save both of their lives in the desert of Central Asia, Rose and Leo must be prepared to break English society’s strict moral code. Rose is mortified at the consequences. How can she go back to her old London life?

This book is surprise after surprise. What I expected would happened, didn’t. That in itself makes The Rose of Shiraz enjoyable. The characters of Rose and Leo are instantly likeable. I wondered as I read The Rose of Shiraz, what I would have done in their circumstances. Rose is strong woman facing overwhelming odds to survive. Leo is not above breaking the rules of convention to save the woman he loves. All the characters in the book are believable and easy to picture in the mind’s eye. The Rose of Shiraz has unlimited adventure, untold danger and slow building romance. To my mind, this book is original and fresh and something out of the ordinary. It is definitely worth escaping into.


Reviewed by: Janet