How one story led to another... 

Some time ago I wrote a book called THE DESERT KING'S PREGNANT BRIDE about an Australian horsewoman who fell in love with a dashing Arabian prince. In that book my heroine, Maggie, had been abandoned as a child by her mother who took Maggie's younger sister with her, leaving Maggie to the cold comfort of her father's care. 

I'd planned a follow up book immediately - wanting to write the story of Cassie, Maggie's younger sister who'd grown up not knowing she even had a sibling. But one thing led to another and that book wasn't written. However, Cassie's character was real in my mind, as was her difficult childhood, brought up by a mother who supported herself as a rich man's mistress. Eventually, after working through and discarding several ideas where Cassie crossed the globe to be reunited with her sister, I took my editor's advice and concentrated not on the reunion but on Cassie's own love story. 

The result is a story with not a sister in sight, but I hope you find it as satisfying as I do. Cassie is travelling in the Middle East because she's re-evaluating her priorities and has volunteered to work as an English language teacher in a remote town. On the way she's kidnapped by bandits from across the border and swept into a dangerous world completely beyond her experience. 

I asked myself what a modern, independent woman would do if kidnapped and presented to a visiting sheikh as a love slave. It was a situation so fraught with dark emotion and danger that I couldn't resist. Nor could I pass on the chance to explore some of the fantasy elements of the sheikh story. 

The lure of the story was all the stronger because the man to whom she's presented prides himself on his honour and his self control. Circumstances are such that he can't simply reject the offer of a female companion, or leave the remote encampment for his own country. He has a mission to complete and it's vital he remain. Which means Cassie and Amir must share his luxurious accommodation and his bed, till his business is complete. Yet pretending to be a kept woman is Cassie's worst nightmare. Both Amir and Cassie are forced to face their demons, even as they find themselves drawn into a relationship unlike any they've ever had. 

This story was one of the most intense I've written and was pure pleasure to write. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.