As You Desire [Paperback]

Desdemona, or "Dizzy", as Harry calls her, was a child prodigy who knows twelve languages. Her parents took her around the world when she was a child, showing her off to scholars and basically isolating her, so now she has a tendency to spin romantic daydreams and get into scrapes. The only real friend she has is Harry, with whom she fell in love five years ago, when she first came to live with her grandfather in Egypt. However, she once foolishly offered herself to Harry and was turned away, and now she thinks her eyes have been opened to the "real" Harry--he may be a friend, but he's an unscrupulous businessman and is a shameless opportunist as well.

Harry is secretly crazy in love with Dizzy, and has been for years, but he has a devastating secret that prevents him from declaring his love to her. Instead, he settles for being her friend and all-around tormenter, always rescuing her from scrapes and never letting her forget his existence.

Then, Harry's aristocratic cousin arrives from England, and he is exactly what Dizzy thinks she wants: the perfect English gentleman, brooding, and dark and handsome. So maybe he's a bit dull and self-centered, but he's interested in her. Harry realizes that he has to fight to keep Dizzy, and Dizzy comes to see that perhaps the heroes of our dreams don't make such great heroes in real life. But before they can have their Happily Ever After, they have to deal with twisted old enemies, desert slave traders, misguided friends, and their own insecurities.

The *idea* of this books is great, and the characters are entirely sympathetic and likeable, but Brockway's language and execution are quite choppy. However, Harry is enough to give the book five stars. He's a character whom you rarely encounter in romance novels: a hero who has had a lot of challenges in his life, but who works hard to overcome his problems and retains a big heart (instead of dwelling on those problems and becoming bitter against the injustice of the world.) Desdemona is a likeable heroine, and her uncertainties concerning the soundness of her judgment and what her desires are are understandable. Other characters, such as the other woman, the guardian grandfather, and the other man, thankfully do NOT come from central casting, and add depth to this very charming romance.

Brockway does a good job of bringing the sights and smells of Victorian Egypt to life, but this and the repartee can't save a novel sinking under the weight of an unsympathetic hero and little diverting action.