An erotic romance as hot as its desert setting.
This is Amber Jacobs’ first novel with Ylva Publishing and is published as book one of a series. This is really pleasing to hear because if book one is anything to go by, we are in for a feast for the senses in the next installment.
This book is set in a mythical desert land ruled by the female Scion, Zafirah. The story begins with Dae, an innocent young woman from a neighboring land, being rescued from slavery. The raiding party that rescues her takes her to Zafirah’s capital, and into her harem. Infamous for her insatiable sexual appetite, Zafirah maintains an all-female harem of very willing participants. Dae, having led a sheltered and very different life in a society where lesbian love is frowned upon and treated with disgust, struggles to find her place and identity in this new world.
Dae befriends one of the harem women, who takes Dae under her wing, and gradually educates her in the ways of this world and the people who live in it. Dae’s continuing resistance to Zafirah’s charms only inflames the Scion’s appetite for her newest recruit, although she would never force Dae to submit to something she didn’t genuinely desire. Meanwhile, quite a few of the harem’s inhabitants prove themselves only too eager to initiate Dae into the joys of being, and loving, a woman…
Throughout this novel, the two lead characters are both shown to be incredibly strong and determined women, each in their own ways. It was very easy to fall in love with both of them as a result. Dae’s defiance while struggling to understand the desires her own body is revealing, and very well written. The reader knows her resistance is going to waver eventually, but the path she takes to that point is the most exquisite of foreplay. In contrast, Zafirah’s softening from a woman only interested in conquering the physical is equally intriguing. Jacobs has done an excellent job of pushing both characters along converging pathways, without any of it seeming contrived or unbelievable.
The writing is exotic, sensual and oh-so-sexy. Each of the many love scenes, no matter who is involved in them, are extremely well written. And hot! Alongside the eroticism and romance is an action-packed story of tribal feuding. Zafirah’s power is under threat, and she and her warriors have to ride out to face their enemies in a battle that pits new technology against their traditional fighting techniques. The battle scenes are gripping, and the world Jacobs has created is as fascinating as the characters that populate it.
Read this book with the lights down low, maybe some incense burning, a little soft music, and let Jacobs take you to a world where pleasure between women is openly admired and enjoyed, with nothing held back.