Desdemona "Dizzy" Carlisle, a language prodigy who can read (but not speak) 12 languages (including just about every dead language) lives in Cairo with her grandfather and an assorted, slightly off kilter antiquities-mad expatriate community in Cairo. Her best friend, and often worst enemy, is the brilliant, charming, unscrupulous Harry Braxton, antiquities dealer and all around scoundrel extraordinaire. What she doesn't realize is that he hides a heart that beats with true love for her, a love he hides because of a deep, dark secret and a painful past, one which has caught up with him and Dizzy. But in a funny way, because this is a Brockway comedy. Will he be able to screw up the nerve to confess his love for her? And when is he going to do this, with the two of them constantly being kidnapped and his disgustingly romantic cousin visitng from the Old Country, seducing her with visions of constipated looking heroes and crumbling English manors?

*** I forgot just how good this book is - Brockway is one of the best writers out there and unusual in her ability to do both light comedy and dark, angsty romance with equal skill. "As You Desire" is the former, although it has an emotional depth that's rare in just about any genre. It also has one of my favorite heroes - Harry Braxton, who comes across at first as a brilliant and charming if unscrupulous scallawag. Then you get to know him and the deep, dark secret that scarred him and stands in the way of his love for Dizzy... but has also made him the man he is. Harry is tortured without being angsty, a real hero who's overcome a difficult and painful past and become a generous man who lives with joy. However, a large part of his joy comes from his love for Dizzy and the big question in the book is: Can he be brave enough to trust her with his secret? And will she reject him (of course not, dummy!) Nobody in the book succumbs to a sudden lowering of IQ when the dreaded "big misunderstanding" arrives on the scene - instead, there's a real problem with real people trying to overcome their insecurities in that most dangerous of times - when you're in love. This is one of the most satisfying books I've ever read of any genre: excellent writing and sparkling dialogue; laugh out loud humor; 3 dimensional, sympathetic characters (including some fabulous secondary characters, and a lovely little secondary romance). And, it does what the very best romances (and fiction) does: take us on a journey of heartfelt emotion and personal growth.

Conclusion: Recommended for anyone - honestly, who doesn't love a scallawag? I'd even recommend this to people who say they don't like romances. In fact, I'd recommend just about any Connie Brockway book.

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Another great Brockway one. This one is set in the Egyptian desert. There seems to be more history than romance, but as always, Brockway's characters are so well developed that you know why the fell in love. When they finally get together, fireworks happen.

Awesome read! I wish more romances were like this. Setting is in Egypt with a brilliant but vulnerable heroine and a rascally but sensitive heartbreaker. You'll fall in love!!!!

This was a great book with a wonderful hero. I enjoyed the unusual setting of Egypt.

He was her knight in tarnished armor... He galloped across the midnight shrouded landscape, racing toward her on his steed of pure white. Her destiny.. In her wildest fantasies Desdemona Carlisle could not have conjured a more dashing savior, and this was real! But an unlikelier hero was hard to find. Harry Braxton was a born opportunist who had already broken her heart once, years before. How could she ever trust him again? Hary was a notorious rake who came with a warning: lover, beware....
An Irresistible Scoundrel who played havoc with her heart
With her bronze-gold hair and quicksilver grace, the sloe-eyed beauty was everyman's desire, totally oblivious of her devastating effect on men. It was all Harry could do to be Desdemona's friend and bury the corrosive secret that kept him from claiming the woman he loved. But when his aristocratic English cousin laid siege to Desdemona's heart, it was the ultimate challenge in a most dangerous game that Harry intended to win...

Lots of egyptian mystey without being hokey.

Historical romance

Historical Romance and it's Connie Brockway. She is one of the best authors in this genre for great characters, good dialogue, and sultry romance. Anything by her is a sure thing!

The Egyptian setting was fun, and I enjoyed the main characters, Dizzy and Harry. They are both unique in their own ways, but are inarguably still imperfect human beings. Harry is a very interesting hero--he is refreshingly unabashed about being a very, very opportunistic fellow (which he has had to be, to succeed as he has in his circumstances). Yet, despite his many flaws, I left the story believing that he truly does love Dizzy, as she does him. The only complaints that I have with this book are the author's overly flowery descriptions of Egypt and Dizzy's colossal misjudgment of Harry near the end, which I thought was more than a little out of character for her. A thoroughly enchanting story, overall.

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