The Sheik Retold

By: Victoria Vane, E. M. Hull

Narrated by: Dawn Hyde

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Pride and passion vie for supremacy in this fresh new telling of E.M. Hull's romance classic.

A haughty young heiress for whom the world is a playground… A savage son of the Sahara who knows no law but his own…

"There will be inquiries." I choked out. "I am not such a nonentity that nothing will be done when I am missed. You will pay dearly for what you have done."

"Pay?" His amused look sent a cold feeling of dread through me. "I have already paid…in gold that matches your hair, my gazelle. Besides," he continued, "the French have no jurisdiction over me. There is no law here above my own."

My trepidation was growing by the minute. "Why have you done this? Why have you brought me here?"

"Why?" He repeated with a slow and heated appraisal that made me acutely, almost painfully, conscious of my sex. "Bon Dieu! Are you not woman enough to know?"

When pride and passion vie for supremacy, blistering desert days are nothing compared to sizzling Sahara nights…

©2013 Victoria Vane (P)2014 Victoria Vane

Yummy Smexy Read!

So, I went into this book blind, never read or heard of "The Sheik" until I started reading. Having nothing to compare it to I can only judge the content in this novel. That being said, I really enjoyed this romance. It has an old and new feel.

I loved the language of the book and the flow of everything. Diana is headstrong but dynamic and engaging. I really liked her modern attitude in a classic feeling story. She has a Austin-esque feel to her. Of course, she has moments where she has the old style thinking but not too often. The who book is from her POV, so everything is in a narrow perspective. In general I liked her but she has a few childish moments along the way.

Ahmed, the Sheik, is high handed, overbearing and deliciously Alpha! He reminds me very much of the dishy sheikhs in the old Harlequins that started me off reading romances. There are time you want to kick them in their male parts, others when you shudder in delight at their masculinity. Sigh, he is wickedly enchanting and you just can not resist his charm.

The smexy stuff is quite yummy. There is the kidnapped and seduced elements of the story, I always wonder it it is love or Stockholm in these cases. Still is is definitely steamy, the bedroom door is not only open, it was blown off the hinges! Holy hot and heavy!!

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Dawn Hyde, who is delightful. She does a great job with the accents, the British is perfect and really suits the story. The pace was great and never felt lagging. I would have liked a touch more base for the male voices, it helps add to the feel in the steamy parts. It is a really consistent read with great energy throughout. I am definitely interested in hearing more of her work.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was delighted by the story and characters. It has an old romance feel in the characters attitudes and actions. I did love it, even if I was not in love with them all the time. It is the same way I always felt about the Harlequin Presents series, but I would always come back for more!

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own.

Great Story

Would you listen to The Sheik Retold again? Why?

I loved this story. First of all, it was helpful to have the foreword by the author. I didn't realize that this book is based on a story written in the early 1900's! Diana and Ahmed are compelling as two arrogant people. Diana was raised by her brother and disdains the whole concept of feminity. She feels that she is completely capable of taking care of herself. Sheik Ahmed ben Hassad disabuses her of that delusion. Ahmed has stolen her because he is enamored with her blonde beauty. Diana does not want to submit to Ahmed, but in the long run, she does.

Any additional comments?

This is a great story. I highly recommend that you listen to this story. The narrator, Dawn Hyde has a way of making the characters come to life. Truly wonderful!

Fun to Listen to !

Any additional comments?

The Story:

Diana Mayo is a passionate strong willed woman. She has been raised with wealth and privilege. She knows what she wants and she goes after it. What she wants now is a holiday in the vast Sahara deasert. She has dreamed of it for years and now that her chance is finally here nothing will stop her, even the wishes of her brother and friends.

Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan is the ruler of all that he knows. No one goes against his wishes. He gets what he wants even if it is by force. And having seen Diana in a ballroom before she sets of on her trek he has decided she will be his.

The Narration:

The narration was well done. Dawn Hyde was clear and concise with just the right amount of emotion thrown in at the appropriate parts.

My Thoughts:

I was wondering if I was going to be at a loss with this story since I had no prior knowledge with the 1919 Classic The Sheik. However I had no need to fear. This is exactly what is called it is a retelling of the story and what a story it was.

The author did a fantastic job of transporting us into the middle of the Sahara. The hot nights made even hotter with the relationship building between the 2 main characters were a joy to read about. The chemistry between these two strong characters will set your reading or listening device a smolderin’.

I WAS HOPING FOR SO MUCH MORE

This is one of those books that I find hard to review because there were parts I liked and parts I didn't. There's something romantic about being swept off by a handsome Sheik and when Ahmed did just that to Diana I thought their sizzling chemistry would provoke a passionate, steamy and romantic love story.

However, it was told from Diana's POV and she came across as spoilt, stubborn, strong-willed, selfish and very calculating and Ahmed was arrogant, demanding, thoughtless and cruel showing her that one way or another he was going to break her which unfortunately resulted in me not really liking, or sympathising, with either character. There were a few sex scenes, careless indifferences, aloofness, denials and a battle of wills but, after three weeks of happiness, it was her stupid petty jealousy that drove her to escape which turned out to be a disastrous move on so many levels with devastating consequences and it was all Diana's fault.

However, the last 20% of the book was just what I had been hoping for.... passion, an outpouring of their feelings, self-sacrifice, romance and love but it was all a little too late and a bit unbelievable.

Worth a credit? IMHO, I have to say NO but if it was on sale then maybe.

One Phenomenal Read!

Title: The Sheik Retold [Audible Audio Edition]

Authors: Victoria Vane & E.M. Hull

Publisher: Vane Publishing LLC

Narrated By: Dawn Hyde 8 hrs 49 mins

Format: Unabridged

Reviewed By: Arlena Dean

Rating: 5

Review:


"The Sheik Retold" by authors Victoria Vane and E.M. Hull was a beautiful story told. The authors really knows who to capture your attention in the 1920 remake and kept it with the intenseness that surrounds the read. I have read this novel from my Kindle and also the novel but I loved listening to this story being told by a narrator even more. Ms. Hyde did a wonderful job at bringing this story to life. I knew from my earlier reads that Diana was a force to be reckon with being so strong willed, independent and all but on this journey she really portrays that part of having so much strength to endure what all she had to go through being raised by such a horrible half brother and even more as we get into the read. It was really interesting how the authors brought out that Diana despised being a woman and since men only seemed to love her for the way she looks...so, she decides to take a vacation in the Sahara desert against everyone's advice alone.


I liked this quote from Diana...


"My life is mine and I will deal with it exactly as I wish. I will do what I choose when and how I choose. I will never again obey any will but my own."


We will be presented a story of what will happen when a strong alpha man kidnaps this strong woman. It will be a intriguing rides with a few sex scene that may have you holding your breathe while listening to this erotic story! Be prepared to go on a journey that will have some of it all... adventure, fear, seduction, submission, kidnapping, drama, shock, erotic sex, anger, death, passion to even joy. "The Sheik Retold" was a well written historical, with steamy erotic scenes that you will keep listening to this captivating novel until the very end. The characters were all so very well defined, portrayed, colorful and developed only making this such a phenomenal read that I would definitely recommend to you.

It Could Have Been Hot

The heroine is as likable as herpes. His part is so boring that I can't warm up for him. It's sexier to not know what happens.