Trekking across open land in Africa, human hunters force a
Saudi princess to flee through the veldt with a guide as
the key to her survival. This is an African answer to
Crocodile Dundee; we see all the animals from fighting
giraffes to dung beetles and charging elephants. There is
plenty of excitement and character development in this
lively tale.
Dalilah AlArif has lived a modern independent life in New
York, working for an organisation which provides villages
with clean water, and has come to strike a deal in Zimbabwe
with mining executives at a luxurious safari lodge. But
mercenaries are ready to kill her to get revenge on her
family, and she is saved by a jaded guide called Brandt
Stryker who knows her brother. Shocked by the shooting
behind her, Dalilah is not much use at first, her stiletto
heels and long dress hampering her flight. But she can
handle a rifle with the best of them, and she can shove a
mired Jeep out of the mud even with a fractured arm. Brandt
quickly comes to realise that she may be pampered but she's
no helpless female. They face natural dangers such as
lightning, bushfire, flash floods and exposure, and that's
before you factor in scorpions, leopards and the rest of
the wildlife. Desperately Brandt tries to avoid falling
for Dalilah: she's promised in an arranged marriage to an
oil sheik, and the women he's loved had a tragic history.
I enjoyed GUARDING THE PRINCESS which was clearly written
from experience. The elderly tracker forced to follow the
couple knows his job and the details of Zimbabwe and
Botswana ring true, from the bottle of merula fruit liqueur
to the destructive elephants and the characteristic sounds
of the bush at night. Loreth Anne White has put a lot of
effort into describing this flight to freedom - and I bet
she enjoyed writing it. Put your feet up with this one and
feel the African heat scorching off the pages.
It was supposed to be a 72-hour mission, in and out, until
Brandt Stryker got stranded in the arid African plains with
predators before him, a killer at his heels and an exotic
princess by his side. Dalilah Al Arif stirs his blood,
makes him crave things he'd lost long ago—but she is off-
limits, promised to a sheik.
Dalilah's wedding contract stipulates she must wed before
her 30th birthday—just months away. It's a duty she
accepts. But in the arms of her handsome protector, she's
torn between her sense of duty and honor, and her freedom.
And as the terrorists close in, she fears the most
dangerous creature in the savannah is Brandt himself….