Stephanie Darvill, Army officer's daughter and horse veterinarian, arrives in deep desert Arabia. She is traveling unaccompanied and hopes to secure a job in the stables of Bahrym. Her father is too busy treating horses during the lengthy Napoleonic Wars to attend himself, and Stephanie hopes nobody will mind if she arrives in his stead. THE HARLOT AND THE SHEIKH is the latest in a series called Hot Arabian Nights by Marguerite Kaye, who explains that her intrepid traveling ladies are based on real women of the day; but she has chosen to leave out many controversial issues and focus on the people.

Prince Rafiq would not entertain a woman in his stables except that he is literally in despair. His prized Arabian horses are being struck by a mysterious illness at a time when he needs to win an endurance race. Following the death of his wife two years previously, the women's quarters in his palace are used only by servants, so at least he has rooms where Stephanie can stay respectably. But the stable master and grooms are not going to accept a woman telling them what to do, while Rafiq is puzzled that she can travel without a husband. Stephanie, who is partly Egyptian, had a murky past relationship which she hopes to escape, so she's had to put up with the name harlot before now. Not that she's admitting as much to the handsome sheikh.

From the sumptuous palace to the beautifully appointed, airy stables, and from a cool lush oasis to the sensuous clothing, Marguerite Kaye has done her trademark work of describing the setting so well as to make me feel I was there - and to make me want to go. I'm a horse lover so the Arabian horses caught my attention, but I quickly became captivated by the adventure and romance. Two people haunted by past deeds and failings, meet in the desert where they have to finally face themselves. Only then can they be free to start new lives.

I enjoy the historical romance genre and in particular this series focuses on women of science, who could not get papers published under their own names at the time. Culture contrast and exotic adventure await in THE HARLOT AND THE SHEIKH, a book to warm readers no matter how cold the weather.