The Price of Passion

Cleopatra Fraser is a great heroine - the scholarly spinster type, but with a difference. After a brief prologue that takes place in Egypt, we next meet her in Scotland, upon the eve of an academic conference meant to showcase her and her father's archeological findings. She's the brains behind the operation, her father merely a figurehead more obsessed with discovering the resting place of Alexander the Great than considerate of the concerns, feelings, and needs of his three daughters. He works Cleopatra to the bone, takes credit for her work, and he can because she's a woman. I didn't like her father to say the least. Even though she is a doormat in this respect, somehow this doesn't make Cleopatra seem weak to me. She's restricted show more more by her gender than her father, who is really more neglectful and oblivious than anything else. And Cleopatra's strengths shine through despite her repressed situation in Scotland - she's more used to the freedoms and adventures of exotic lands than the niceties of the "civilized" world. We get glimpses of her life and who she is in that different setting through flashbacks to her time spent in Egypt and Greece. I wish that the book could have taken place in Egypt - it's my favorite setting and there are sadly so few romances that take place there. The flashbacks are still powerful and evocative though, and paint a picture of Cleopatra as a gun toting, intelligent, fearless woman.

The flashbacks are also instrumental in revealing piecemeal Cleopatra's relationship with Azrael "Angel" David Evans. He seduced her ten years ago, when she was just sixteen, and he worked with her father on a dig in Egypt. Their ways parted afterwards, but have crossed and recrossed in various encounters and adventures throughout the ten years since then. This includes a professional rivalry, each outwitting and chasing after the other in an attempt to get their hands on the same treasure, the treasure that Cleopatra finally won and that is supposed to go on display at the conference. A secret cult organization thing is also after this treasure, and provides for some action/adventure near the end. As fierce rivals with a lot of history, good and bad, between them, Cleopatra and Evans have plenty of chemistry. I liked how their relationship grew, how the romance was built up through the flashbacks and the catalyzing events of the story. Particularly how they each treat and regard their one night of sin together. Evans is an overbearing, brash American, but as he gradually comes to recognize his feelings for Cleopatra for what they are, he becomes less abrasive. And he falls for Cleopatra hard - or rather realizes he's always been obsessed with her. Whether fighting or loving, either way, they're both equally matched. The Price of Passion is a fun read, with some really beautiful moments - even if it is a tease with regards to the Egyptian setting. show less