Sisters Gemma, Gillian and Josslyn Haliday each have their own reasons to travel to the Nubian desert where years before their parents had both disappeared. In the shadow of the ancient ruins of Sehkmet, the trio work on their projects while each deal with their past in their own way.

Lord George Kilpatrick, a friend at Oxford, had hired Gillian Haliday to locate and mark the grave of a missing relative to put to rest the rumors surrounding his death and bring peace to the family. The rumors that said that he was a traitor to his country and had been a part of a cult that followed the path of the demi-god Seth-Aziz. Following her guide, Gillian had a feeling that something was different that day; someone was watching her as she crested the peek to where she was meeting he sisters. Spying the dark stallion, she could not help but think of the legendary ghost stallion, Al Fahl, the evil shape shifter that was legend for galloping from village to village, stealing young virgins and others to take as sex slaves and servants to Seth-Aziz himself.

Lord Rhys Kilpatrick had never looked back at his former life with any regret. He was an immortal now, he was the trusted friend and Master Steward of Khepesh and the demi-god Seth-Aziz. Bringing the women to the temple was a part of what he did to keep Seth alive, but this woman he was sent to bring into their world had cast a spell of her own upon him. Gillian Haliday had not shied away from him while in his shifter form of Al Fahl, and there was something about her that he could not get out of his mind. He could not disappoint or anger his master but he could not give the woman over without losing a part of himself.

The woman knew too much and must be brought in to their world as the blood sacrifice and consort of Seth; Rhys agreed with the decision but balked at Nephtys’s prediction that she would be spending her life at Seth’s side. He wanted her for himself and would stop at nothing to prove that to her, even if it meant giving up everything he had to claim her. Trusting in the man whom she had felt a connection to like no other, Gillian is headstrong and determined to stay not only out of the vampire Seth-Aziz’s bed but find a way to rescue her mother from the hell she had been held in for so long. Spending as much time as she can in the massive library trying to uncover a way out, Gillian’s time is quickly dwindling. Trying to stay away from Rhys is impossible, and their secret trysts not only bind them closer and closer together but also gather the attention of someone who has a vested interest in keeping them apart and seeing her in Seth’s bed. As the time for Seth’s need to take his blood sacrifice draws nearer, so does the possibility for them to be attacked by his nemesis, Haku-Re. When faced with giving up the woman he loves to his best friend in order to save everyone from the catastrophe that would ensue if Seth was left without a blood sacrifice, Rhys makes a decision that will cut the ties to those he loves forever.

Wow. Just. Wow. I must admit, I read this series out of order and was a bit hesitant about a book that combined vampires and sheikhs, but Nina accomplished not only combining them (and some shifters, too) but also blowing the competition away. Lord of the Desert was what a Nocturne book is all about: hunky paranormals, delicious scenery and locations, dangerous enemies and sinfully Nom Nom sex scenes. I love that Gillian was such a strong and determined woman, focused on one thing above all others: her family. Even above the desire she felt for her lover, she needed to find the answers to her parents’ disappearances so long ago. Rhys was beyond the alpha shifter hero; giving up everything for the woman he loved, he was smart, sexy and oh, did I mention the Nom Nom thing…yep he was that and much more. I am now climbing into the final book in the series and I know that there will be some very exciting surprises for the Haliday women and for me as I take a glimpse into their world for what, unfortunately, will be the last time.

Book Stats:

• e-book, digital format
• Publisher: Harlequin Nocturne
  
• Book Length: Novella
• Language: English
• ISBN: B003U89S16

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Books in the Immortal Sheikh series in the order they should be read:
Lord of the Desert
Shadow of the Sheikh
Vampire Sheikh