PANTHER LEGACY
Doreen Owens Malek
PANTHER'S PREY , the sequel to THE PANTHER AND THE PEARL , takes place ten years later in the same district of Bursa, where the ward of Sarah Woolcott's cousin is abducted by Turkish rebels seeking to overthrow the same Sultan in power when Sarah first arrived in Turkey. She is now married to Kalid Shah and living with him and their three children at Orchid Palace in Bursa. Shah is in sympathy with the rebels and allies himself with Malik Bey, the brother of a character in the first book. Bey is a wanted fugitive, the leader of the insurgents. Bey takes Sarah's cousin, Amelia Ryder, from her traveling coach by force in order to sell her into slavery to finance his anti-government activities. Amelia is as defiant and feisty as Sarah was a decade earlier, however, and as she tries repeatedly to get away from Bey's camp and back to her family she and the rebel leader grow fascinated with one another. She learns about Bey's past and his cause and helps him when his lieutenant and best friend is wounded. As time passes they share a compelling physical attraction which soon grows into an undeniable, unbreakable bond. Bey, young and handsome himself, is besotted with pretty blonde Amelia. He can't keep his hands off her, despite his best efforts to put the revolution first and his feelings second, and decides finally that he cannot sell her. He makes a deal to release her to Shah just as she realizes that his cause is just and, even more shocking, that she really doesn't want to get away from him. As Bey works with Shah to remove the Turkish dictator and replace him with an elected legislature, Bey is arrested and condemned by a desperate Sultan and Amelia joins forces with Kalid and Sarah to save his life. How Bey triumphs in the end and gets both a new government and the girl makes for a satisfying and sensual read. I hope you enjoy reading these books as much as I enjoyed writing them.