The Tortured Hero and the Sheikhs Harem

In The Sheikh’s Spy, there are good sheikhs and bad sheikhs. The good sheikh’s harem quarters functions like a spa where the women of his palace can relax and be soothed with massages, pedicures and all other good things. The harem quarters in the bad sheikh’s palace are used to house sex slaves. The problem is that they are young women who were kidnapped and are part of a human trafficking ring.

When Rick Green, an undercover agent, ends up on the wrong side of the dark and dangerous Sheikh Mahjub, he soon finds himself imprisoned in the dungeon of the Burindi palace, and becomes a true tortured hero. He’s regularly beaten, abused and starved. I’ll promised to make up to him by giving him his own novella, The Sheikh’s Crowning, coming in May 2013!

A Different Kind of Tortured Hero

When I envision a tortured hero, many things cross my mind but nothing comes close to the sort of torture Lorcan experiences in my novella, To Kiss A Leprechaun.

You see, Lorcan has the most hauntingly beautiful eyes you’d ever want to gaze into. Look inside them and lose yourself in his beauty. Listen to his voice and feel love. But then shift your vision to take in the rest of him, and you are left cold.

A vengeful witch hundreds of years ago cursed Lorcan with an ugly spell that is particularly ugly. Hundreds of years have passed, and nobody has succeeded in lifting the curse. Only the kiss of his true love, a woman with a rare blend of blood and DNA, can lift the curse.

But even if he can find her, will she be able to overlook his hideous face and body for long enough to kiss him?

Put yourself in Lorcan’s shoes… no love of his life for hundreds of years. Children run from him, people wince and frown when they’re brave enough to look at him. They try to cope by focusing on the earth or sky, or some point far away behind his shoulder.

The Kiss is an ancient tradition in the magical Kisswish Village. Aine is the young beauty he has chosen to kiss him on this spring equinox. Repulsed at the thought of kissing the ugly leprechaun, Aine tries everything to get out of doing it, but there is no way out.

What would you do if you had to kiss a horrifically ugly man or woman? Can you look beyond the surface and find beauty in spite of the packaging?

This story is a fantasy romance novella and is a good read for young adults as well as adults. A description could be ‘when Beauty and the Beast meets Sleeping Beauty’.

Will Aine put an end to Lorcan’s torture? I’d love you to check out To Kiss A Leprechaun, the first in a new trilogy. The next novella in the series is To Kiss A Mermaid, and will be available in June!

Lorcan’s plight is very different to what Rick goes through in The Sheikh’s Spy. He’s been thrown in the dungeon of an evil sheikh’s palace, and is regularly beaten, abused and starved. I’ll have to make it up to him for such an experience, and I will in his own novella, The Sheikh’s Crowning, coming in May 2013!

So which form of torture is worse — Lorcan’s or Rick’s? Comment below…

Thanks for stopping by!

Gemma Juliana