Desert Rose

I first have to say, this is phenomenally written.I felt such a connection to Jen, her fear, her heartache were shared so beautifully, I felt as if they were my own. As a parent, Jen's situation is one of my biggest fears in life. Walking through this experience with her, helped me face that fear in a unique way. I would highly recommend this story to everyone.

This book is so well written and the story draws you in so deeply it's hard to stop reading. Having worked for a couple of years in Dubai I could fully understand and appreciate the reality of the unfolding situation and could clearly picture every scenario in my mind's eye. It is obvious the author had lived in Dubai as there are many little every-day details she wouldn't have known otherwise. Long forgotten memories of living in Jumeirah and shopping at Spinneys came hard and fast as I immersed myself in the book. As a reader you go through so many different emotions as the story progresses and as a woman at times I was so upset and angry at Jennifer's predicament I wanted to punch a wall!!! An excellent book, one I would recommend without hesitation.My only gripe is that my enjoyment of this book was marred badly by one of the selfish reviewers on this site who gave away two important spoilers. I found myself constantly drawn to this unwanted knowledge whilst reading and it had a definite impact on my enjoyment level. However, that does not detract from my 5* review of this excellent book.****** I would urge you NOT TO READ the review written by ladyalexah as it contains spoilers *******

This book starts off in Chapter One where things start really going bad for Kevin and Jen, and their son and daughter. Being an American and living in another country is as hard as it comes, especially when you have to follow their rules. I hope that everyone gets a chance to read this book, because it is a good eye opener on what happens when things go wrong overseas, and you need help.

The desert rose is a symbol of love and the purity of love. I just don't get how life works the way it does over in other countries compared to ours. If this would had happened here in the USA it would had been working a lot faster and easier... This poor family

I was gripped by the title as I lived in the Middle East for 15 years and then I was sucked into the story from the very first paragraph. I couldn’t stop reading until I got to the very end. I don’t usually read fiction but it was so convincing that I thought it must all be true. The story flows smoothly and is cleverly crafted with the occasional reflection about life in Dubai. Even the part towards the end where the reader discovers that Jaqui, the mistress, had an idea about what happened to Sarah but hadn’t said anything. This part fits neatly into the story and doesn’t seem out of place like so many endings do in fiction. The characters were realistic and the story was simplistic yet completely believable. I particularly liked the way Kirsten Moore referred to the underbelly of Dubai - the Dubai that most expats rarely get to see. The flip side of the coin. The concluding chapter is quite a surprise and again is convincing. It also leaves the readers to use their imagination in terms of how Jen and Kevin’s relationship with Sarah would progress and also whether or not Jen and Kevin may even get back together although that would probably not happen.