The Surrender of a Lady

Salacious sensuality doesn't quite trump an unlikely setting in this intensely erotic but otherwise incoherent debut. Lady Elena Ravenscliffe is sold by her gambler husband to a vastly improbable harem located in 1840s Greece and populated by Persian-speaking Turks who engage in orgies and hold high-priced slave auctions. Elena willingly serves prince Amir in exchange for the life and support of her infant son and is quickly introduced to a life of pleasure by Amir and his international group of clients. Always veiled to mask her identity, Elena is unable to hide from her long-ago first love, Griffin Summerfield, who kidnaps her from the harem, rapes her twice, and imprisons her until she agrees to love him again. While the searing sex scenes are exceptionally well-written, many readers will find the abusive hero and Orientalist setting off-putting. (Oct.)