Monica Burns on Typecasting

It was a gamble she was born to make…

Raised in a brothel at a young age, Allegra Synnford quickly learned that survival meant taking charge of her destiny. Now, a renowned courtesan skilled in the pleasures of the flesh, she chooses her lovers carefully—vowing never to be vulnerable to any one man. Until a mesmerizing Sheikh strips that control from her…

With a man who wasn’t used to losing…

Sheikh Shaheen of the Amazigh has been hiding from his past for a long time, but not enough to forget how another courtesan made him abandon his life as the Viscount Newcastle. It’s why the yearnings this dangerous temptress ignites within him are so troubling. Worse, thoughts of Allegra pervade every fantasy, threatening to undermine his cover. With old enemies circling, experience tells him he must resist her charms at all cost. In fact, he’s betting on it. That’s a risky wager when it comes to a woman of pleasure. But Allegra has her own reasons for playing games…with a man who can’t afford to lose.

What happens between them is… Kismet

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Typecasting. It happens all the time in Hollywood. I just never thought it applied to books as well. But upon reflection, I suppose it actually does. In my case, typecasting refers to my penchant for desert climates. I’ve read in a number of places that I write middle-eastern books. Truth be told, this isn’t completely accurate. I’ve only written two historicals set in exotic desert regions, Mirage set in the Egyptian desert and Kismet set in the Moroccan desert. Maybe it’s the fact that my heroes are both sheikhs. But if typecasting is my fate, I can’t deny that I’m happy to accept such a reputation.

There’s something about the desert, despite its perils, that has always attracted me. Egypt in particular with all its hidden treasures enraptured me as a child. After I wrote Mirage, I knew it would be difficult to write another book set in Egypt without readers making comparisons. I wanted my next desert book to be one that stood out completely different from anything I’d written before. I still wanted to do another Sheikh as my hero so I explored the possibility of Morocco as a location.

The interesting thing about research is that

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