Miss Rolling Stone

Change the title of this book to Indiana Joan and the Desert Lion and you will have a better idea about the hijinks awaiting the reader in this strictly old-fashioned, but thoroughly engaging and light-headed romantic adventure set in the Arabian desert.  The heroine, Eolia (not Joan) is a gorgeous, cigarette-smoking, adventure-loving, straight-talking daredevil, who neatly dodges marriage to a Methodist minister back home in Kansas (not Indiana) by accepting an invitation to travel to Bagdad as an assistant to her uncle, Dr. George Bridges.  Dr. Bridges is returning to Bagdad after a long absence to perform surgery on an old war buddy—an Arab prince with a formidable reputation as a great leader, statesman, and desert firebrand. 


One of Eolia's duties is to spend time with the recovering prince who soon finds much to admire in the spirit and forthrightness of his young companion. For Eolia, the prince opens up to her, in anecdote and story, a volcanic world which she had so far looked at from a distance in the pages of books. Eolia begins to observe that in addition to the prince's great intelligence, humor, and idealism, he embodies equally magnetic qualities that are imperious, half-savage, and ruthless.  In truth, a desert lion.


The clink of camel bells, horses racing across the desert, a mysterious and romantic Englishman, and a perilous plane crash are all waiting.  Pack for the blazing sun and blowing sand and climb aboard.