Islands of the Blessed: Lives connect in Egypt's Dakhla Oasis in Bloomington, MN

When Oxford anthropologist Pen sees Madison Watson, an American paleontologist, he is smitten--by her beauty and her uncompromising intelligence.
But the sands of the desert are not the only things shifting.
The arrival of Byron changes everything.
He may think of himself as a romantic, but he is a man filled with darkness--something Ib, hiding his sexuality from his conservative family, will soon discover to his detriment.
Lurking in the shadows is the naive but determined Shani, torn between her passion and her convictions.