from the back cover:

Abigail Merchant is determined to prove her worth as a librarian to the stodgy old men running the British Museum. When she uncovers the journals of an eccentric scholar in the museum basement, she sees the opportunity to earn the curators' respect and vows to complete the old boy's search for the remnants of the Great Library of Alexandria...even if she has to go all the way to Timbuktu to do it.

Drawing on her inheritance, Abigail travels on her own to Casablanca, where her quest becomes entangled with the fate of a handsome ex-legionnaire with a murky past and a questionable future. Arrogant, brash Apollo Smith hardly inspires trust, but he certainly inspires unladylike thoughts. Together they discover the remnants of the great library--including a scroll that will change both their lives, The Book of the Seven Delights. But a host of vengeful legionnaires and greedy bandits is soon on their trail, threatening to steal their priceless archaeological find... and put an end to the sensual delights they have just begun to discover...