Sheikh Surgeon Claims His Bride

Brides of Penhally Bay #11

by Josie Metcalfe

Surgeon Zayed Kahlil is formidable, yet scarred. The only solace this deeply wounded man finds is in his work. He's dedicated, professional and brilliant. And he's come to Penhally Bay to set up a specialist children's unit at St. Piran hospital.

Emily Livingston is in awe of her new boss, but she's noticed the pain behind his hard, dark eyes. Her instinct to reach out to him is as overwhelming as the underlying attraction between them. But Zayed closed his heart long ago.

Could this beautiful, young doctor be the woman to show him how to live again, even love again?

Genres: Medical, Romance

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[AG Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was a good book with likeable characters. The switch from friendly to romance happened suddenly and quickly, though. There really was no transition from "we can only be friends" to a marriage proposal. I did like the book but would have enjoyed it a lot more if that part had been explored more.

This was a clean read with a fade-to-black bedroom scene. If you are a reader who requires a lot of sexual chemistry or full sex scenes in a romance, this is not your book. There was good intimate connection and attraction shown in the character's thoughts.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zayed Kaylil is a brilliant surgeon and incidentally a sheikh. He is deeply wounded and still carries scars from an event that changed his life. When he meets Emily while on a short term contract at St. Piran's hospital they bond immediately but he knows they can have no future.

Emily is drawn to Zayed, seeing his suffering, but he is only temporarily in England. Soon he will return to his own country. She has returned to care for her dying grandmother and that has to be her priority.

I enjoyed seeing these two from such different backgrounds find common ground. The ending was satisfying.

[Judith Rich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of course this was as bad as the title makes it sound, with two unnecessary disasters thrown in for good measure.

On the plus side, our plucky heroine is actually a doctor, not a nurse - paediatric surgical registrar, no less. Obviously she'll never make consultant, as she'll marry a sheikh instead (I don't feel that's a spoiler, bearing in mind the title!), but hey, one step at a time in the conventional world of romance novels. And this is a conventional one, without the sex scenes I've come to expect in contemporary romance - this is back to the good old days of Woman's Weekly stories! So if you like a steamy romance, look elsewhere.

One star doesn't mean I didn't like it, more that it's so bad it's good, like all other romance novels with "Sheikh" in the title!

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Brides of Penhally Bay
Category: Classic Romance

[Miz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easy to read but rapidly descends into incomprehensible mush with phrases that are copied and pasted throughout the book.