Sheikh Kahlil al-Assad hasn't forgiven Bryn for abandoning her wedding vows. Then he discovers that he's also missed out on the first years of his son's life. Kahlil decides to take revenge.
Bryn didn't realize — they are still husband and wife! She knows she can't deny Ben the daddy he's been asking for. So she agrees to return to Kahlil's desert kingdom. There she finds herself consigned to the harem quarters, where she must prepare for being taken back...into the Sheikh's bed!
Born in Visalia, California, I'm a small town girl at heart. I love central California's golden foothills, oak trees, and the miles of farmland. In my mind, there's nothing sweeter in the world than the heady fragrance of orange blossoms on a sultry summer night.
As a little girl I spent hours on my bed, staring out the window, dreaming of far off places, fearless knights, and happy-ever-after endings. In my imagination I was never the geeky bookworm with the thick coke-bottle glasses, but a princess, a magical fairy, a Joan-of-Arc crusader.
My parents fed my imagination by taking our family to Europe for a year when I was thirteen. The year away changed me (I wasn't a geek for once!) and overseas I discovered a huge and wonderful world with different cultures and customs. I loved everything about Europe, but felt especially passionate about Italy and those gorgeous Italian men (no wonder my first very Presents hero was Italian).
I confess, after that incredible year in Europe, the travel bug bit, and bit hard. I spent much of my high school and college years abroad, studying in South Africa, Japan and Ireland. South Africa remains a country of my heart, the people, the land and politics complex and heart-wrenching.
After my years of traveling and studying I had to settle down and earn a living. With my Bachelors degree from UCLA in American Studies, a program that combines American literature and American history, I've worked in sales and marketing, as well as a director of a non-profit foundation. Later I earned my Masters in Writing from the University of San Francisco and taught jr. high and high school English.
I now live in Seattle and Hawaii with my three sons. I never mind a rainy day, either, because that's when I sit at my desk and write stories about far-away places, fascinating people, and most importantly of all, love. I like a story with a happy ending. We all do.
A secret baby, second chance story with a cruel hero that made this romance a living nightmare. I'm not kidding.
Sheikh hero thinks his 18 year-old bride was cheating on him with his cousin. Heroine fled after the cousin tried to rape her. Hero always took his creepy cousin's side and heroine knew he wouldn't listen to her.
Four years later the heroine is going to marry again. She didn't realize their divorce didn't go through. Hero shows up to remind her that he owns her and when he finds he has a three year-old son, he makes her return to his kingdom.
The first chapters are rather repetitive with the H/h going round and round about the divorce and breaking vows, etc. . . But the hero shows himself to be a man of action when he *takes the boy away from the heroine and doesn't let her see him for a day and a night. *
Heroine is hysterical, so hero handcuffs her to him. Sex under bondage ensues.
Hero then humiliates the heroine in many ways - including having her kneel at his feet in front of his cousin (her would-be rapist) and threatening to use her as a footstool if she isn't submissive.
Barf and barf some more. This guy is a nightmare. The heroine has no agency, no rights and no allies. Even the servant who knocked out the cousin to save the heroine from rape won't tell the hero what really happened.
This was just a hideous relationship. The drama is high. The emotional intensity is high. The plot holes are huge. But I can't sign on for a "romance" where the hero treats the heroine like a "barn animal." What makes it extra-creepy is that there is no safe word for this kind of dominance. This isn't sex play between consenting adults. Hero could have her put to death for no reason and he would get away with it. He has all the power and the heroine has none. The heroine will never escape this nightmare.
This was a hard book. I didn't understand why she left the first time, why he came to get her really and most importantly why I read this book twice???!! It was just so angsty! You could feel their passion and I really liked that connection. I felt her pain when she was begging at the door and he wouldn't open it, and it made me cry. I like the book. I just wish it had clarified if he was faithful to her during the separation, and I wish his assistant had told him what he saw. As for her marrying Stan, that made no sense at all. She was nuts. I am glad that it ended the way it did but I wish there was just a little more closure. An epilogue or something. Did he have women in the harem was another question I had too. I don't trust my HP Heroes too much anymore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Earlier on as a young impressionable teen I found the idea of the heroine having a baby in secret very thrilling. Now that I am a mother myself I don't enjoy reading such books anymore.
This was an OK read. I would have enjoyed it more if Bryn and Kahlil had communicated better to resolve their misunderstandings. It could have been cleared up in the first chapter if they had trusted each other more. Kahlil was way too arrogant and Alpha for my taste but at the end he finally showed some human sides of him.
For those who like their heroes to be brooding, dark, mysterious, and gorgeous Arabic Sheikh's, then this is the story for you. As long as you don't mind they are also bossy, domineering, cold and at times, ruthless.
I am going to start with saying I normally love Jane Porter's books. This book was a waste of time and perfectly horrid.
h had secretly fled H and had a child. H finds h, blackmails her, then withholds the child. Then H is incredibly cruel. The storyline might have been better had the author spent time flushing out why H was behaving the way he did. h was a spineless, tragic female. It was not until the end where H showed any humanity and by that point it just was not enough to redeem him.
I simply don't understand how any woman can love this kahlil who is jerk through and through and treated his wife abominably. But then his wife has not an ounce of self respect. I guess that cancels it out. Hero is a jerk and heroine a doormat.
Very emotional, very passionate, very well written. It’s never boring.
Having said that, I do have some issues with this story.
- The h and H are married. She thinks she is divorced and she is about to marry another man after 3,5 years of separation. If he is the love of her life, why would she want to marry another man.
- She is really spineless and submissive. She begs him on her knees to let her stay. That made me cringe. He wants her to sit at his feet and she gives in.
- At a certain moment in the book he says to her that he wants a divorce. She then tells him that she won’t leave without their son. So if they didn’t have a son together, he would have divorced her? At that point in the book he didn’t seem so much in love anymore.
- In my opinion, she did emotionally cheat on him with his cousin/half brother. Writing such adoring letters to another man, I consider that cheating. She excuses herself saying that she was only 18 then. But being 18 years old doesn’t mean you have to be stupid.
I read in the other reviews that they hate the H. I agree that the H isn’t a nice person, but neither is she. Running away and hiding their son from him without him doing something wrong is not nice. Emotionally cheating on him with his cousin is not nice.
Anyway, it’s a good read despite those issues. I like Jane Porter’s writing style. The pace is good. The sex scenes are steamy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I found the story of Sheikh Kahlil, the ruler of Zwar, and Bryn, his runaway wife, a very emotional read. This Sheikh is flawed and filled with pain. Kahlil did not known that he had a son. Now that he has found out. Will he be able to love and nurture Ben? Will he find happiness in fatherhood and let love into his life? I called our hero some choice names but I couldn't put the book down. I had to know if he found redemption.
Sheikh Kahlil al-Assad hasn't forgiven Bryn for abandoning her wedding vows. Then he discovers that he's also missed out on the first years of his son's life. Kahlil decides to take revenge. Bryn didn't realize--they are still husband and wife! She knows she can't deny Ben the daddy he's been asking for. So she agrees to return to Kahlil's desert kingdom. There she finds herself consigned to the harem quarters, where she must prepare for being taken back...into the Sheikh's bed! (
She had left the love of her life three years ago. The reason why is the story. He has come to stop her from marrying another man. Since their own divorce was never finalized. Her secret will be exposed. I should say one of them will be exposed in the beginning. The other in the end. Can love win or will evil over take the love?
He was hard on her and it felt like to me in the end he would be with her no matter what even though she hadn't really done anything. Not enough redemption for me.