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International Bad Boys #10

Never Resist a Sheikh

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Felicity Cartwright is ambitious, fierce, and has everything to prove. But when she arrives in Al-Harah on business for her new tech start-up, she’s mistaken for the future queen and taken against her will.

Zakir ibn Rashiq Al-Nazari, ruling sheikh of Al-Shakhra, needs of a wife. Inheriting the throne after tragedy strikes his family, his government and people demand heirs, and hope for the future…

Once Zakir chooses Felicity as his bride prize, she is told she cannot resist… and when the unexpected chemistry burns between her and the sheikh, she learns she doesn’t want to. Will Felicity, this western stranger who has an inexplicable hold over Zakir, be just what he and his country needs to heal?

Don't miss Jackie Ashenden's sexy sheikhs
Never Seduce a Sheikh
Never Refuse a Sheikh
Never Resist a Sheikh

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

385 people are currently reading
463 people want to read

About the author

Jackie Ashenden

487 books976 followers
Jackie has been writing fiction since she was eleven years old. Mild mannered fantasy/SF/pseudo-literary writer by day, obsessive romance writer by night, she used to balance her writing with the more serious job of librarianship until a chance meeting with another romance writer prompted her to throw off the shackles of her day job and devote herself to the true love of her heart – writing romance. She particularly likes to write dark, emotional stories with alpha heroes who've just got the world to their liking only to have it blown wide apart by their kick-ass heroines.

She lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, the inimitable Dr Jax, two kids, two cats and some guppies (possibly dead guppies by the time you read this). When she's not torturing alpha males and their stroppy heroines, she can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, posting random crap on her blog, or being forced to go mountain biking with her husband.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
Profile Image for Willow Brooks.
Author 3 books58 followers
August 17, 2016
I loved this book from beginning to end. The heroine was spicy and perfect. The Sheik went stupid for a second but he got it together after a short while. This story had a decent plot and was entertaining. I really enjoyed reading this one.

Don't let the fact that it's book 10 in the series bother you. This book is a stand alone read. Now I have to figure out how to rec it to my sister.
Profile Image for *CJ*.
5,097 reviews624 followers
May 18, 2021
"Never Resist a Sheikh" is the story of Felicity and Zakir.

Heroine goes to a middle eastern kingdom for a project- instead getting kidnapped by the hero, the Sheikh of the neighboring estate. She resists for like one second, then gets seduced and heals his scarred heart. The end.

LOL I was pretty annoyed at how complacent she was. Underwhelming.

Safe
2/5
Profile Image for Esther .
959 reviews197 followers
September 9, 2015
Netgalley for honest review

3.75

Felicity our heroine is a tech genius who started her own company and travels to Al-Harrah to help the country establish a new software. She's a strong, feisty geek who wants her company to succeed.

Zakir, our hero is a alpha sheikh from a neighboring country. He planned to kidnap of a princess that would help his country, but instead he ended up kidnapping Felicity. These two are now thrown together due to Zakir's error. Zakir mind set was on a beautiful princess who was to be his queen. But instead he's dealing with a western women in high top basketball shoes that is intelligent, strong, geeky and heads her own company. Felicity on the other hand is coming to grips with this alpha sheikh that she's very attracted too but is fighting on all fronts.


I like Jackie Ashenden's books and have read most of them. This one was good but I did find that I had a hard time accepting how different these two were and couldn't resolve in my mind that they "worked". Two very different mindsets and the chemistry was there but still found them to be a odd together. The writing and pacing were good.


Profile Image for Maria Rose.
2,631 reviews267 followers
September 7, 2015
There's nothing like a sexy sheikh book to throw you into the fantasy world of the devilishly handsome leader of a country who has kidnapped you and plans to make you his bride. That's the case here with Jackie's third Sheikh story (all standalone), telling the story of Zakir and Felicity. He mistakenly kidnaps her thinking the car she is in contains the bride to be of a neighbouring sheikh, a woman who understands the politics and needs of a country and can be a stabilizing influence for his people. Following a traditional custom, she is to be his bride prize. Instead he gets tech wiz Felicity who's there to present her new software that will radically improve the lives of the people in the desert country, and never imagines she'd be taken by a neighbouring sheikh to his home and forced into a marriage she would never agree to. He holds her life or death in his hands - but oh, those hands! Suddenly feeling an intense sexual attraction towards her kidnapper, Felicity still intends to bargain for her freedom but resistance might be futile...

I really enjoyed this one, in particular because both characters were very appealing. Zakir is the consummate leader - taking over the kingdom due to tragic circumstances and needing to secure a bride to stabilize the factions in his country who would oppose his rule. Emotion isn't part of his decisions, just cold hard reality. He needs an heir, and he needs a woman to provide that for him. He doesn't count on his feelings for Felicity being so strong right from the first time she defies him, but the more she fights back, the more intrigued he is by her. Felicity is a strong and feisty woman, who isn't going to take this whole fiasco lying down. She has a company and people who depend on her, and being thrown back into the middle ages with this handsome but infuriating man is not something she every imagined would happen to her. At the same time though, a part of her is thrilled when she's around him, not only lighting her up sexually but also knowing that he wants her fills a space in her heart that she'd long ago decided she didn't need. It's a rocky ride for sure, and their sexual compatibility isn't going to be enough to build a future on. Of course eventually Zakir is going to let her go (because underneath it all, he's still a good guy) and Felicity is going to have to decide if that's really what she wants after all. Lots of fun with this one, a great sexy read. 4.5 stars.

Note: a copy of this story was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review.

Profile Image for Susan (susayq ~).
2,523 reviews132 followers
September 19, 2015
I have a weakness for sheikh stories. They are my guilty pleasure. So, when I got my hands on this one, I was a tad bit excited. And it didn't disappoint.

Sheikh Zakir was such a dominant male. He's taken over ruling his country after his brother's death. His word is law. And he needs a wife. Major goes to his neighboring country intending to kidnap the princess who is refusing to marry that country's sheikh. However, he ends up kidnapping Felecity Cartwright, an American tech genius, that Zakir can not resist. What follows is a whirlwind romance that results in Zakir sending Felecity back to the US instead of marrying her because he's afraid of loving her.

I loved that Zakir finally went to LA to admit his feelings for Felecity in hopes that she'd take him back. And their nights in the desert were exactly what I'm hoping I'll get when I get kidnapped by a sheikh as a bride prize ;)

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
Profile Image for Ash P Reads.
1,054 reviews16 followers
September 8, 2015
I felt a lot of sympathy for both characters, seeing that they both Felicity and Zakir had disturbed childhoods and disappointing parents in common amongst other things. Each is fiercely loyal to those under their care, equally concerned about their future and well being in spite of being on polar opposites of each other. Zakir is the epitome of control and Felicity the embodiment of provocation. But the way they balance each other out is quite amusing and warms the heart at the same time.

Of all the Sheikh stories I found this one to be the sweetest of them all.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews132 followers
Want to read
July 27, 2018
💝FREE on Amazon & on iBooks today (7/27/2018)!💝
Profile Image for Madison.
62 reviews
September 16, 2018
Being taken away in a strange land yet taken to an area that most would believe to be fantasy in the middle of a high tech world. This was the setting that the main character found herself in-now having the troubles of dealing with the ruling sheikh of the country.

This book told its story in a way that rippled and crushed my heart at points, the characterization was amazing for both sides of the tale.
1,020 reviews16 followers
September 3, 2015
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley from Tule Publishing for an honest review. This is part of the "International Bad Boys" series. I haven't really found them connected, just a theme of sorts. This one is slightly tied to a previous one in this group also by Jackie Ashenden, Never Refuse a Sheikh. In this book, the hero, Zakir, bungles a kidnapping of the heroine from that book and instead gets a very feisty red-headed westerner, Felicity. I've been really into the Nine Circles series and wanted to try something else by Ms. Ashenden. Sheikh books have never really been my thing until I started reading ones by Elizabeth Lennox. I think I had that easy going standard style in mind when I started this. Yeah, I was wrong, this was much edgier.

This book starts off fast and you're immediately drawn into a storyline full of action. Although the timeframe they spend together is short, these two do not have a case of love at first sight-is. In fact, he's pretty terrible and doesn't seem to find her attractive in the least. Zakir is 20 steps beyond alpha. While we eventually learn how protective and honorable he is, he initially comes off as primal, aggressive, and you can tell he's battling himself. He's not the type of guy who's going to have a chihuahua named Keith or talk about unicorns and rainbows to a Sunday school group.



Overall, this was a much edgier book with unexpected depths to it. It starts off a bit dark and you can't figure out how they will ever get over that small kidnapping/forcing her to marry him issue, but softens as they (and we) learn more about each other.
Profile Image for Elaine - Splashes Into Books.
3,883 reviews136 followers
September 3, 2015
A lovely book to escape into, well written with great plot and characters! Take one fast tracked, very intelligent and determined young business woman to visit a sheikhdom and help them develop their internet capability through her innovative tech start-up then add in a rival ruling sheikh to kidnap her and you know you’re in for an adventure. Make the female petite, feisty and attractive whilst the sheikh is the epitome of tall, dark, brooding and handsome then give them both emotional trauma in their backgrounds and things just keep getting better – especially when he kidnaps her by mistake!

This is the third book by this author in this “sexy sheikhs” series and whilst each is a standalone book, characters from an earlier book play a fleeting role in this one – Felicity Cartwright is on her way to see the sheikh of Al-Harah who is soon to marry a bedhouin princess, Safira, when Zakir ibn Rashiq Al-Nazari, ruling sheikh of Al-Shakhra, kidnaps her. He actually thought he would be capturing the princess but the feisty American proves to be an attraction he finds hard to resist!

This series just keeps getting better! The alpha males are hotter, the feisty females are certainly no easy push over and the author’s writing is more engaging. Definitely a good book to curl up with when you want to read a Middle Eastern romance where the attraction is almost as hot as the noon desert sun.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley, too, for letting me read an ARC of this book in exchange for this, an honest review.
Profile Image for Talk Books To Me.
415 reviews20 followers
September 10, 2015
Okay…truth be told…I read a Sheikh book here and there during my Harly days…But to be clear, my mama (grandmother) loved her Harly’s (Harlequin Romances with the white cover and circle photo). The appeal is of course the unknown, the exotic and their famous wealth.


Well…this story was of course about a king, a Sheikh, but from a country that had just opened to the world, which made me scratch my head that Zakir was so open minded. As a soldier and a warrior for his people, he was the second son, the spare to the heir. But mental health issues plagued his brother and ultimately brought him down. Now as the Sheikh, Zakir needs a wife and needs some heirs of his own. Enter Felicity…well, she didn’t so much as enter as be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can’t help but feel I have read this story line before…perhaps a take on one of the hundreds of Harly’s I read.

This book had just enough steam, good dialogue and Zakir sounded pretty smexy when we got some glimps of him. All in all, a fun read and believe it or not, I one clicked to get the rest of the Sheikhs I could never resist, refuse or seduce! Enjoy!
Profile Image for Bess.
435 reviews
March 30, 2016
How I start?? Felicity was kidnapped by Zakir by mistake he really wants the princess by the other book the series. Felicity was there to make a deal and then she was locked with no communication. And then he demands that she marries him and she cannot said anything or be upset, or angry, or do nothing to stop this even trainding a deal with now would cost her freedom.

I did not like the plot. Actually if this was not a romance I would call terror.
Felicity plain calm all the time she was there she did NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And she was sorry with for most things that happened to her by him.
Like: people hating her.
One of Zakir's advisors spill wines on her.
She can't question him and he says he is not an idiot.

I really like Jackie's books but this was did not work for me.
Profile Image for Bette Hansen.
5,073 reviews40 followers
September 3, 2015
The last thing Felicity Cartwright worried about when she left for her business trip to Al-Harah was being kidnapped. Why would anyone want her? Being the super geek founder of an upstart tech company should have kept her off everyone's radar. When she finds herself kidnapped by Sheikh Zakir ibn Rashiq Al-Nazari of Al-Shakhra, not only kidnapped but told she was her bride prize and they would marry she can't believe it! Well really, who would? But he is serious, deadly serious!!

This is a great story. Sexy, fun, and a quick read that is completely entertaining. You'll want to grab this one and see how the Sheikh and the geek really get to know each other. I recommend it.
Profile Image for Hart's Reader Group.
899 reviews41 followers
August 13, 2016
This book was a fun, quick read that actually kept me interested.

The characters were good, the settings were beautiful, and the story line was--while ridiculous--a great break from reality.

I wish Ms Ashenden would've spent more time talking about Zakir's brother and his mental issues. I wanted to know more about what happened between his brother and sister-in-law. Also, I wanted Felicity's parents to get some kind of ass-kicking for being such assholes to their own kid--especially her bitch of a mother.

Besides those things, I enjoyed the book.

I would love to read the other books in this series.
Profile Image for XxTainaxX Curvy and Nerdy.
1,563 reviews509 followers
September 8, 2015
Not quite what I expected of a Sheikh story particular with middle eastern views on women but it was entertaining enough. Felicity and Zakir are a good match. They seem to complient eachother without losing their uniqueness. While it's not very believable, there's enough substance for it to be fun.
Profile Image for Brandy Jo.
425 reviews14 followers
July 30, 2018
I couldn't resist this book!!!

Oh my goodness! What a book! This is the first book I've read by this author and I can't believe I'm just discovering her.

I absolutely loved this story from the very first page and was madly in love by the last page. Felicity had a fighters spirit and fought for what she wanted. Never letting fear overtake her emotions. I loved her snarkyness and determination. Zakir was powerful, dangerous, and quite a bit of a mystery to me at first. He fought his emotions hard and being his position, tried to keep a level head when it came to Felicity but found that harder to do than he thought. The ending was such a good finish to their story.
Profile Image for MandaC86.
1,272 reviews6 followers
August 9, 2018
Heartwarming

I really enjoyed this book. So here's the lowdown he tries to kidnap a princess but get the wrong info and finds that his princess is not the one that he came for. But he kidnapped her because she has seen his face and she could cause more harm then good. But when sparks fly passion ignite and they fall for each other. Theres just one thing standing I the there way his fear of madness that both his father and brother had but he has none of that.
It has no cliff hanger just a really good read although it is part of a series you can read as a stand alone
412 reviews
June 29, 2019
I enjoyed the cultural differences and how both parties had to find a way to muddle through them. It was also interesting the power exchange between the "old" version of how a woman should be and the new western woman that he kidnaps. I like the layers of that the author gave the Sheikh; he was more than what you saw on the surface. In the end, both parties learn to compromise, to find equal footing, a willingness to bring together both cultures and beliefs and a strong, undeniable passion for each other. I will be reading book two in this series.
Profile Image for Aleia L.
683 reviews5 followers
July 29, 2018
👀

I liked Felicity and Zakir’s story. Zakir kidnapped the wrong woman for his bride but decided she’ll do even if she’s not who he meant to take. Felicity is a firecracker who would rather make you see reason than do whatever you tell her to do and I loved her. Zakir was a hot alpha male and I loved him! Hated when he tried to do what was “right” but I’m glad he got his woman in the end!
142 reviews
June 21, 2019
My Opinion

What kind of book was this? It's clearly not a romance. First she was kidnapped and had the hero grab her throat which turned him on. Next she was held captive and informed that she was going to be married. Then during a make out session he bites her throat hard which they seem to enjoy. She exhibits Stockholm syndrome. I can't read anymore. Not for me. I can't recommend this book.
Profile Image for Lucinda.
714 reviews1 follower
July 29, 2017
It was a fair read. As someone with mental illness in my family, I thought she did a fair job of handling that. But she could have done a better job as there are many forms of mental illness. I did like both Zakir and Felicity very much, though. Felicity was a little spitfire and sure threw Zakir for a loop! Loved that!
Profile Image for Lisa.
1,468 reviews5 followers
January 4, 2019
What a storyteller!

Graceful method of telling a story including all those little bits to build and enhance the story and what a story! Young CEO Felicity Cartwright goes to Al-Harahan to sell her internet software only to be kidnapped by a rival Shiekh, Zakir. Only falling in love can be fatal if the sheikh falls in love.
Profile Image for SandyL.
3,730 reviews
December 2, 2023
Felicity Cartwright travels to a middle eastern country to try and sell her software program, but gets kidnapped and brought to a neighboring country. The man who abducted her has claimed her as his bride, but Felicity isn't going to follow orders so easily, and Sheikh Zakir Ibn Rashiq Al-Nazari had not idea of the strength of the woman he nabbed.
27 reviews1 follower
December 29, 2016
Missing paragraphs

This book was beginning to be of interest, unfortunately there are paragraphs missing. Parts of the book not there. Making it disjointed and difficult to follow.
22 reviews2 followers
July 7, 2018
Wow. Just wow

I really loved this book. Passion, chemistry, they have it all. I couldn't put the book down. Quite the page turner.
185 reviews5 followers
August 4, 2018
red hat queen

I enjoyed this book. It was filled with so much drama and romance. I loved all the characters. You are a very good writer.
Profile Image for Esmeralda Silva Tenazinha.
1,044 reviews16 followers
November 5, 2018
The sheik's passion

So good! So interesting! I love the suspense! I really wasn't especting to like it so much. I will check out the others books!
Profile Image for Akina.
559 reviews12 followers
March 5, 2019
This was so-so. Good potential but too rushed, too few conversations, and no real allowances made for the clash of cultures. I can’t see this couple lasting longer than a week.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews

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