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Una cenicienta para el jeque (Bianca)

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Salvada por una promesa….coronada como reina.

Para escapar de los bandidos del desierto, Abby Foster se comprometió con su misterioso salvador y selló el acuerdo con un apasionado beso. Meses más tarde, descubrió que seguía casada con él, y su "marido", convertido en heredero al trono, la reclamó a su lado. Pero sumergirse en el mundo de lujo y exquisito placer de Zain abrumó a la tímida Abby.

¿Podría llegar a convertirse aquella inocente cenicienta en la reina del poderoso jeque?

153 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

67 people are currently reading
90 people want to read

About the author

Kim Lawrence

809 books212 followers
Though lacking much authentic Welsh blood, Kim Lawrence comes from English-Irish stock. She was born and brought up in North Wales. She returned there when she married, and her sons were both born on Anglesey, an island off the coast. Though not isolated, Anglesey is a little off the beaten track, but lively Dublin, which Kim loves, is only a short ferry ride away. Today they live on the farm her husband was brought up on. Welsh is the first language of many people in this area and Kim's husband and sons are all bilingual she is having a lot of fun, not to mention a few headaches, trying to learn the language! She is a keen gardener and cook and enjoys running often on the beach, as living on an island the sea is never very far away. She is usually accompanied by her Jack Russell, Sprout don't ask, it's long story!

With small children, the unsocial hours of nursing didn't look attractive so encouraged by a husband who thinks she can do anything she sets her mind to, Kim tried her hand at writing. Always a keen Mills & Boon reader, it seemed natural for her to write a romance novel. In 1995, she published her first novels and now she can't imagine doing anything else.

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5 stars
41 (22%)
4 stars
59 (32%)
3 stars
55 (30%)
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21 (11%)
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7 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Ivy H.
856 reviews
July 5, 2018
3.5 stars

This was better than I'd expected, but it could've been improved by an epilogue and certain parts of the first chapter could've been edited out. The author does tend to spend a little too much time on stuff that's a bit monotonous and the dialogue between the MC's could've been improved. However, I did enjoy this novel because both MC's were likable and the storyline itself was very interesting. The H Zain, is the second son ( the spare ) of the king of Aarifa. His older half brother Khalid has just married a gold digger called Kayla; this hagwhore had been the H's lover but when he'd failed to propose marriage to her, she'd sunk her claws into Khalid. Zain didn't have any special feelings for Kayla so he's relieved that she's out of his life and it's on the day of her wedding to his brother that he encounters the heroine Abby. The heroine is a 22 yr old English model who has been kidnapped by desert bandits along the border of Aarifa. Zain rides up in time to save her; he's only able to do this by marrying her ! The marriage remains a secret to the public for the entire 10 months that the MC's spend apart, but one employee at the British embassy knows about it.

The heroine spends the entire next 10 months thinking about the time spent with the H and both MC's are celibate during this period. Then they're forced into each other's lives again when the H's older kills himself and almost killed the H. Khalid, the hero's brother, was in the final stages of terminal cancer and he was so full of hate and envy for Zain, that he didn't want the H to become the next heir after his death. Khalid deliberately drove himself off a cliff but the H was able to jump out of the car in time. Abby is brought to his side immediately when he's in hospital recovering from his injuries. Zain has a big problem because the customs of Aarifa dictate that he marry his dead brother's widow, in order to ensure the succession ! That specific custom made me want to puke but I shall take a gravol and move on with the review. Zain didn't want to marry the hagwhore Kayla so he told the advisors to summon the heroine to his side because she's his legal wife.

Abby agrees to help him out in exchange for his purchasing a holiday bungalow for his elderly grandparents. This part of the story lagged a little bit and I did wish that the author had vamped up the romance to a higher degree. I think ( as mentioned previously ) that this author spent a too much time on minor details and characters in the story and was left with less word space to allocate to the more important romantic storyline between the MC's. The MC's consummate their relationship towards the final quarter of the story but the hagwhore Kayla tries to create trouble because she still intends to be the next queen of Aarifa. Kayla makes her maid put her earring in Zain's bedchamber while the heroine is away for a few days visiting her grandparents. Fortunately, Abby doesn't fall for this obvious manoeuvre because she knows that Zain despises Kayla:


Abby’s brows lifted as she dropped the earring onto the woman’s palm. ‘Find out what? That you are totally desperate and wouldn’t know a moral scruple if it bit you?’

Kayla’s triumphant smile faltered as her lips compressed in a petulant pout, but she recovered quickly and threw out a fresh taunt. ‘You probably don’t know, but I had a relationship with Zain before you were married.’


Kim Lawrence. A Cinderella for the Desert King (Kindle Locations 2128-2131). HarlequinUKLtd. Kindle Edition.

The hagwhore tries to spin more lies but Abby doesn't buy it:


‘If you expect me to believe that you slept with my husband last night, forget it... Zain has too much...’ her lips quivered and her eyes misted ‘...too much respect for me to act that way.’

She clung tight to this; she might not have his love but by his actions Zain had proved time and time again that it wasn’t just words—he did respect her.


Kim Lawrence. A Cinderella for the Desert King (Kindle Locations 2134-2136). HarlequinUKLtd. Kindle Edition.

The heroine definitely put that bitch in her place:

description

The heroine does become pull a stupid stunt because she suddenly decides to become a martyr and save her husband from the bad publicity polls due to his marriage to a foreign model. She decides to run off and leave him but he rides up on his black stallion and stops the car in which she's travelling to the airport. It's all done in a dramatic, romantic fashion with the all conquering alpha H jumping off his stallion to retrieve his runaway wife:

‘Just like old times,’ he said, walking towards her with long, purposeful strides. She shook her head. He was standing almost toe to toe with her and looking at her in a way that made Abby’s head spin as she looked up into his dark, lean, beautiful face, her heart lurching wildly in hope.

‘What is this about, Zain...?’


‘This.’ He took her by the shoulders and dragged her into him, covering her mouth with his. The kiss went on and on.


Kim Lawrence. A Cinderella for the Desert King (Kindle Locations 2189-2193). HarlequinUKLtd. Kindle Edition.

That was a lovely scene ! And, the extra good news was that the most recent polls had shown that the Aarifan public were in favour of the H's marriage to Abby. I did wish that Kayla had been pensioned off to live somewhere else in the country. The fact that that viper was still going to be roaming around the palace trying to cause trouble did unsettle me a little. I also wished the author had included a romantic epilogue. This did blow me away but I think my rating is based largely on how much I liked both main characters. I do hope that the author, in the future, will focus a little more on the MC's romance and less on extraneous stuff like all the details in the first chapter; I could've done without reading all that stuff about the heroine's co workers while they were stranded in the desert. The story does end on a good note for the H because his father decides to abdicate and allow him to be the king, so of course the nasty bitch Kayla will be dying in the agonies of envy while Abby swans it around as the new queen !


This is the heroine, Abby:

description

This is the H, Zain:

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This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Brenda.
246 reviews46 followers
July 11, 2018
I won't go into story details as my GR friend Carmen (Ivy-H) has already written a beautiful, detailed review, so please read her review for the details.

I have to say I absolutely loved the MCs -- hot, sexy alpha Zain and sweet, quirky and spunky Abby. They had awesome chemistry, however, I totally agree with Carmen the author concentrated a bit too much on monotonous and inconsequential stuff instead of giving us more scenes between this awesome pair.

There was too much detailing about surroundings, checking out rooms, checking out outfits, step-by-step description of dressing-up or donning make-up, etc, Instead of these, if she were to have added a few intimate and bonding scenes between the two in the four week leap she'd shown, soon after they made love for the first time, which was almost toward the end of the book, it would have been more enjoyable. Everything was so rushed from the moment they make love that before we even start savoring their intimacy we are at the end. Add to it, there was no epilogue. Also, there was very little dialogues and lots of internal monologues causing delayed action-reactions and replies that at times I had to go back to what was the character responding/reacting or mutter to myself "Oh, get on with it."

Having said that, I still liked the few moments Abby and Zain shared after he'd rescued her from the bandits before he left her at the British embassy for her to return to her home. Here again, the author could have made those few moments leave a lasting impression on both that they couldn't help think of of each other during the separation, but that didn't happen. Ten months later Abby is trying to get an annulment to the marriage that the two were forced to undergo because of the bandits when she hears that Zain is in the hospital because of an accident and goes to see him and ends up agreeing to stay married to him so that he can avoid marrying his brother's widow, Kayla, a conniving gold-digger with whom Zain had been involved for few months before the marriage.

Abby was cute and funny. Liked her reaction to the bodyguards. And, I loved how she handled Kayla when she arranged to have Abby see her earring on Zain's bed hoping she'd suspect him of infidelity. I also liked how she refused to listen to him and leave as he demanded when she'd gone to him after hearing him scream in his sleep, which then led to them making love. I liked Zain's fear and protectiveness at that scene when he thought she would go over the railings. I also loved his entry on his stallion, riding in to rescue her from the bandits and also at the end where he chases after her to stop her from leaving him. The two of them is what made the book an enjoyable read.
Profile Image for Esther .
961 reviews197 followers
August 20, 2018
Adored this hero and heroine.

Hero was Alpha but also wonderful with the heroine. Heroine was strong, spunky and quirky . There interaction was perfection, as well as there dialogue. Great chemistry and sexual tension.

Good plot and story line. Nice pacing.

Really enjoyed this read and GR friends reviews were right on with this one.

Profile Image for lily.
1,266 reviews
July 3, 2018
a hot sexy sheikh and a funny and sweet model , so enjoyable, it just needed an epilogue with a baby .
Profile Image for Rgreader.
734 reviews54 followers
May 24, 2022
Here's what I liked: the story began showing how the heroine and hero meet. It was dramatic. It hooked me.

Here's what I didn't like: The heroine was no Cinderella type. As I read I kept thinking, where's the bad relative making the heroine do Cinderella type things...there was none; this was a slow burn romance. I began to get impatient for the romance to bloom. When it finally bloomed, I was underwhelmed. The hero and heroine spent 10 months apart then when they finally reconnected they spent s much time being wary of each other. The romance was lukewarm; No epilogue. All the drama and no epilogue...booo; Finally, the Mr. Jones character was interesting. Too bad he was just a plot device used to bring the hero and heroine together...
Profile Image for RomLibrary.
5,789 reviews
May 25, 2021
To escape desert bandits, Abby Foster pledged herself to a mysterious stranger—sealing the deal with a searing kiss! Months later, she discovers she’s still married. And her “husband,” who is now heir to the throne, summons her to his side! But being swept into Zain’s world of glamour—and exquisite pleasure—is overwhelming for shy Abby. Can this innocent Cinderella ever become this powerful sheikh’s queen?
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,519 reviews489 followers
June 19, 2020
OK- soapy-smut where we meet studly & magnificent Zain Al Seif, and feisty & beautiful model Abby. Both characters were very likeable, and Zain isn’t broody or mean. There’s also a meddling OW, Kayla, who adds a smidge of drama, but not much.

My biggest issue was the pacing; it moved like molasses with unneeded fluff, and the couple didn’t even start living together until 50%. Then, I felt like it ended rather abruptly, and wish there’d been an epilogue that included a Kayla smack down… like kick the bitch out of the palace.

Bottom Line It’s safe, no cheating; the OW has no effect on Z, but it might be too low suds for drama whores. There’s a swoon worthy ending with Zain chasing Abby down on his black stallion to declare his undying love.
Profile Image for lily.
1,266 reviews
July 3, 2018
hot sexy sheikh and a funny model , so enjoyable , it just needed an epilogue with a baby .
Profile Image for Tonya Warner.
1,214 reviews13 followers
July 29, 2018
Abby Foster vowed to never again let a man fool her. Working as a model to replace the funds her ex-boyfriend swindled from them, she finds herself in the desert, kidnapped and up for sale.

Zain finds the only way to save the beautiful redhead is to pay the bride's price for her. Having her as his wife is suppose to be a temporary thing, but he finds that his wife will come in handy as he struggles to bring the country he is now the king of in to the present.

Very nice.
Profile Image for Jebe.
56 reviews
August 19, 2018
This could have been a 4 or 5 star book. The MCs were so likable, the initial meeting was intriguing, the whole set up was perfect for a great romantic tale. Unfortunately, the story execution was way below par. Several reviewers have mentioned the same things that I had problems with: the lack of dialogue and interaction together; when there was dialogue, it was rife with paragraphs of inner monologues, especially repetitive lusting, during the conversation. So much so that when someone eventually spoke I had to scan back to see what they were even talking about; plus, the over wordy information dump at the beginning almost drove me away.

It's a shame, too, because this really did have the makings of an awesome 5 star read. Too bad the weird dialogue with inner thoughts was really confusing, there were a few times when someone finally spoke that I wasn't even sure who was speaking. 🤔 If the MCs scenes and dialogue had been edited, there would've been more room for interaction between the two. As it was, by my count, they had only 6-7 real scenes together. I would've rather that the lustful thoughts were glossed over to make room for more scenes with the two interacting.

However, if you're willing to overlook those complaints then the two MCs really are nice and there is a bit of a story there to enjoy, YMMV.
Profile Image for Liba.
456 reviews9 followers
October 11, 2018
Abby has lost her parents as a child .Her grandparents raised her.She is a model. Recently her grandparents have lost their life savings thanks to her swindler ex-boyfriend.Abby wants to earn enough money to restore their funds and buy back their house.
Abby is on a shoot at the desert of Aarifa. She is kidnapped by some nomads and is to be sold to the highest bidder.
Zain is the second son of the king.His father already had one son ,Khalid,when he married the Italian opera diva and had Zain.Zain's parents are divorced.The king relies on Khalid to rule.
Zain finds Abby and rescues her by simply marrying the girl.. Especially as Khalid has just married Kayla, Zain's ex- girlfriend- an ambitious woman.
10 months later.
Khalid has lung cancer. He has always hated his brother and decides they both should die in a car accident. But Zain survives and is now the heir.
Suddenly Abby learns she is really married and her husband wants her by his side.Zain offers to restore her grandparents's loss and asks Abby to stay with him for 18 months.
So Abby is back in his country. Kayla hopes he'll marry HER now, but Zain is married and needs no other wife.kayla is full of venom.
Is Abby an ugly duckling (she is tall and compares herself to the duckling) ? Is she like Cindrella (with Kayla as a wicked sister-in-law? )
Interesting twists in the story.
Profile Image for Rachel Reads Romance.
383 reviews11 followers
February 19, 2019
I unfortunately didn't realize how boring this book was until I was almost to the end, or else it would be dnf. It had a great premise, but the heroine was so one note, with really no character definition for her. And for that matter, not much for their relationship either. I really have no idea where 200 pages went with this book.
Profile Image for Ishara.
559 reviews9 followers
September 10, 2018
I liked this one a lot more than I have others from this author. It was a little predictable but then aren't all HPs? Likeable and relatable characters and an interesting storyline, though it drag in a few places as this author is wont to do. Overall, a solid 3 star read.
Profile Image for Malevolentphase .
31 reviews13 followers
November 18, 2019
It was an ok read for me, not really as engaging as her other stuff
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Shelly.
666 reviews5 followers
August 18, 2020
Rescue me

Zain rescues Abby, secret marriage, murder plots...really loved this one. Great quick read. These are my go to when I am in a reading slump.
5 reviews
March 28, 2020
Beautiful story, I always loved the description of the Place which is very important to the reader , that create more imagination and can be transported to the area . It was very simple and understandable not full of drama ,

taking in consideration that usually love story can be very dramatic. I recommend this book to another reader to join
Profile Image for Bec.
1,659 reviews42 followers
July 28, 2018

Review Posted at HarlequinJunkie.com

When Abby finds herself kidnapped by desert bandits, she’s lucky that the mysterious Zain comes to her rescue. Unfortunately though, the only way to escape her captors is to marry him. Once she’s free, they go their separate ways until Abby discovers she’ still married to the powerful sheikh who is now heir to the throne. Summoned to be Zain’s queen, she finds herself overwhelmed by the glitz and glamour of his world and she’s not sure she wants to stay forever. Will Zain be able to prove to Abby that she’s the woman he wants forever or will she walk away before he breaks her heart? Read More
269 reviews
March 3, 2020
La historia no es mala, lo que le faltó fue el final, como muy apresurado ... Esperaba algo más del final.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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