Status Updates From The Sheikh's Bartered Bride...

Aha. Elite guard training also helps to endure cold showers.

"He wanted to kiss her. It took every bit of the self-discipline developed in his training with the elite-guard to step back and trip his hand. " Just in case anyone wonders what elite-guard training contains...

Ending was a little weird, but overall I'm alright with it.

Nice to see some personal growth in a heroine

Ooh! Way to flip it Ms. Monroe!

Conflicted between wanting her to give him hell and wanting her to be the better person.

The scenes with Latifah was thought-provoking. Catherine is inconsistent, but I guess her emotional upheaval accounts for this? Not ready to give her carte blanche, but she gets back a little sympathy.

While I can appreciate sticking to your commitment once you realize you love someone, I don't think Catherine really knows Hakim well enough to love him the way she believes she does.

Wedding night was overwrought. This was written in 2004 and she claims to have read romance novels that describe intimacy, but she sure doesn't act like it. It's trouble if she's getting on my nerves this much before the halfway mark.

She's awfully quick to scream... *grumble*

I'm waffling a bit between finding Catherine TSTL and just innocent, but I sympathize with her enough to want to give her a basket full of self-preservation. My reaction to Hakim is also mixed. He's rational, which appeals, but he's got that arrogance that is understandable in a sheikh but a bit off-putting.

First "love" scene is kinda awkward. I'm realizing I may need to take a break from Marriage of Convenience stories, because I don't have a huge objection arranged marriages between decent people any more...

I hope the heroine stops blushing and stammering soon.