Header PromotionThe Sheikh's Captive Bride by Susan Stephens (HP 2485)
Back Cover:
Forced to marry…a sheikh!
One passionate night was all it took! Now Lucy is the mother of Sheikh Kahlil’s son. If their baby is to inherit the kingdom of Abadan, Kahlil insists that Lucy must marry him!
Lucy is both appalled by the idea of a temporary marriage to the arrogant Sheikh — and unable to deny her desire to share Kahlil’s bed again. But unless she can change Kahlil’s mind, after six months, she’ll no longer be his captive bride.…
Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers to some degree
Slap the Hero Scene:
‘If it had been left up to you I would never have known Edward existed,’ he said coldly.
‘How dare you judge me?’ Lucy exclaimed. ‘You were the one who slept with me and then left like a thief in the night. You didn’t even have the decency to reveal your true identity, let alone leave your telephone number.’
Kahlil controlled his desire to snap back. He knew what Lucy said about that night was true.
My Review:
Cute and intensely sexual scene: they have only just met and are sitting at a table, their feet tangle and he hooks one leg around hers and holds fast, keeping her close, then without a word or kiss pulling her up and against him and settling her on the table-edge.
A man doesn't get to angrily yell "why didn't you tell me you were pregnant" after leaving a one-night stand he refused to introduce himself to (when she asked) before she woke up in the morning. I also dislike that the heroine was told she could leave anytime without her child, it's just totally wrong to say "you're not a good/moral enough woman for me to marry" but "my rights as the absentee sperm donor of your child mean more than the 21 months you spent incubating and raising your child 24/7."
My hypocrisy alarm also went off when the hero said "don't cheapen what we have" to the heroine, while he himself had just proposed they marry for six months and divorce solely for the reason that she wasn't a good/moral enough woman to stay married to him and sit on the throne with him. *slap* There was a "Lion King" moment where the hero held up his son to the waiting crowd, my cheese alarm went off there. They have a bad habit of having sex before talking about what they should or need to, on three separate occasions they fell into bed before talk.
The ending has the hero saying "I love you, stay, you are the woman I want to rule my people side by side with" before he has gotten to know the heroine well enough imo, I don't see what changed to make him change his mind.
Overall, an entertaining story, no other lovers were thrown in the heroine's face to hurt her, the hero didn't feel it necessary to rake over the coals the fact that she went to bed with him within 10 minutes of meeting him (so hey, good that he accepted her right to her sexuality, but he did have problems with it up until he decided he loved her). I had somewhat complicated feelings about this book, liking things at times, while other times... not so much.
My Rating: 2/5 stars, ok, but I had a few things I disagreed with.
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