1 star

I hated Salah. I was irritated with Desi. I didn’t buy their HEA. When she states that she’s practically a Muslim woman already, I wanted to throw my Kindle against the nearest wall. Usually cultural misappropriations don’t drive me into a fit of rage, but this one did. Desi and Salah never worked out their differences, but instead, Desi agrees to become a shadow of herself and acquiesce to Salah’s expectations of her behavior. What happens to her modeling career now? The only outcome is that she gives it up to live in a country where, earlier in the story, she broke things off with Salah because of the problematic way women are treated in his country. Nothing has changed there, so I’m not sure why she changed her mind and will suddenly behave lie a “virtuous woman” (her words, not mine). I hated that Desi is the one who had to change to make their relationship a happy for now ending, because I don’t believe that over the long run, she’s going to be very happy.

On the bright side, the art is quite lovely. There’s minimal background noise to clash with the intense emotions suffered by the characters, and both of them are very attractive people (as to be expected since Desi is a model). I found the panel layouts enhanced the overall drama of the story, and I’m looking forward to hunting down more of Yuri Takagi’s works.

Wow! I'm so excited that this is the first book in a series because it was amazing. We just got these nifty new "Hot Pick" buttons, and I'm definitely giving it to this one. Arif al Najimi was absolutely everything a hero should be. He was also exotic, an animal lover and ecologist, and saved Aly's life a couple times. While his views of women sometimes seems a little off, it really helped make him just a little too overprotective, but in the best possible way. 

Aly was the traditional pretty and intelligent girl that didn't trust in her own beauty. But this time there was a very good reason why. And her reason why tied into so many other things in the story so beautifully that the whole back story was about as seamless as you could get. I loved how she kept running off and driving Arif al Najimi crazy trying to keep an eye on her. 

Watching Aly and Arif al Najimi hunt for turtle nests and try to find out why they were dying off was a great story. There was a lot more action than what seems possible in a turtle nest hunt. There were even several times I found myself getting excited right along with them at a new next found. The side characters served to boost the story and enhance the personalities of the characters in just the right way. I don't think I could really find something I didn't like about this one. 

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review* 

 

Her Royal Protector

(a Johari Crown Novel) 

by Alexandra Sellers 

(Entangled Indulgence)

 

 

Aly Percy is her family's ugly duckling, and she's never been allowed to forget it. So she knows better than to imagine that Cup Companion Arif al Najimi's blue gaze holds anything but contempt for her as a woman, or ever will. But if he's offering to show her just how wild one night with him can be, wouldn't she be a fool to turn down his charity? She may never get another offer like this one.

 

Arif al Najimi isn't sure why he's dreaming about the little scientist who's so determined to take crazy risks for the sake of her research into the endangered turtles of his country. But as luck would have it, he's going to get the chance to do a little research of his own…into the question of why Aly believes her own negative publicity about how desirable she is—and how hard it will be to convince her of the truth.

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About the Author:

 

Canadian born, Alexandra Sellers was raised in Toronto and on the prairies. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (UK) and acted on stage for several years before her first novel was published by Dell and Robert Hale in 1980. Since then she has written over 40 books. The author of the popular Sons of the Desert series, she is the recipient of the Romantic Times' Career Achievement Award for Series (2009) and Series Romantic Fantasy (2000). She divides her time between London, Crete and Vancouver.

 

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*Giveaway*

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author's books are being reissued. Received a review copy in exchange of an honest review.

Artist wakes up at a hospital not remembering how she got there, Hero who claims to be her husband, & the newborn baby she recently gave birth to. Sheikh Hero takes her & the baby to his island home & determines to find out what heroine really knows about the night she got injured. It is then that she realizes that he lied & is keeping her captive until he finds his missing sister. His plans however gets waylaid by their mutual attraction to each other. Will finding his missing sister means the end of their r/s?

This was an amnesia romance with a twist. But the amnesia part was relatively short so most of the book was centered on Hero’s search for his missing sister & his complicated romance with heroine. The characters were only so-so for me. Heroine at times acted like a strong woman, confronting Hero’s deceptions & lies. At other times, she was weak-willed & acted like an airhead. Hero lied & manipulated for his sister’s sake and he wasn’t sorry for it. He seemed indifferent to heroine at times, which made me wonder about his feelings for her. We do find out late in the book that his indifference was masking his growing passion for her. I’m still not sure whether heroine fully regained all her memory from her amnesia. It was pushed aside to make way for Hero’s search for his sister & the romance. Emotionality of book was only so-so.

Partially recommended.