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An Arabian Courtship
Polly didn't expect to be happyFamily loyalty and the knowledge that her love for Chris would never be returned led Polly to accept marriage to Prince Raschid, heir to a desert kingdom.The problems she thought she'd face were practical ones--such as how she'd adjust to life in a very different culture.What a shock it was to discover that the handsome autocratic man she'd married was a complex and wonderful companion--and that her emotions were certainly involved!
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
50 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Graham
1,762 books1,450 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
February 9, 2017
AMAZING AND PASSIONATE
This was my first Sheikh story and boy did I enjoy it.
I loved every single minute of it even the bad parts and when he discovers her kissing her secret crush!!!!
Omg my feels (as my teenage daughter would say).
This is one story that has loads of drama, deserts, and hot sexy scenes with an awesome confused hero who is just trying to be protect himself from getting hurt again.
How could that bitch of a first wife do that to him?
He was such a great guy and I am so glad they have each other. I understood why everything happened at the end.
I understood why he was so cold, he was trying to keep his distance from her in order to protect her.
He honestly thought that because he could not have kids, their marriage would end.
I was just so upset!
Yes, a lot of guys still mistakenly think that virility is linked to his fertility.
So sad but still true today.
This book was sweet and how she handled his confession was epic.
She just took it all in her stride.
After all there are other ways to have kids you know!
Just saying!
However, I was pleased that he was wrong but how you could you have believed his bitch first wife is beyond me.
I mean, come on, his did not even bother to check out the facts.
Even his father called him an idiot for not doing so!!!
I love how he come back with the epic grovel scene that she cut short because she is just so understanding and sweet!
Ahhhhhhmazing....
This was my first Sheikh story and boy did I enjoy it.
I loved every single minute of it even the bad parts and when he discovers her kissing her secret crush!!!!
Omg my feels (as my teenage daughter would say).
This is one story that has loads of drama, deserts, and hot sexy scenes with an awesome confused hero who is just trying to be protect himself from getting hurt again.
How could that bitch of a first wife do that to him?
He was such a great guy and I am so glad they have each other. I understood why everything happened at the end.
I understood why he was so cold, he was trying to keep his distance from her in order to protect her.
He honestly thought that because he could not have kids, their marriage would end.
I was just so upset!
Yes, a lot of guys still mistakenly think that virility is linked to his fertility.
So sad but still true today.
This book was sweet and how she handled his confession was epic.
She just took it all in her stride.
After all there are other ways to have kids you know!
Just saying!
However, I was pleased that he was wrong but how you could you have believed his bitch first wife is beyond me.
I mean, come on, his did not even bother to check out the facts.
Even his father called him an idiot for not doing so!!!
I love how he come back with the epic grovel scene that she cut short because she is just so understanding and sweet!
Ahhhhhhmazing....
July 19, 2020
July 2020: I liked this better after a reread.
****
Lynne Graham is always worth reading and this story is no exception, even though it's a "desert" story - my least favorite. Heroine is forced to marry prince hero because her father saved the life of hero's father years before and the "payment" is marriage between the families. The "debt" is only brought up now because the heroine's family needs money and the hero's father thinks his son should marry again after the disaster that was his first marriage.
Hero is upfront about the kind of life heroine would live - restricted and without love on his part. Heroine is so busy being a martyr, despairing her old crush will never love her, and noticing how hot the hero is that she doesn't take in his words. They marry in a Christian church (?)and off to the palace in the desert we go! They marry again in a desert ceremony, but heroine takes ill and the hero tenderly cares for her.
I suppose this would be a higher rating if I hadn't read it all before. (says jaded reader). If you only read a harley or two a year (impossible!) then this plot might seem new and fresh and twisty.
****
Lynne Graham is always worth reading and this story is no exception, even though it's a "desert" story - my least favorite. Heroine is forced to marry prince hero because her father saved the life of hero's father years before and the "payment" is marriage between the families. The "debt" is only brought up now because the heroine's family needs money and the hero's father thinks his son should marry again after the disaster that was his first marriage.
Hero is upfront about the kind of life heroine would live - restricted and without love on his part. Heroine is so busy being a martyr, despairing her old crush will never love her, and noticing how hot the hero is that she doesn't take in his words. They marry in a Christian church (?)and off to the palace in the desert we go! They marry again in a desert ceremony, but heroine takes ill and the hero tenderly cares for her.
I suppose this would be a higher rating if I hadn't read it all before. (says jaded reader). If you only read a harley or two a year (impossible!) then this plot might seem new and fresh and twisty.
May 14, 2017
Re An Arabian Courtship - Lynne Graham is back with her second foray into HPlandia, a sheikhy lurve story that starts with an arranged marriage. The h is a nice, sheltered English librarian whose family's reduced financial circumstances force her to agree to marry the tall, dark and handsome son of a desert king. The h's father supposedly once saved the life of the king while he was in the diplomatic corps and in gratitude for the gesture, the desert king promised that his heir would wed the father's first born daughter.
The h's father claims he only wanted a loan to tide him over financially - no mention of how he wouldn't be able to repay it,- but since the king decided that the h was suitable and he wanted his widowed son married again, the h's father felt forced to agree to the union. Then he and his wife proceed to guilt the h into acceptance, mainly because the h worries about what will happen to her younger siblings if she doesn't.
The book opens with the h meeting the H for the first time and he epitomizes every stereotype of the Middle East by explaining that the h will never be allowed to go out without covering, he will only use her as a convenience in bed and she will not be associating with other people. Essentially the H is telling her she will be living in purdah if she marries him. The h is not overjoyed at this news, she thinks she is in love with the neighbor's son, but since he doesn't see her as anything other than a childhood friend and the financial circumstances are desperate, the h agrees to the H's terms and the marriage is set up.
There is a church wedding in England, and the h gets a little tipsy on champagne at the thought of the new life she has to endure. The h's parents are pretty willfully oblivious, they now have a ton of money the H's father paid and don't seem to mind that they essentially sold their daughter to an unknown quantity.
(This is LG's first example of the really badly behaving parents of the h she will include in a lot of future books, in fact LG throws a lot future tropes into this one, which makes this one a bit muddled as she doesn't follow through on them very well.)
Anyhows, we are off to the H's desert kingdom and he is not pleased that he is getting a gold digger for a wife, especially when the h starts shouting at him and has a total meltdown on the plane. We arrive at the H's home and the H makes her cover up from head to toes to bring her to his palace and meet with his father. The H's father, currently the king, seems to be amused at the H's marriage, but he also lets the h know that he is happy that she is there.
We find out from the H's sister, who is there to help the h prepare for the second wedding ceremony, when she spitefully tells the h that the H only loved his first wife and that the H has a blonde French mistress and apparently the king thinks that blondes are interchangeable. The H has indicated that he will have no problems taking the h to bed, so the h is now left to feel like a tart and worry about the great love the H has for his first wife to boot.
Tho the H's sister is sorry for her insinuations, and later retracts the blonde French Mistress accusation, the h is not looking forward to this second wedding with any sort of calm at all. She makes it through the ceremony and the women's meal after, but when the big bedding scene arrives, the h is seriously ill with flu and passes out.
We don't get any sponging scenes, but as soon as she recovers, the H is ready to stake his manly claim and the h loses herself in the throws of passion. She does her best to ignore him during the day and then complains to herself that he makes her feel like a prostitute at night. One good thing is the H recognizes that she herself did not profit from the money his father paid to marry her, he now realizes that she was essentially sold by her family and so he tries to be a bit nicer.
The h is torn between resentment at her situation, realizing that she never loved the neighbor's son after all and a certain unqualified overwhelming lust for the H that she just can't shake. Then we find out that the H is sterile, his first wife desperately wanted a child and so he had tests and the H is pretty much firing blanks.
The h now has to torment herself with the H still being majorly in love with his first wife who died, when everyone around her is pretty clear that the woman made everyone, including the H miserable. There is also drama between the H's brother and his pregnant wife, but the h is remarkably uninvolved in the life going on around her, she just seems to hang about her palace rooms while the H is away and then ignores him when he comes back.
Then her father has a heart attack and the h and H travel back to England. The h becomes totally enamored of the H, cause he is so helpful during the crisis. When the H has to leave because one of his oil tankers gets blown up, the h has a huge mopey moment and gets waylaid by the neighbor, who plants a big kiss on her and the H just happens to arrive in time to see it. The h is also having problems with clothes fitting properly and so we soon suspect that the h is preggers, but the h herself has no clue. The H renounces her after the neighbor's sneak attack kiss but the h is in love and determined to chase after him, even tho he told her he was divorcing her and not to return to his country.
The h goes anyway and winds up in the desert with the H. They fight and she runs off into a dry stream bed and almost drowns, but LG gives the us the archetypal Desert Sheikh Sweeping Down on His Horse to Carry the h Off scene, complete with hunting hounds to track her down. The h announces that she loves the H and he decides to get her out of the desert caravan they are traveling with.
The H takes her to a remote palace where his French grandmother lived when she renounced the H's grandfather and he took a second wife. There is a very old maid servant there who seems to think the H and h are actually the H's grandparents and that night she sneaks the h into the H's rooms and the h starts to wonder just what the ostensibly estranged grandparents got up to while they lived apart.
We then find out that the h's father never really 'saved' the H's father, but the king wanted to avoid an international incident at the time, so he jokingly promised the H's hand in marriage and then decided years later that it was time the H got married again, and so he set the marriage up.
The H winds up ravishing her, to the h's great delight and things are going swimmingly with the H's brother and sister in law showing up for Christmas. Then the h finds out she is preggers. The H flips out and denounces the h as a cheating hussy. He storms off and the h is left at her palace all alone.
The H's brother shows up and claims that the French mistress was actually his and his brother covered for him cause he used the H's name to rent his Parisienne love nest. He tells the h that the H's first wife committed suicide and was mentally disturbed, (another favorite LG trope,) and the h is horrified. She knows the H will be back eventually, cause the doctor will tell him how far preggers she actually is and it was well before they went back to England.
The H does return and he brings the h a rose and a little pink teddy bear, asking the h to forgive him. Then he drops the bombshell that his first wife, who wound up in a mental hospital until her father dragged her back to the H and then she fell down some stairs and died in the H's arms, lied about him being sterile and also explains that his father laughed and told him he was TSTL when he confessed to being taken aback by the h's preggerness. (Which just goes to prove rule #12, an H will believe anyone about sterility, even whacked out ladies with mental illnesses and never either check for themselves or get a second opinion.)
The H is now relieved of all the tormented guilt he carried for years and can unrestrainedly avow true love to the h, tho he is very surprised by how fast his little lurve mojo motilators motillated to the target when the h announces her due date. The h is delirious with joy that the H loves her back and never really loved his first wife at all, cause she was neurotic, and they resolve to re-enact the midnight sneak into his bedroom scene for the big HEA.
This one is okay and you can see a lot of the embryo plot tropes LG will use to great effect in her later writings. LG is known for her forced marriages, pregger h's, horrible h parents, mentally unstable first wives and H's that start off mean but come around to besotted swains by the end. Unfortunately the whole thing was a surface scattering of tropes and a lot of focus on the resentment and mopeyness of the h.
Subplots aren't really explored and the h doesn't make a lot of effort to really do anything but be acted upon for most of the book. She is really immature and lackluster for most of the story and can't seem to do anything other that complain to herself about her horrible situation - quite unlike most LG h's, who may not succeed at a lot of things but they do try at least.
The big drawback of this one is that neither the H or the h is developed as characters very well. The h doesn't seem to do anything but ruminate and wait around for the H, who eventually announces that the h will be permanently attached to his hip cause he can't stand to be without her- tho I can't quite figure out why.
There is even the malicious H relative subplot, but it peters out pretty quickly and the h's utter lack of involvement with what is going on around her - to the extent that she knows nothing of life in the society in which she will now live- is a marked difference from latter LG writings where her h's are more than just a mopey, pining for the H bed partner that kinda makes you wonder why you took this trip to HPlandia to begin with.
The h's father claims he only wanted a loan to tide him over financially - no mention of how he wouldn't be able to repay it,- but since the king decided that the h was suitable and he wanted his widowed son married again, the h's father felt forced to agree to the union. Then he and his wife proceed to guilt the h into acceptance, mainly because the h worries about what will happen to her younger siblings if she doesn't.
The book opens with the h meeting the H for the first time and he epitomizes every stereotype of the Middle East by explaining that the h will never be allowed to go out without covering, he will only use her as a convenience in bed and she will not be associating with other people. Essentially the H is telling her she will be living in purdah if she marries him. The h is not overjoyed at this news, she thinks she is in love with the neighbor's son, but since he doesn't see her as anything other than a childhood friend and the financial circumstances are desperate, the h agrees to the H's terms and the marriage is set up.
There is a church wedding in England, and the h gets a little tipsy on champagne at the thought of the new life she has to endure. The h's parents are pretty willfully oblivious, they now have a ton of money the H's father paid and don't seem to mind that they essentially sold their daughter to an unknown quantity.
(This is LG's first example of the really badly behaving parents of the h she will include in a lot of future books, in fact LG throws a lot future tropes into this one, which makes this one a bit muddled as she doesn't follow through on them very well.)
Anyhows, we are off to the H's desert kingdom and he is not pleased that he is getting a gold digger for a wife, especially when the h starts shouting at him and has a total meltdown on the plane. We arrive at the H's home and the H makes her cover up from head to toes to bring her to his palace and meet with his father. The H's father, currently the king, seems to be amused at the H's marriage, but he also lets the h know that he is happy that she is there.
We find out from the H's sister, who is there to help the h prepare for the second wedding ceremony, when she spitefully tells the h that the H only loved his first wife and that the H has a blonde French mistress and apparently the king thinks that blondes are interchangeable. The H has indicated that he will have no problems taking the h to bed, so the h is now left to feel like a tart and worry about the great love the H has for his first wife to boot.
Tho the H's sister is sorry for her insinuations, and later retracts the blonde French Mistress accusation, the h is not looking forward to this second wedding with any sort of calm at all. She makes it through the ceremony and the women's meal after, but when the big bedding scene arrives, the h is seriously ill with flu and passes out.
We don't get any sponging scenes, but as soon as she recovers, the H is ready to stake his manly claim and the h loses herself in the throws of passion. She does her best to ignore him during the day and then complains to herself that he makes her feel like a prostitute at night. One good thing is the H recognizes that she herself did not profit from the money his father paid to marry her, he now realizes that she was essentially sold by her family and so he tries to be a bit nicer.
The h is torn between resentment at her situation, realizing that she never loved the neighbor's son after all and a certain unqualified overwhelming lust for the H that she just can't shake. Then we find out that the H is sterile, his first wife desperately wanted a child and so he had tests and the H is pretty much firing blanks.
The h now has to torment herself with the H still being majorly in love with his first wife who died, when everyone around her is pretty clear that the woman made everyone, including the H miserable. There is also drama between the H's brother and his pregnant wife, but the h is remarkably uninvolved in the life going on around her, she just seems to hang about her palace rooms while the H is away and then ignores him when he comes back.
Then her father has a heart attack and the h and H travel back to England. The h becomes totally enamored of the H, cause he is so helpful during the crisis. When the H has to leave because one of his oil tankers gets blown up, the h has a huge mopey moment and gets waylaid by the neighbor, who plants a big kiss on her and the H just happens to arrive in time to see it. The h is also having problems with clothes fitting properly and so we soon suspect that the h is preggers, but the h herself has no clue. The H renounces her after the neighbor's sneak attack kiss but the h is in love and determined to chase after him, even tho he told her he was divorcing her and not to return to his country.
The h goes anyway and winds up in the desert with the H. They fight and she runs off into a dry stream bed and almost drowns, but LG gives the us the archetypal Desert Sheikh Sweeping Down on His Horse to Carry the h Off scene, complete with hunting hounds to track her down. The h announces that she loves the H and he decides to get her out of the desert caravan they are traveling with.
The H takes her to a remote palace where his French grandmother lived when she renounced the H's grandfather and he took a second wife. There is a very old maid servant there who seems to think the H and h are actually the H's grandparents and that night she sneaks the h into the H's rooms and the h starts to wonder just what the ostensibly estranged grandparents got up to while they lived apart.
We then find out that the h's father never really 'saved' the H's father, but the king wanted to avoid an international incident at the time, so he jokingly promised the H's hand in marriage and then decided years later that it was time the H got married again, and so he set the marriage up.
The H winds up ravishing her, to the h's great delight and things are going swimmingly with the H's brother and sister in law showing up for Christmas. Then the h finds out she is preggers. The H flips out and denounces the h as a cheating hussy. He storms off and the h is left at her palace all alone.
The H's brother shows up and claims that the French mistress was actually his and his brother covered for him cause he used the H's name to rent his Parisienne love nest. He tells the h that the H's first wife committed suicide and was mentally disturbed, (another favorite LG trope,) and the h is horrified. She knows the H will be back eventually, cause the doctor will tell him how far preggers she actually is and it was well before they went back to England.
The H does return and he brings the h a rose and a little pink teddy bear, asking the h to forgive him. Then he drops the bombshell that his first wife, who wound up in a mental hospital until her father dragged her back to the H and then she fell down some stairs and died in the H's arms, lied about him being sterile and also explains that his father laughed and told him he was TSTL when he confessed to being taken aback by the h's preggerness. (Which just goes to prove rule #12, an H will believe anyone about sterility, even whacked out ladies with mental illnesses and never either check for themselves or get a second opinion.)
The H is now relieved of all the tormented guilt he carried for years and can unrestrainedly avow true love to the h, tho he is very surprised by how fast his little lurve mojo motilators motillated to the target when the h announces her due date. The h is delirious with joy that the H loves her back and never really loved his first wife at all, cause she was neurotic, and they resolve to re-enact the midnight sneak into his bedroom scene for the big HEA.
This one is okay and you can see a lot of the embryo plot tropes LG will use to great effect in her later writings. LG is known for her forced marriages, pregger h's, horrible h parents, mentally unstable first wives and H's that start off mean but come around to besotted swains by the end. Unfortunately the whole thing was a surface scattering of tropes and a lot of focus on the resentment and mopeyness of the h.
Subplots aren't really explored and the h doesn't make a lot of effort to really do anything but be acted upon for most of the book. She is really immature and lackluster for most of the story and can't seem to do anything other that complain to herself about her horrible situation - quite unlike most LG h's, who may not succeed at a lot of things but they do try at least.
The big drawback of this one is that neither the H or the h is developed as characters very well. The h doesn't seem to do anything but ruminate and wait around for the H, who eventually announces that the h will be permanently attached to his hip cause he can't stand to be without her- tho I can't quite figure out why.
There is even the malicious H relative subplot, but it peters out pretty quickly and the h's utter lack of involvement with what is going on around her - to the extent that she knows nothing of life in the society in which she will now live- is a marked difference from latter LG writings where her h's are more than just a mopey, pining for the H bed partner that kinda makes you wonder why you took this trip to HPlandia to begin with.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2015
I suppose I have read this, but I don't remember. That's fine, because I liked experiencing it without any preconceived notions. I liked this quite a bit. Polly is young, but she's doesn't act addle-brained as some of Graham's more recent heroines. Don't get me wrong, I love LG's books, but sometimes I wish she didn't seem to make them so silly (especially over the hero because he's so good-looking). Polly in a difficult situation, having essentially been sold into marriage by her greedy father (who has gotten his family into dire financial straits, with four younger children and a wife of delicate constitution). Polly believes she has no chance for love, since her true love doesn't see her as anything but a friend. When she meets her future husband, Raschid, she might be impressed by his good looks, but his personality leaves a lot to ask for. Plus, he makes it seem like she'll be living in a modern version of purdah. But she can't really say no. Polly is nervous and drinks a bit too much at the wedding, so she doesn't make the best example of herself at the wedding. So far their marriage is off to a very bad start. It's pretty certain that Polly won't have to worry about losing her heart to her husband. Or so it seems.
I will always like arranged marriage and marriage of convenience books. It's a great way to put two people into very close proximity and where they are forced to build a relationship without any expectations of insta-love or sex. Raschid was far from likable at first, but he wasn't trying to be. It turns out that he's a very good man. Deeply honorable and with a core of kindness that over time Polly gets a chance to see. Like many of Graham's heroines, Raschid doesn't know what hits him. His silly English bride who he at first thinks the worst of, steals his heart in a big way, and with him determined never to fall in love. His first marriage, also arranged, went very badly, and he still has some very deep wounds that haven't healed. Polly is haunted by the spectre of his so-called perfect first wife (traditional and culturally appropriate to Raschid), and she thinks that Raschid's rejection is out of his enduring love for his wife. I felt sympathetic to Polly and for her in this tough situation. I couldn't imagine how tough it was to have so much of a change in culture she was experiencing, plus with a husband who can't seem to stand her. Over time, her viewpoint shows that things aren't as black and white.
I liked that this was a bit more serious than some of her newer books, with a more mature-seeming hero who isn't a womanizer or playboy. At first, I didn't like the way he was treating Polly, but there was a good explanation for that. I think it's more than evident before the book ends how much he loves Polly. I almost always like Lynne Graham's heroines, and I did like Polly quite a bit.
It's a good one worth tracking down for Lynne Graham fans.
I will always like arranged marriage and marriage of convenience books. It's a great way to put two people into very close proximity and where they are forced to build a relationship without any expectations of insta-love or sex. Raschid was far from likable at first, but he wasn't trying to be. It turns out that he's a very good man. Deeply honorable and with a core of kindness that over time Polly gets a chance to see. Like many of Graham's heroines, Raschid doesn't know what hits him. His silly English bride who he at first thinks the worst of, steals his heart in a big way, and with him determined never to fall in love. His first marriage, also arranged, went very badly, and he still has some very deep wounds that haven't healed. Polly is haunted by the spectre of his so-called perfect first wife (traditional and culturally appropriate to Raschid), and she thinks that Raschid's rejection is out of his enduring love for his wife. I felt sympathetic to Polly and for her in this tough situation. I couldn't imagine how tough it was to have so much of a change in culture she was experiencing, plus with a husband who can't seem to stand her. Over time, her viewpoint shows that things aren't as black and white.
I liked that this was a bit more serious than some of her newer books, with a more mature-seeming hero who isn't a womanizer or playboy. At first, I didn't like the way he was treating Polly, but there was a good explanation for that. I think it's more than evident before the book ends how much he loves Polly. I almost always like Lynne Graham's heroines, and I did like Polly quite a bit.
It's a good one worth tracking down for Lynne Graham fans.
August 26, 2024
Loved it. So angsty and perfect. 💕💕💕
June 28, 2021
The heroine accepts a MOC with the Arabian hero because her family needs money. The hero is a widower and immediately points out that theirs will be a MOC where they won’t have nothing in common but sex. Immediately after their vows, the heroine understands she made a mistake and asks for annulment, but the hero refuses and tells her they will divorce after some time. He’s attracted by her but thinks she’s only a gold digger, but when she is feverish and delirious he finds out she married him to save her family. There’s a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding with a man the heroine was in love with and the late wife who was mentally ill, and a brother who has a mistress but everybody thinks she’s the hero’s mistress. And then there’s the big misunderstanding: the hero believed he was sterile, and when the heroine is pregnant he’s furious and doesn’t believe the baby is his. Of course the heroine asks him to have some exams, but he refuses to listen. Eventually he grovels but my god what a dumb he is. He was tricked by his wife, he didn’t even read the analysis for himself. How can anyone be so stupid?? And consequently how many little sheikhs are there around the world since he never used protection???
Average book with average angst.
Dumb hero who keeps the heroine distant because he wants her to marry someone who can give her children.
Not bad anyway.
Average book with average angst.
Dumb hero who keeps the heroine distant because he wants her to marry someone who can give her children.
Not bad anyway.
September 22, 2016
A fun LG. The heroine was a bit of a ninny who fought back all the time when I think a more rational woman would have responded differently. But then she was only 20. So she realistically acted like a dopey teenager. But sometimes that would go down better with me if I thought that was seriously what the author was aiming for. Did LG sit down and say 'this heroine is only barely 20 so she is going to act like a stupid teenager and then I will have her grow and learn.' Or did she just try to write a feisty character who came over as a bit of an idiot? Hmmm. Still I like LG so I forgive a lot. Very over the top and dramatic. So that's all good.
January 20, 2018
loved both MCs. only wish LG had written better love scenes as the couple deserved them.
July 24, 2012
I liked this story very much. I am glad to see a H that wasn't mean. Yes, he may have his moments of anger but most of the time he is logical. Comparatively I feel sometimes the heroine actions and respond are a bit childish. They both entered this marriage of convenience for their own reason but the hero did approach it with much more tolerance and sense while I can't help to feel the heroine is less considerate. She made her decision to marry into a loveless marriage and the hero did ensure she know what she can expect in the first place which makes her accusation of the hero in the initial stage of marriage a bit unfair.
However, I appreciate the story that both H and h have their flaws and it showed that we are all human and no one is perfect. They are likeable characters. The only complaint is I don't feel they talk to each other enough to understand why they truly loves each other. But I still found this story enjoyable.
However, I appreciate the story that both H and h have their flaws and it showed that we are all human and no one is perfect. They are likeable characters. The only complaint is I don't feel they talk to each other enough to understand why they truly loves each other. But I still found this story enjoyable.
June 20, 2012
Geez ...this is one unpalatable book. There really isn't anything redeeming about either the Hero or the heroine.
He is a brutal nasty character, making it clear that she is only there for his physical needs. She falls head over heels for someone that constantly treats her like trash.
The parents force her to marry him to save them from a horrible financial situation...and she decides it's okay to sell herself because the man she really loves only sees her as a friend.
She is immature and spouts off nonsense for most of the book...and in typical LG fashion, says one thing but does another.
Go figure.
He is a brutal nasty character, making it clear that she is only there for his physical needs. She falls head over heels for someone that constantly treats her like trash.
The parents force her to marry him to save them from a horrible financial situation...and she decides it's okay to sell herself because the man she really loves only sees her as a friend.
She is immature and spouts off nonsense for most of the book...and in typical LG fashion, says one thing but does another.
Go figure.
July 12, 2017
I actually read this over 20 years ago, so I'm not going to write a review. But I just want to say this was one of the sweetest apology/grovels ever!
Not the best book over all and no epilogue, but sweet just for the ending.
Not the best book over all and no epilogue, but sweet just for the ending.
August 4, 2017
I want Raschid! !
May 10, 2015
I love a good MOC story and this one was so angsty. OM, OW, pregnancy, jealousy, misunderstandings, no wonder I devoured it!
August 4, 2018
"An Arabian Courtship" is the story of Polly and Raschid.
Polly is the oldest of her siblings, and secretly in love with her neighbor Chris- who only thinks of her as a sibling. Heartbroken, she is shocked when her father arranges her wedding with Prince Raschid, in order to fulfill an old promise with the latter's father.
Whisked away to his desert kingdom, the customs are a shock to Polly, so is the sudden intense attraction to her husband- something she hadnt ever felt for Chris. But as they engage in a battle of wills and passion, the sexual chemistry is too strong to deny and soon Polly finds herself falling for her brooding husband.
So for some reason I was picking up all the wrong LG's recently, something which led me to take a break from her books due to disappointment. However, this oldie was a pleasant surprise.
-The heroine had a backbone
-The hero wasnt overly mean
-Consent was respected
-Lovemaking was hot
-Drama wasnt stretched out
-Hero didnt have to be checked for herpes
-Jealousy wasnt insane
-Resolution was sweet
I liked the way their emotions were expressed on the page, and we definitely saw the couple falling in love- the angst was minimal but a warm welcome. Banter was enjoyable.
Safe
3.75/5
Polly is the oldest of her siblings, and secretly in love with her neighbor Chris- who only thinks of her as a sibling. Heartbroken, she is shocked when her father arranges her wedding with Prince Raschid, in order to fulfill an old promise with the latter's father.
Whisked away to his desert kingdom, the customs are a shock to Polly, so is the sudden intense attraction to her husband- something she hadnt ever felt for Chris. But as they engage in a battle of wills and passion, the sexual chemistry is too strong to deny and soon Polly finds herself falling for her brooding husband.
So for some reason I was picking up all the wrong LG's recently, something which led me to take a break from her books due to disappointment. However, this oldie was a pleasant surprise.
-The heroine had a backbone
-The hero wasnt overly mean
-Consent was respected
-Lovemaking was hot
-Drama wasnt stretched out
-Hero didnt have to be checked for herpes
-Jealousy wasnt insane
-Resolution was sweet
I liked the way their emotions were expressed on the page, and we definitely saw the couple falling in love- the angst was minimal but a warm welcome. Banter was enjoyable.
Safe
3.75/5
October 14, 2015
this was a re-read for me. it was not as much fun as i found it last year (march 2014). it's a 3 star for me this time around, but i won't change my first rating. i found polly very childish and she annoyed me like hell ! too aggressive for my tastes! she knew she was going through an arranged marriage and yet was reluctant from the word go. noone forced her. she made her choice and i found it abhorrent dat she did not want to lie in the bed she made. she threw lots of tantrums and i dunt see how rachid fell for her apart from her obvious beauty.
January 10, 2011
description
Polly didn't expect to be happy
Family loyalty and the knowledge that her love for Chris would never be returned led Polly to accept marriage to Prince Raschid, heir to a desert kingdom.
The problems she thought she'd face were practical ones--such as how she'd adjust to life in a very different culture.
What a shock it was to discover that the handsome autocratic man she'd married was a complex and wonderful companion--and that her emotions were certainly involved!
Polly didn't expect to be happy
Family loyalty and the knowledge that her love for Chris would never be returned led Polly to accept marriage to Prince Raschid, heir to a desert kingdom.
The problems she thought she'd face were practical ones--such as how she'd adjust to life in a very different culture.
What a shock it was to discover that the handsome autocratic man she'd married was a complex and wonderful companion--and that her emotions were certainly involved!
January 3, 2012
This one is Lynne Graham's best -- along with THE CORSICAN GAMBIT by Sandra Marton, it is the best Harlequin Presents I have ever read!
April 5, 2015
An Arabian Courtship by Lynne Graham was a well written romance and would be loved by everyone who adores the old classic Harlequin Presents.
Raschid was an alpha hero who was cold for the majority of the book. In the end he does fall in love but his being an alpha jerk for the majority of the book was off-putting personally for me. Polly agrees to marry Raschid bowing down to family pressure and because the man she loves does not share the same feelings for her. She starts out as a shy heroine forced by her circumstances but to her credit she does stand up to the hero after their marriage. Polly is a little immature at times but I liked her better than the hero.
The romance is passionate and has some great moments. It’s a lust to love journey for the characters and Lynne Graham’s writing is what makes this book an enjoyable read .If you like old school HP’s then go for this!Read More
Raschid was an alpha hero who was cold for the majority of the book. In the end he does fall in love but his being an alpha jerk for the majority of the book was off-putting personally for me. Polly agrees to marry Raschid bowing down to family pressure and because the man she loves does not share the same feelings for her. She starts out as a shy heroine forced by her circumstances but to her credit she does stand up to the hero after their marriage. Polly is a little immature at times but I liked her better than the hero.
The romance is passionate and has some great moments. It’s a lust to love journey for the characters and Lynne Graham’s writing is what makes this book an enjoyable read .If you like old school HP’s then go for this!Read More
December 16, 2011
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but this one didn't grab me even though it had some elements I normally enjoy (heroine illness, can't-have babies-angst that gets resolved). Though on the other hand I tend to dislike Arabian romances, but make exceptions for my favorite authors like LG. The Arabian context wasn't too bad in this one but it puts a damper on the HEA for me knowing that for the rest of her life she's going to have to go out in public wearing a burka. Arabian setting aside, I think one problem with this one was that it almost seemed like the H/h didn't spend enough time together, and I would have preferred seeing more signs of the hero's feelings earlier on. But 3.5 stars because it was a decent story, and I have the sense that in a different mood I might have enjoyed it more.
January 30, 2015
Quotes
Her mother had fallen in love with her future son-in-law's status. He could do no wrong. If he'd been a frog, Anthea would have found something generous to say about him. After all, he was a prince, wasn't he?
Ironically the very first thing Polly noticed about the tall, black-haired male, poised with inhuman calm by the fireplace, was his extraordinary eyes, a clear brilliant blue as glacier-cool as an arctic skyline and as piercing as arrows set ruthlessly on target.
He was a lunatic, and you didn't argue with lunatics.
'An Arab wife concerns herself with the comfort of her husband,' he intoned coldly. He was most erratic in his arguments. 'But you said you wouldn't be around much.' Even white teeth showed in an almost feral slash against his bronzed skin.
'This becomes clear. Then we are of one mind. I will not receive complaints of neglect when I am involved in the business concerns which take up most of my time.' By the sound of it, if she ran into him once a week she would be doing well. She smiled. 'No, I won't complain.'
Dazedly she watched him clamp a heavy bracelet to her wrist. 'Your betrothal gift,' he explained, answering her blank stare. Of beaten gold and studded with precious stones, it was decorated with some primitive form of hieroglyphics. Polly was put grotesquely in mind of a slave manacle.
He steered her away, lustrous dark eyes skimming her guilty face, his appreciative grin widening. 'Is there anything else that you forgot? Like a new husband? If you'll forgive me for saying so, it's not terribly tactful to go surging at ex-boyfriends with Raschid around, unless you have a death wish, of course. But I'll grant you one point. You staggered him, a rare sight to be savoured.' Reluctantly Polly met Raschid's veiled gaze a moment later. 'I'm sorry,' she lied.
Unable to face food, she knocked back the champagne. She didn't even notice how much she was drinking. When everybody began circulating, Polly, who was normally retiring in company, was suddenly to be seen speaking personally to every guest present. Absently marvelling that she no longer felt like throwing herself under a bus, she laughed at another one of Chris's medical jokes frowning when Maggie pulled at her sleeve.
'Rubbish, start as you mean to go on,' Polly overruled as if her craven evasiveness had been the first step in a deliberate offensive.
'Go on the wagon,' she mumbled as if she was making a New Year resolution, the remainder of her alcohol induced euphoria draining away. 'Promish.'
You're a domineering, insensitive tyrant, and I shall get down on my knees and beg your father to deport me. No wonder he had to come to England to find you a wife...no wonder!' Curled up in a tight ball, Polly squinted up at him through tear-clogged lashes. 'No woman with an IQ above forty would want to marry you and clank about in chains for the rest of her days, trying not to show how h-happy she is when you're thousands of miles away...'.
A hand plucked the raised shoe from her stranglehold and tossed it aside. 'I would not offer a woman violence,' he ground out with hauteur. 'I'm numb, I won't feel it,' she mumbled incoherently.
'How could you marry me thinking like that? It could have been worse,' she parroted in enraged repetition.
He frowned and swept off. When he halted as if he had forgotten something ten yards on, Polly just wanted to kick him for striding back to haul her out of her death struggle with the aba twisted round her legs. 'That is not a very graceful fashion in which to descend from a car,' Raschid commented drily
She was King Reija's gift to his son, unfortunately bestowed upon an ungrateful recipient.
He was thinking about 'her' again. It was a wonder he hadn't thrown himself into the grave with her.
I was brought to the palace on the first night, along with every consultant in the building.' She laughed uproariously at the recollection. 'Half the palace inhabitants were crammed outside that door. You didn't half create a panic!'
When the door opened both their heads spun. Jezra took one look at the motionless figure on the threshold and got up, scuttling out past her elder brother with alacrity. Had Polly had the power of her legs and the innocence to believe she could manage a similar exit, she would have copied her.
He was proffering what she estimated to be on his terms a forgiveness of the utmost generosity. Lunacy must have been upon her, how otherwise would she have dared to fight with him?
Raschid did not react to her fury. His eyes remained steady. 'I am not presently thinking of a divorce.'
'What did you raise my hopes for, then?' she slammed back, outraged by his coolness. 'I'd like a time limit to the sentence.'
In a controlled movement Raschid sprang upright. 'Are you in love with him?' he raked at her. 'I will have an answer from you. You are my wife!'
'Look at me! I will not address the back of your head.
But I will have an answer,' he assured her grimly. 'That is my right.'
Angrily she glanced up. 'What's it to you if I am madly in love with him?'
'It is fortunate that I have become well acquainted with your habit of speaking first and thinking second. But I warn you; some day that tongue of yours will take you too far.'
As he hitched his immaculate pants to hunker down, his tone became one of exaggerated confidentiality, 'I would vacate the water at speed. You may have noticed that Raschid is not the most liberated of men, and he has this marked tendency to believe that no man can look at you without being inspired by the kind of intimate thoughts which he considers strictly his department. Why else was I barred from paying my respects personally when you were ill? He even objected to me sending you flowers-but I digress .. .'
'Flowers?' Polly echoed sickly.
'At this very moment Raschid is probably trying to find you,' he continued, unconscious of the brick he had dropped. 'Take it from me, my pool is not where he wants to strike oil.'
'The penalty for adultery in Dharein is still death.' It was a primal and savage snarl to match an anger strong enough to drain the outraged colour from her cheeks. 'But were I ever to have cause to suspect your fidelity that penalty would seem a happy exit from this life.'
'Oh, hello,' she tossed in his general direction, dealing his tall, superbly masculine figure on the threshold the most sparing acknowledgement. But the inescapable weakness a glimpse of him always brought was invading her body, pulling every tiny muscle taut with sharp awareness.
She didn't hear him cross the carpet. The first she knew of it, the dainty watering can was wrested from her and her feet were leaving the floor. He crushed her mouth under his, his tongue thrusting a fierce passage between her yielding lips with a passionate, searing urgency that currented through her with a lightning-bolt efficiency.
'Hello ... Polly,' he derided.
'And that...it came before me?'
'Everything comes before you!'
'I will teach you manners if it is the last thing I do,' he swore, dropping her from a height down on to the mercifully well sprung bed. .
'The next time I return you will be waiting for me.'
'Behind the door with a brick, in all likelihood!' she snapped.
'When I'm free I could make a fortune selling my story to one of the tabloids. I've got just the title! I was an Arab sex slave.'
In the silence he sent her a wolfish smile, amused now, outrageously confident. With it went a look of outright possession.
Did he want to see her somewhere more private than the palace? Or did that whistling pilot have instructions to push her out without a parachute above cloud cover?
'Let me show you how I would treat a whore,' he invited with soft, biting menace. 'If I thought of you as my wife, I would kill you with my bare hands. Yes, you succeeded, aziz . Celebrate your hour of victory now, for the glory will be brief. You twisted my guts with jealousy, and for that education, I am ungrateful.'
It was a nightmare trek back to the camp. Her teeth chattered convulsively, her skin numb from a cold that penetrated to her bones. Raschid had to carry her into the tent.
'If I took a whip to you now, no man would blame me!' he roared at her above the storm. Ablaze with dark fury, he dropped down to strip the sodden lobe from her shivering limbs.
Since there wasn't a weapon in her armoury that she wouldn't use to hang on to him, the exasperating gush continued. What was wrong with her? Of late she had emulated a wet weekend all too often and all too easily.
On the brink of glacially disabusing him of the notion that, not content to trail him home to Dharein, she had decided to lay siege to him in his bedroom as well, Polly looked up, connecting with the electrifying intensity of his eyes.
He didn't love her, and that wasn't fair, but there were many unfair things in life. This would be enough, she told herself squarely. This time-it would be enough.
IT WAS the day after Boxing Day when Polly bounced exuberantly out of bed to go riding and instead keeled over in a dead faint at Raschid's feet. Bedlam had broken out when she resurfaced.
'Home?' The savage impact of his repetition struck her like a blow from a mailed fist. 'You will never see him again, you will never go home!' He swore that like a blood oath in the hot stillness of a seething silence. 'Until I have decided how to deal with you, you will stay here.'
Fixedly studying the letter in his hand, he glanced up absently and then grinned. 'Furniture warehouses, flowers, meals in hotels, the swimming pool. Do you think my brother makes a habit of these things? He's about as modern as my father, but recently he's been behaving out of character. You've led him quite a dance, Polly,' he said cheerfully. 'I've never enjoyed anything quite so much as I have enjoyed watching Raschid having to pursue a woman for the first time in his life, and he's basically rather shy...'
'I love you,' he said fiercely.
'Yes,' Polly mumbled shakily, seeing that so very clearly now.
'How could you have doubted it?' he groaned, enfolding her slender body to the muscular hardness of his taut length. 'I fell in love with you when you had the flu-that is not very romantic, is it? But I couldn't stay away from you, I couldn't pass the door. Just to hear the sound of your voice, to see you. I couldn't help myself. But I didn't know I was in love until I saw you with the children. Then I knew, and I fought it. How could I ask you to spend the rest of your life with me?'
His dark head bent. 'I am not asking you now, I am telling you that I will never let you leave me.' Lifting her up against him, he found her mouth hungrily, and it was a long time before either of them was in the mood for conversation again.
Her mother had fallen in love with her future son-in-law's status. He could do no wrong. If he'd been a frog, Anthea would have found something generous to say about him. After all, he was a prince, wasn't he?
Ironically the very first thing Polly noticed about the tall, black-haired male, poised with inhuman calm by the fireplace, was his extraordinary eyes, a clear brilliant blue as glacier-cool as an arctic skyline and as piercing as arrows set ruthlessly on target.
He was a lunatic, and you didn't argue with lunatics.
'An Arab wife concerns herself with the comfort of her husband,' he intoned coldly. He was most erratic in his arguments. 'But you said you wouldn't be around much.' Even white teeth showed in an almost feral slash against his bronzed skin.
'This becomes clear. Then we are of one mind. I will not receive complaints of neglect when I am involved in the business concerns which take up most of my time.' By the sound of it, if she ran into him once a week she would be doing well. She smiled. 'No, I won't complain.'
Dazedly she watched him clamp a heavy bracelet to her wrist. 'Your betrothal gift,' he explained, answering her blank stare. Of beaten gold and studded with precious stones, it was decorated with some primitive form of hieroglyphics. Polly was put grotesquely in mind of a slave manacle.
He steered her away, lustrous dark eyes skimming her guilty face, his appreciative grin widening. 'Is there anything else that you forgot? Like a new husband? If you'll forgive me for saying so, it's not terribly tactful to go surging at ex-boyfriends with Raschid around, unless you have a death wish, of course. But I'll grant you one point. You staggered him, a rare sight to be savoured.' Reluctantly Polly met Raschid's veiled gaze a moment later. 'I'm sorry,' she lied.
Unable to face food, she knocked back the champagne. She didn't even notice how much she was drinking. When everybody began circulating, Polly, who was normally retiring in company, was suddenly to be seen speaking personally to every guest present. Absently marvelling that she no longer felt like throwing herself under a bus, she laughed at another one of Chris's medical jokes frowning when Maggie pulled at her sleeve.
'Rubbish, start as you mean to go on,' Polly overruled as if her craven evasiveness had been the first step in a deliberate offensive.
'Go on the wagon,' she mumbled as if she was making a New Year resolution, the remainder of her alcohol induced euphoria draining away. 'Promish.'
You're a domineering, insensitive tyrant, and I shall get down on my knees and beg your father to deport me. No wonder he had to come to England to find you a wife...no wonder!' Curled up in a tight ball, Polly squinted up at him through tear-clogged lashes. 'No woman with an IQ above forty would want to marry you and clank about in chains for the rest of her days, trying not to show how h-happy she is when you're thousands of miles away...'.
A hand plucked the raised shoe from her stranglehold and tossed it aside. 'I would not offer a woman violence,' he ground out with hauteur. 'I'm numb, I won't feel it,' she mumbled incoherently.
'How could you marry me thinking like that? It could have been worse,' she parroted in enraged repetition.
He frowned and swept off. When he halted as if he had forgotten something ten yards on, Polly just wanted to kick him for striding back to haul her out of her death struggle with the aba twisted round her legs. 'That is not a very graceful fashion in which to descend from a car,' Raschid commented drily
She was King Reija's gift to his son, unfortunately bestowed upon an ungrateful recipient.
He was thinking about 'her' again. It was a wonder he hadn't thrown himself into the grave with her.
I was brought to the palace on the first night, along with every consultant in the building.' She laughed uproariously at the recollection. 'Half the palace inhabitants were crammed outside that door. You didn't half create a panic!'
When the door opened both their heads spun. Jezra took one look at the motionless figure on the threshold and got up, scuttling out past her elder brother with alacrity. Had Polly had the power of her legs and the innocence to believe she could manage a similar exit, she would have copied her.
He was proffering what she estimated to be on his terms a forgiveness of the utmost generosity. Lunacy must have been upon her, how otherwise would she have dared to fight with him?
Raschid did not react to her fury. His eyes remained steady. 'I am not presently thinking of a divorce.'
'What did you raise my hopes for, then?' she slammed back, outraged by his coolness. 'I'd like a time limit to the sentence.'
In a controlled movement Raschid sprang upright. 'Are you in love with him?' he raked at her. 'I will have an answer from you. You are my wife!'
'Look at me! I will not address the back of your head.
But I will have an answer,' he assured her grimly. 'That is my right.'
Angrily she glanced up. 'What's it to you if I am madly in love with him?'
'It is fortunate that I have become well acquainted with your habit of speaking first and thinking second. But I warn you; some day that tongue of yours will take you too far.'
As he hitched his immaculate pants to hunker down, his tone became one of exaggerated confidentiality, 'I would vacate the water at speed. You may have noticed that Raschid is not the most liberated of men, and he has this marked tendency to believe that no man can look at you without being inspired by the kind of intimate thoughts which he considers strictly his department. Why else was I barred from paying my respects personally when you were ill? He even objected to me sending you flowers-but I digress .. .'
'Flowers?' Polly echoed sickly.
'At this very moment Raschid is probably trying to find you,' he continued, unconscious of the brick he had dropped. 'Take it from me, my pool is not where he wants to strike oil.'
'The penalty for adultery in Dharein is still death.' It was a primal and savage snarl to match an anger strong enough to drain the outraged colour from her cheeks. 'But were I ever to have cause to suspect your fidelity that penalty would seem a happy exit from this life.'
'Oh, hello,' she tossed in his general direction, dealing his tall, superbly masculine figure on the threshold the most sparing acknowledgement. But the inescapable weakness a glimpse of him always brought was invading her body, pulling every tiny muscle taut with sharp awareness.
She didn't hear him cross the carpet. The first she knew of it, the dainty watering can was wrested from her and her feet were leaving the floor. He crushed her mouth under his, his tongue thrusting a fierce passage between her yielding lips with a passionate, searing urgency that currented through her with a lightning-bolt efficiency.
'Hello ... Polly,' he derided.
'And that...it came before me?'
'Everything comes before you!'
'I will teach you manners if it is the last thing I do,' he swore, dropping her from a height down on to the mercifully well sprung bed. .
'The next time I return you will be waiting for me.'
'Behind the door with a brick, in all likelihood!' she snapped.
'When I'm free I could make a fortune selling my story to one of the tabloids. I've got just the title! I was an Arab sex slave.'
In the silence he sent her a wolfish smile, amused now, outrageously confident. With it went a look of outright possession.
Did he want to see her somewhere more private than the palace? Or did that whistling pilot have instructions to push her out without a parachute above cloud cover?
'Let me show you how I would treat a whore,' he invited with soft, biting menace. 'If I thought of you as my wife, I would kill you with my bare hands. Yes, you succeeded, aziz . Celebrate your hour of victory now, for the glory will be brief. You twisted my guts with jealousy, and for that education, I am ungrateful.'
It was a nightmare trek back to the camp. Her teeth chattered convulsively, her skin numb from a cold that penetrated to her bones. Raschid had to carry her into the tent.
'If I took a whip to you now, no man would blame me!' he roared at her above the storm. Ablaze with dark fury, he dropped down to strip the sodden lobe from her shivering limbs.
Since there wasn't a weapon in her armoury that she wouldn't use to hang on to him, the exasperating gush continued. What was wrong with her? Of late she had emulated a wet weekend all too often and all too easily.
On the brink of glacially disabusing him of the notion that, not content to trail him home to Dharein, she had decided to lay siege to him in his bedroom as well, Polly looked up, connecting with the electrifying intensity of his eyes.
He didn't love her, and that wasn't fair, but there were many unfair things in life. This would be enough, she told herself squarely. This time-it would be enough.
IT WAS the day after Boxing Day when Polly bounced exuberantly out of bed to go riding and instead keeled over in a dead faint at Raschid's feet. Bedlam had broken out when she resurfaced.
'Home?' The savage impact of his repetition struck her like a blow from a mailed fist. 'You will never see him again, you will never go home!' He swore that like a blood oath in the hot stillness of a seething silence. 'Until I have decided how to deal with you, you will stay here.'
Fixedly studying the letter in his hand, he glanced up absently and then grinned. 'Furniture warehouses, flowers, meals in hotels, the swimming pool. Do you think my brother makes a habit of these things? He's about as modern as my father, but recently he's been behaving out of character. You've led him quite a dance, Polly,' he said cheerfully. 'I've never enjoyed anything quite so much as I have enjoyed watching Raschid having to pursue a woman for the first time in his life, and he's basically rather shy...'
'I love you,' he said fiercely.
'Yes,' Polly mumbled shakily, seeing that so very clearly now.
'How could you have doubted it?' he groaned, enfolding her slender body to the muscular hardness of his taut length. 'I fell in love with you when you had the flu-that is not very romantic, is it? But I couldn't stay away from you, I couldn't pass the door. Just to hear the sound of your voice, to see you. I couldn't help myself. But I didn't know I was in love until I saw you with the children. Then I knew, and I fought it. How could I ask you to spend the rest of your life with me?'
His dark head bent. 'I am not asking you now, I am telling you that I will never let you leave me.' Lifting her up against him, he found her mouth hungrily, and it was a long time before either of them was in the mood for conversation again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2018
Polly's parents sell her into marriage to Sheikh Raschid, who is honour-bound to go through with this arranged marriage. Polly accepts it for her family's sake, but she knows that Raschid is a chauvinistic, medieval pig who tries to force her to bed with him on their wedding night. But there is more to Raschid then meets the eye and Polly soon falls in love with him.
I'm not entirely sure why this is such a popular book - it was just okay for me. I liked that Polly had a backbone and was determined to find ways to defy Prince Raschid in different, although passive aggressive ways. I liked that Raschid supposedly fell for her as early on as he did, although with all his forcible seductions and laughing at her misery, it was difficult to tell. But there wasn't really any rapeyness and Raschid does come to his realizations that he was an ass pretty well...and with some very pretty turns of phrase as well. We don't really get his POV so it's not an angst-fest in his mind or anything, but for being only Polly's POV, Raschid conveys his guilt and regret fairly well. I appreciated that. What I didn't care for so much was the whiplash I got from these two characters' ping-ponging feelings towards one another. And then there was the heroine's apparent blindness towards everyone's real feelings for Raschid's first wife...everyone keeps telling her what a crazy woman she was and that she caused Raschid all kinds of trouble and pain...yet she keeps insisting that she'll never measure up to her in Raschid's eyes. This was still pretty good, especially being kinda old school and with having a "conservative" middle-eastern sheikh as a character.
I'm not entirely sure why this is such a popular book - it was just okay for me. I liked that Polly had a backbone and was determined to find ways to defy Prince Raschid in different, although passive aggressive ways. I liked that Raschid supposedly fell for her as early on as he did, although with all his forcible seductions and laughing at her misery, it was difficult to tell. But there wasn't really any rapeyness and Raschid does come to his realizations that he was an ass pretty well...and with some very pretty turns of phrase as well. We don't really get his POV so it's not an angst-fest in his mind or anything, but for being only Polly's POV, Raschid conveys his guilt and regret fairly well. I appreciated that. What I didn't care for so much was the whiplash I got from these two characters' ping-ponging feelings towards one another. And then there was the heroine's apparent blindness towards everyone's real feelings for Raschid's first wife...everyone keeps telling her what a crazy woman she was and that she caused Raschid all kinds of trouble and pain...yet she keeps insisting that she'll never measure up to her in Raschid's eyes. This was still pretty good, especially being kinda old school and with having a "conservative" middle-eastern sheikh as a character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2019
This was an angsty read. It's a marriage of convenience story with lots of bickering (I mean they fight practically all the time), willful misunderstandings, deliberate if not dishonesty, at least keeping vital information from the other party because *reasons*, and passion. The H and h are so in love but only the reader can see the truth until the bitter end. Then comes a beautiful grovel, all the misunderstandings are cleared up and we get a romantic HEA. The ending made up for all the shenanigans that came before.
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July 23, 2020
Booo. This book had too many plots, too many past secrets, just too many! The hero was just a jerk. He seemed cool at first being upfront about everything but then total a-hole. Don't get me wrong our kinda of a ditzy heroine was an idiot at their wedding. But without the hero's pov we have no clue what is going on in his head. Did this couple have sex? I mean they did but the scenes were edited oddly or out so we had no freaking clue! Because it seems like they were sleeping together because they fought about it a lot but not reading it felt like us readers were missing out on character milestones. Gotta say this couple didn't work. Like at all. Lets call it cultural incompatibility because neither learned to adapt a bit to grow closer. No romance happened like at all. A lot of talk of divorce, I'm reading a romance book, why are the couple only talking about leaving each other? Skip this hot 80s mess of a book.
July 28, 2021
This is probably the first book by Lynne Graham book I read many moons ago as a teen and I remember that Sheikh's were all the rage then rather than the Russian Billionaires of today.
I loved this one in the 90's but today the rose tinted specs are off and I think both characters have flaws. The h is far too hung up on a childhood friend to see how awesome the H is and the H is a dumb ass for believing the word of a mentally ill person about his fertility.
Why do the H's never get their junk checked out by Dr's and see the results themselves? It's a fatal flaw of theirs. Its also surprising that they don't have millions of offspring as they seem to get diagnosed and go off on a manho spree!
Anyway the nostalgia is high with this one as I remember wanting a Sheikh of my own. I never got one but I did enjoy this dip into the past.
I loved this one in the 90's but today the rose tinted specs are off and I think both characters have flaws. The h is far too hung up on a childhood friend to see how awesome the H is and the H is a dumb ass for believing the word of a mentally ill person about his fertility.
Why do the H's never get their junk checked out by Dr's and see the results themselves? It's a fatal flaw of theirs. Its also surprising that they don't have millions of offspring as they seem to get diagnosed and go off on a manho spree!
Anyway the nostalgia is high with this one as I remember wanting a Sheikh of my own. I never got one but I did enjoy this dip into the past.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2023
My reading challenge for 2023 is to read/reread all of LG's books from her first book to her last book published in 2023.
This is her third book which was published in January 1990.
Her first book is Bittersweet Passion, May 1988
Her second is The Veranchetti Marriage, April 1989
Finally, it's in this book that LG's sense of humour, which I really enjoy, starts to come through in her writing. Plus you can't help but start to like the hero, which is also what I like about her books. Polly was a bit annoying, but she was doing her best to not fall in love with hero plus she was very young. Again, very young heroine and older hero who had been married before, yep a bit yuck, add in the culture differences and it seems H & h are doomed to failure.
It's a Forced marriage due to Polly's family on the verge of bankruptcy - totally unrealistic plot but that's why we all read M&Bs.
It's not her best novel but it's not her worst - which are probably her first 2 books and The Arabian Mistress (her 34th book 2001). I have reread this book a few times. I liked the hero's brother and wife and there's an elderly servant with dementia thrown in for good measure at a romantic palace. Hero builds her a swimming pool, which is an unusual romantic gift.
Definitely, worth a read but remember this was written in 1990 so acceptance of the era is necessary before you start reading this novel plus it is romance-land, not chick lit, so plot is unrealistic.
Basically, LG pulled all the elements of this story together really well and I enjoyed her side characters.
This is her third book which was published in January 1990.
Her first book is Bittersweet Passion, May 1988
Her second is The Veranchetti Marriage, April 1989
Finally, it's in this book that LG's sense of humour, which I really enjoy, starts to come through in her writing. Plus you can't help but start to like the hero, which is also what I like about her books. Polly was a bit annoying, but she was doing her best to not fall in love with hero plus she was very young. Again, very young heroine and older hero who had been married before, yep a bit yuck, add in the culture differences and it seems H & h are doomed to failure.
It's a Forced marriage due to Polly's family on the verge of bankruptcy - totally unrealistic plot but that's why we all read M&Bs.
It's not her best novel but it's not her worst - which are probably her first 2 books and The Arabian Mistress (her 34th book 2001). I have reread this book a few times. I liked the hero's brother and wife and there's an elderly servant with dementia thrown in for good measure at a romantic palace. Hero builds her a swimming pool, which is an unusual romantic gift.
Definitely, worth a read but remember this was written in 1990 so acceptance of the era is necessary before you start reading this novel plus it is romance-land, not chick lit, so plot is unrealistic.
Basically, LG pulled all the elements of this story together really well and I enjoyed her side characters.
April 22, 2020
Polly finally realizes that her love for another will never come to pass. When given the opportunity for marriage she takes it. Uprooting herself and moving to another country and the couture much different will she ever accommodate? Becoming an Arab princess was not what she expected. Can she and Rashid overcome the barriers and become the loving couple? Can he guide her through all the changes that he has placed her?
March 2, 2020
No estaba muy convencida al principio de la historia pero después me quedé enganchada y no podía dejar de leer. Los amores que representa Lynne son bien lentos pero amo el desarrollo de ellos. Y ame a esta pareja.
March 22, 2023
I couldn’t stand the heroine or the Hero, which is pretty rare for me. It was also a little bit overwritten compared to her other books and I found myself having to reread sentences to make sense of things.
October 24, 2017
I really enjoyed this book, Polly is so lucky to have a man like prince Raschid, could do with a man like him, will read this book again
July 30, 2018
2.5 Stars
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