Started off decently enough but after the marriage the sheikh's reasons for keeping her at arms length were not believable. ( )

After Cleo catches her cheating fiancé in the act, she calls off the wedding and leaves the States to do some traveling in Europe and the Middle East. Through a chance-meeting brought about by a misunderstanding, Cleo meets Khaled, the Sultan of Jhurat. He takes her to his palace, but before Khaled lets Cleo go, he decides he will romance her, make her fall in love with him, and then marry her. For the sake of his country, he thinks a fairytale-like story (like Grace Kelly) will appeal to the public and bring prominence to his country. Cleo quickly finds herself falling for the handsome and sexy Sultan, while Khaled convinces himself that this is duty only, although he is finding that Cleo is getting under his skin more than he wants to admit.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and thought that Cleo and Khaled were such great characters. I really enjoyed the interplay between the two; Khaled all sexy and handsome and expecting to be obeyed because he was the Sultan, and Cleo always throwing him for a loop. The two seemed completely enamored of each other, even though Khaled tried to deny his feelings…but deep down he knew the truth. Their chemistry was off the charts. Lots of passion and emotion in this beautifully written story. ( )

An unbelievably farfetched plot, even by contemporary Harlequin standards: the ruler of a fictional Middle Eastern country literally runs into a mousy American girl on the street, whisks her away to his home and marries her in short order. Not a single conversation involves religion, politics or anything remotely touching on current events. Irritating heroine. An especially arrogant and unappealing hero. How this book received a Top Pick rating from Romantic Times is beyond me; a true headscratcher. ( )