The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride

I try to stay away from romance novels with titles such as the one here. But having read and enjoyed a another romance by Liz Fielding (Reunited: Marriage in a Million), I decided to give The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride a try. I'm glad I did.

Diana Metcalfe is a single mother, living in London, with her parents. She works as a chauffeur for a car service, where she is assigned to make school and airport runs. When several of her higher ranked co-workers fall ill, she is assigned to the most luxurious car in the company’s fleet, along with the company’s VIP clientele. When Diana learns she will be the driver for Sheikh Zahir al-Khatib, the nephew of the Emir of Ramal Hamrah, she is filled with excitement, and a bit of trepidation. Excitement because this is her opportunity to prove herself to her boss. Trepidation because unlike her usual clients, this client is royalty, and she is expected to treat him as such. This means wearing a full uniform and minding her tongue, which she has a very hard time doing.

Zahir is in London on business before returning home to get married to a woman of his family’s choosing. The moment he sees Diane, he realizes that there is something different about her, something intriguing. Diane and Zahir’s first meeting is an unmitigated disaster, and the interactions that follow are funny.

Zahir tries to fight his feelings for Diane. She is not the type of woman to be interested in a no-strings dalliance. She is a single mother who has been hurt by love before, and has difficulty trusting someone with her heart again. Despite his best intentions, however, he soon falls in love with her beauty, her zest for life, and her zany sense of humor. The fact that she seems completely unaffected by his obvious wealth makes him love her even more. Despite herself, Diane is enamored with Zahir, and while she is initially wary, she soon throws caution to the wind, allowing herself to fall in love with him.

The author does a great job writing complete characters. Despite the book's brevity, I felt like I knew Diane and Zahir - and the bond between them. The ending is particularly touching, and it summed up nicely why I loved this couple.

Ms. Fielding's writing works for me. Her novels are enjoyable and the characters she creates are utterly refreshing. The Sheikh’s Unsuitable Bride comes in a short package, but it sure delivers.

-- Keisha Hudson

Order this book from Amazon Books

To comment about any of these reviews on our reviews forum