The Sheikh’s Jewel by Melissa James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book Blurb:
When Amber’s betrothed was killed and the future of two desert nations hung in the balance, she had no choice—she had to marry her fiancé’s brother and heir, brooding Sheikh Harun El-Kanar.
For three years, Amber has struggled to make her marriage work. Harun may be devastatingly sexy, but he’s closed-off—burdened with grief and the responsibilities of ruling a troubled nation.
Now they’ve both been kidnapped. Is this Amber’s last chance to show Harun that she could be more than just his paper wife—perhaps even the jewel in his crown
My Review:
I’m not sure where to begin…there were so many different layers to this book – a troubled marriage, loss of family, kidnapping, war, family re-unions, wedding and babies!
Harun and Amber’s story was uniquely different, Amber was betrothed to marry Harun’s older brother Fadi; when he was killed in an accident, she had no choice but to marry her fiancé’s younger brother Harun when the middle brother Alim up and took off. Complicated much? 🙂
Amber’s character was well written, considering everything she put up with she had spunk, courage and a kind heart. Harun is no alpha hero, he is emotionally tortured and constantly second guessing his worth….. Harun and Amber spent more time apart than together in this book, I truly wanted to smack Harun a couple of times as I read along, seriously who ignores his wife for 3 years while living in the same palace???!!!
About fifty pages into this book, I realized that this book was a sequel to ‘The Sheikh’s Destiny’ and that was when It all fell into place and started making sense to me.
Melissa James writes beautifully, this story is complex, if you stick with it – It is worth the read.
'You will not be marrying Alim,' her father interrupted her bluntly.
Amber's head shot up. 'What?'
'I'm sorry, my dear,' her father said quietly. 'Alim disappeared from the hospital last night, unequivocally refusing both Fadi's position and Fadi's bride. I doubt he'll return for a long time, if ever.'
Amber almost snarled—almost. Women of her station didn't snarl, not even when the man she—she liked had just run out on her; but she managed to hang onto her self-control. 'Where did he go? How did he manage it?'
'Within hours of waking, Alim used his private jet and his medical team from the racing circuit to help him transfer to a private facility—we think he went somewhere in Switzerland. He still needs a lot of graft work on his burns, but he made it obvious that he won't return here when it's done.'
'He must have been desperate to escape from me, leaving hospital when he's at death's door,' she muttered, fighting off a sudden jolt of queasiness in her stomach. ........
...... "Of Course he has!" Amber didn't know she spoke aloud, the fury of rejection boiling over. "So having been rejected by brothers one and two, I'm expected to - to wed and bed brother number three with a smile? There are limitsto the amount of humiliation I must accept, surely, Father?"