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The Desert King's Blackmailed Bride by Ayumu Aso, Lynne Graham

gamz's review against another edition

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4.0

Lynne Graham is one of my favorite HP authors and this book is a great example of why I love her work.

Rashad is such a wonderfully, damaged character. He’s not an a-hole, he’s just needs control because he learned from childhood that this is the best way to survive.

He meets Polly when she enters his country with an Opal ring that belonged to his family and had been lost for years. The circumstances causes Polly to become a hero to his people and as King, he has to listen to the needs and wants of his people. In his zeal to do the right thing for his country, he proposes to Polly.

Having had a very bad marriage when he was younger, this was a huge sacrifice that he is making.

Polly, sweet, innocent Polly only travelled to Rashad’s country to find her unknown father. Since she never knew her mother, she was looking for a familial connection. Getting arrested and held in the country’s castle by its king was not part of her vacation plans. And then he proposed.

What I loved most about this book was Polly’s straight talk. Without her directness Rashad would have stayed locked in himself. He was so terrified of being a husband again and changing habits ingrained from childhood that another approach would have sent him deeper into himself. And when he finally opened up - it was glorious!

Polly became his strength. She became the one person he knew he could trust his true self to and who would love him unconditionally. And that is a beautiful thing.



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