Cinderella and the Sheikh - Teresa Morgan

Aladdin, the Prince of Persia, pick any fairy tale Arab prince and Prince Rasyn is sexier then them all and a liar, both to himself and to Libby.  Rasyn finds Libby while he is visiting New York in his quest to find an utterly common woman - someone completely beneath the station of princess and hopefully queen, if he can seduce her and convince her to marry him.  The goal being to force his uncle to give his kingdom to his cousin instead of himself upon his uncle’s death due to his lack of marrying the proper woman.  Therefore helping his more educated, military trained, albeit cold hearted, cousin to have a chance at ruling regardless of his uncles favoritism towards Rasyn.  Good plan – except he allows himself one small concession and he picks a woman that he could “stand” being married to for a few years and chooses someone who would deserve the benefits of a few years of royalty and a financially beneficial divorce.  However, he neglects to think through why he can handle being around her.  His insecurities of leading with his heart prevent him from seeing the truth in his lies both towards Libby and as to why he is reluctant to take over ruling the kingdom.  He is drawn to her for reasons only his heart can see. 

Libby is the quintessential Cinderella.  Poor, a waitress, deceased father, mother who lost the love of her life when her father died and a knack for doing the wrong thing in every royal capacity.  However, these very characteristics are what make her charming and someone that everyone can’t help but love including Rasyn.  A nice twist to the story is that Libby is a strong woman and isn’t swept up in the lies Rasyn weaves trying to pull her into his world.  She holds true to her self until the very end.  She keeps her heart closed off and makes the progression of the love affair and plot very logical and realistic.  Libby wants the real thing and is determined to hold out until the can find what her parents had.  The chemistry between Libby and Rasyn is intense and seductive.  For a short story, it has a nice development and plenty of progression to make it a really nice complete story without the feeling that the story suffered due to the shorter length.  The story is rich with a full host of characters and scenery.  The Arab palace and all that entails is an enchanting setting to make the story exotic and sultry.  And the fact that Libby always seems to loose a shoe at the worst possible time is very endearing in a cliché Cinderella way.  What better way to escape a cold winter day then in a steamy romance in the desert!

I give this one four chocolate dipped strawberries.