Destined for the Desert King

Name: Destined for the Desert King
Rating: 3.5 (6 reviews)
ISBN: 9781460386637

By Kate Walker

Publisher Description

A queen of convenience?

There's no doubt that their marriage is one of convenience and political maneuvering. But shy beauty Aziza El Afarim secretly hopes that her husband—the boy she once idolized—remembers something of the closeness they shared as children.

Except Sheikh Nabil Al Sharifa is far from the boy he used to be. The weight of loss and power has changed him beyond recognition. Where once there was warmth and generosity, now only a ruthless passion burns. He'll give Aziza everything…except his love.

But as pressure to produce an heir mounts, could there be more than duty in the marriage bed?

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Destined for the Desert King Reviews

3.5

MissyCat

Created almost 2 years ago

Amanda

Created over 7 years ago

Created over 8 years ago

“Major plot spoilers ahead (I meant it). Read at your own risk OMG! This book was freaking fantastic. This book encapsulated everything that I want in a romance and so much more. I couldn't put the book down for a second because I was so engrossed in this story with my eyes glued to the page as I saw the love story between Aziza and Nabil come to life. It was just so good, and it was pretty prefect. I loved every single second about it. I can't praise it enough. I'm almost lost for words because I was so impressed with this book, but I am going to try. As soon as chapter one began, I knew I was in for a great, angsty, emotional, intense, passionate read. The setup was great I thought, and even though I didn't read the previous book written by Kate Walker which featured Nabil, as the villain as matter fact then later turned friend to the couple he was suppose to be an obstacle for in the previous book, but now he was throwing their anniversary party ten years later, and he had come a long way with lots of regret along the way. At this party was where Aziza and Nabil reunited after knowing each other as children. She totally had a crush on him with that crush not having seemed to go away which was apparent to reignited after they met again. While he didn't remember her, but there was lots of heat and sexual attraction going on. It was so thick and delicious that I could feel it ooze off the pages. The anticipation and build up started right away, and I loved it. And the good thing about that scene was that in didn't feel forced and in fact felt very natural. It just was a really good meeting of the couple and the fiery kiss that followed. It had me wanting more. And boy did I get it. Not only was their encounter hot and sexy, but it also presented some complications because not only did he not recognize her, but he didn't know who she was because she told him that she was someone else (mainly her sister's servant with a different name) so he never made the connection between the two. All he knew was that he wanted her but refused to have her, knowing that he would have to get married to someone and figured it wouldn't be Aziza and never would be because of her station. He even considered marrying her sister, who was supposedly the jewel of the family, and make her his queen. Lots of yummy conflict and set up there, and it was really great, as it was complicated and intense. Of coarse he decided to marry Aziza, remembering the sweet girl from his past instead of her sister, but not realizing that the one he was agreeing to marry was the same woman on the balcony, that servant of her sister that he was in deep lust with and wanted with every bone in his body, which he wanted to avoid so he figured in picking the sister he would be safe. Boy was he wrong, and as you can imagine sparks and fireworks flew when he found out the truth which didn't happen until their wedding night since their traditions demanded that the bride wear a veil the entire time during the ceremony and the reception and was not allowed to reveal her until they were in private. Just that scene of the wedding was filled with intensity and anticipation not only for the characters but for me as the reader knowing what I knew but he hadn't a clue. Aziza knew of coarse who he was and the fact that she believed that he remember her and knew her and that was why he chose her over her sister, and for her feeling worthless all her life by her family that was a heady feeling for her. It felt good that the man that she always wanted her. So there was so much going on at this wedding, and I could feel the heat and tension circling around them and just waiting until all way revealed. He was shock and anger coursed through his body, believing he was tricked into marrying her with lots of accusations going on and breaking her heart in the process. But before the big reveal there was lots of sexy tension going on, and I was on the edge of my seat just waiting when she would finally take that veil off for the first time, and it was good anticipation, and I couldn't wait till the fireworks went off. It seemed to take forever until she removed the garment, but not too long, just enough to keep my eyes glued on the page and just waiting. The waiting was as good as the moment that it finally happened. Again lots of tension and anger and hurt going. Lots of intense emotions going on there. And when he made it known that he didn't trust her and basically rejected her, hurting her so bad I could feel her hurt and pain that coursed through her body. It was like it was my own pain. I got a little teary eyed to be honest because he thought she was getting her fairy tale and it was just ripped away from her by his distrust. That whole wedding night scene was very well written and brought out the emotions in the characters as it did me. It was a long scene but a worth it seen. As they continued on, the lust between them as well as something deeper was developing around them, and again all that tension was very apparent. It added edge to their romance. I could feel how much they wanted each other but didn't give in for various reasons. When they finally did have their first big love scene, it was very satisfying (no pun intended) and worth the wait. In fact the scene happened over a hundred pages in, almost half way through, but it felt right that it happened at that moment. It was overly dragged out or rushed at all, which was really good. The pacing was really good in this story I thought and where the placement of the first time scene was perfect I thought. It just fit. It built up the tension as well as the emotions that were surrounding each of them and just give this roller coaster type feeling to it. Plus it showed how they were coming together and a place of trust to make this marriage work, even if the love on his side wasn't acknowledged as of yet. And the first time scene was well written I thought. It was emotional. It was tender. It was sexy. It was steamy. It was the cork that finally blew on all that lust that they had for one another. It was always more than just the physical in that moment, and it was beautiful. Even thought the scene was maybe a page and half long and not as graphic as some of the other ones in the book, it really worked in this context. It showed their coming together beautifully I thought. My senses were emerged as well as was my imagination filling in the blanks, which I think kind of make love scenes more powerful. Not that I don't like description because I do, but this was just enough, and I loved the first time. If possibly their other love scenes were ten times as sexy as the first time scene. A big part of that had to do with all the build up of delicious tension between them in the beginning of story and carried all the way through. That scene by the pool. Wowie. That was scorching hot. It made my pulse race right along with theirs. But again I never felt like this was just about lust between the two of them or just two bodies coming together, but something more. It was emotional intense and showed the connection that they had with one another. There were one in every sense of the word not just two people looking to get laid. It was really intense for Aziza because of her love for him and she wanted more from him, and even though he didn't admit it was, but it caused her to feel a lot emotional and just be back and forth on the pendulum. It was entertaining to watch. I loved both of these charcters in this story. They just had so much depth and backstory to them that affected how they saw themselves therefor affect how they acted towards each other. As I state above Nabil was the supposed villain of a previous story and supposedly very young and selfish at that, but there was none of that here. He had some darkness in him sure, but I just saw a tender man here that grew through the last ten years through the high and lows that life had brought him. And I loved seeing his maturity and his caring towards Aziza. He was a great alpha male. Was he perfect? No, but who he is, and what would be the fun of reading about a perfect man, but he was pretty close to perfect I think. Once he got things straight, he never cruelly set about hurting Aziza in fact he did everything to make sure he didn't. I loved him as a character. Now if I read about him in the previous book I don't know if that would have colored my judgment of him or if I would have even read about him in the first place, but since I haven't I will say I loved everything about it and thought he was a great hero. I loved her as well. She just was this kind hearted, tender soul that just wanted a little love in her life. She never got it at home. I felt bad that for a majority of her life she just felt like she was nothing but the spare, but when she fell in love with Nabil she realized he was so much more and worthy of everything life had to give her including love. I loved seeing her growth and strength, which was subtle but enough that she earned the backbone that she could stand up for herself and to Nabil, knowing her worth. But she had so much going on emotionally that it just made her feel so really and three dimensional. I felt she was a real person. A real person that I wanted to give a great big hug to for a majority of the book at all the pain she had to deal with. She was just a great person, and a great heroine. She was the perfect fit for Nadir. Also I loved the fact that they had a bit of a backstory together. It was brief but enough to make and impression on both of them. It set up the fact that she had a crush on him and always idolized him growing up so when she encountered him again in adulthood those feeling multiplied and turned into a deep seated love for Nadir. I always like when the characters have a history together because there so much build up there that wouldn't be if they had just recently met and were just surrounded by this lust cloud. By having that history there was that built in tension as there was anticipation between them when they met again. Plus the fact he didn't remember her added a bit of an edge to the story as well, which lead to some misunderstandings later on which is always fun to watch and see how it plays out. I just loved everything about this story. Kate Walker did a great job creating this intense and emotional love story filled with everything that I want from a romance. This is how romance should be written, and Kate Walker hit the nail on the head in this story. There was a great balance between the tension, emotion, romance, and the passion. There was just so much more too them than just the passion that they had for one another. They had great chemistry going on, and they were really great characters that Walker created. They just fit together really well and came into their lives precisely the time they needed one another. There romance was nicely paced and even though all wasn't smooth sailing it felt very organic and natural. I could feel them falling in love in a believable way. There were no sudden confessions that seemed to come out of nowhere. Their love for one another was completely clear even if it was spelled out in black and white. It was obvious with their actions to show how much they cared and wanted one another. There were sweet moments as there were passionate. Again a nice balance and just the whole story really flowed well I thought. It was just enough tension and angst that I crave when reading romance. Not too much. Not too little. Not too dragged out. It was just perfect. This story was just the perfect combination of everything I wanted in a story. Another point to go with that, I usually mark up book like many readers do for the "good"/favorite parts of the story whether it be a romantic, sexy, emotional or just an intense moment in the story. Moments I want to go back to so I can read it again and again and relive the joy that I felt reading them the first time. In Presents usually I mark maybe a third of the book possibly less, but in this book I wanted to mark every single page, and I did where it became a majority of this book is marked with my symbols. Meaning I am going want to read this book again possibly from cover to cover. I rarely do that in Presents. In Diana Palmer, who was one of the first authors I read and fell in love with in the romance genre, I do it all the time especially in her older books, but not usually in a Presents. Again a rarity, which tells me how good this book was for me and how engrossed in it I actually way. I think there are more unmarked pages than mark ones, which is saying something for me. This book is going to become a favorite of mine I think, and I definitely see myself reading this again from cover to cover because it was that awesome. I would love to revisit the story of Nabil and Aziza and I don't think I will get bored with it even if I read it a hundred times. It was just fabulous. Loved! Loved! Loved this book I can't say it enough. The worst part of it was that it ended. I wished there was an epilogue because it did finish a little quick, but that didn't deter my love for this book. I just can't say enough good things about this book. I never anticipated loving this book as much as I did. I just wanted a quick read and heard good things about it plus read an excerpt from it, which just intrigued me, and I was so glad that I bought this book. I wasn't going too, but I am glad I did now because it was totally worth it on every level. I haven't read many Kate Walker books, but if her other book are like this one then sign me up. The shame is that that she only writes like a one year now so not much opportunity there, but she might become an auto buy author from now on. I have a couple more of hers on my shelf so if they are as good as this one I think then she will be. This was a superb and excellent book. I can't praise it anymore. Highly, highly recommend this book for Presents and romance fans alike.”

Kettyco

Created almost 9 years ago

“Estática, no hubo acción decepcionante.”

Engy Salah

Created almost 10 years ago

About Kate Walker

Kate Walker was always making up stories. She can't remember a time when she wasn't scribbling away at something and wrote her first “book” when she was eleven. She went to Aberystwyth University, met her future husband and after three years of being a full-time housewife and mother she turned to her old love of writing. Mills & Boon accepted a novel after two attempts, and Kate has been writing ever since. Visit Kate at her website at: www.kate-walker.com