The Royal Sheikh by Katheryn Lane

BUY-UK
BUY-US

I was advised that this was a romance classified as 'sweet' in terms of levels of 'page sizzling' content.  It was indeed 'sweet', but it was also very sweet as in old-fashioned.  Not that I have actually read any, but it did occur to me that this might be a very Mills & Boon/Harlequin-romance-type novel.  It was probably typical in that the format was quite stereotyped and predictable – boy meets girl, falls in love with girl at first sight, does his best to find her when he fails to find out her contact details, chance and luck play their parts, then follow misunderstandings causing boy and girl to break up, but boy and girl can't live without each other, chance and luck are at it again and before you know it, it all ends…….? Don't forget I did say it was predictable.

I liked it – it was indulgently sugary, innocent, charming and gave you a warm feelgood afterglow.  It wasn't taxing, it was delightfully easy to read and the author had a very pleasant and especially refreshing style.  There was something very clean and crisp in the writing as a result of the author's avoidance of any contractions in the narrative (not a 'wasn't' or 'didn't' to be found).  It was very hard not to care about the two main characters, Clare and Rafiq. They were both independent, knew what they wanted and the misunderstandings that gave their relationship the runaround were neatly laced into their lives, never leaving you frustrated or wishing the pace of the story would step up a gear.  Not a long novel, but it was well designed.

I think I prefer a slightly more robust romance – something in the middle of 'sweet' and erotica – but it was hard not to like this;  it was light, airy and enjoyable, just right for a quick and uncomplicated read.