Books & Spoons Review: NEVER REFUSE A SHEIKH by Jackie Ashenden

When the sheikh claims a wife, she cannot refuse …

Altair is a man perfectly in control both of himself and the power he wields as regent of Al Harah. Yet in order to retain his stronghold on the country he loves, he must wed a princess wilder than the Bedouin tribe she was raised in. A princess who only has one word for him: no.

Princess Safira knows what freedom means and it isn’t a palace or a crown. Neither does it mean being told what to do by a man with more ice in his veins than blood. Safira is innocent in the ways of men, but the heat in Altair’s gaze calls to a deep, unclaimed part of her soul she cannot deny. Altair seems hell-bent on civilizing her, but she’s not so easily tamed. Especially not when she can sense the wildness that lives in him…

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Altair lives with guilt, regret, and trying to fix what he feels responsible for destroying.
Part of the solution is to marry Safira.
Safira is strong willed, and lonely. Most of her life she has been in hiding, living in the desert, without much human interaction.
The battle of tradition, culture, and customs with an ironclad will to always  be  in control, comes in between the connection Altair and Safira have.
For the first time Safira has feelings of passion, affection, and happiness. Feelings Altair doesn't allow for himself, and the battle of the minds to follow. Altair's conflict between his heart and feelings towards Safira against duty and repentance nearly damage the fragile relationship and shatter the advantage and change he has made as a ruler of the country.
Equality of rights is not accepted in all the cultures. The battle between tradition and Western worlds is constant, and also present in this story. The cultural differences and traditions are interesting. But despite the strong sense of duty, love still wins.
~ Three Spoons

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