Spirit, sass and spunk is what I adore in a heroine and Abby Green has outdone herself in Breaking The Sheikh's Rules, her first venture into writing the sheikh genre. It's an amazing sensual journey you'll take with Sheikh Nadim and Iseult O'Sullivan.
Sheikh Nadim Bin Kalid Al Saqur was quite the ruler and he was in the process of purchasing the O'Sullivan Stud Farm. In fact not only the farm but the O'Sullivan home, along with the services of Paddy, Isuelt O'Sullivan and their housekeeper, plus their prize two year old magnificent horse, Devil's Kiss. What he didn't count on was he would be on the receiving end of her smart mouth. No one, but no one talked to him in the manner this sassy redhead did; she not only challenged him she intrigued him. In the end, the plan was to move his racing and breeding horse program to Ireland and to make sure Iseult returned home with him to Merkazad along with Devil's Kiss to assist in training the prize horse.
What an excuse, to have her return home to his country and see her daily. What a mistake, but he couldn't help himself because he desired her. He didn't do love nor relationships. He would have a mistress from time to time but that was the extent of his love life. At one time he had been married. But his wife and unborn child died, due to a horse riding accident. However, this young and spirited woman stirred things inside him and until he figured it out and got her out of his system, he wasn't going to get much sleep.
It all happened to fast, the sale of the farm, her relocation to Merkazad and being installed in employee housing. Then of course, her being part of his training team. Iseult was confused by her feelings for this handsome sheikh. As he pointed out, when he purchased O'Sullivan's, he owned all of them including Iseult! He was larger than life and she felt the sensual pull, especially when he was too near, touched her and then kissed her. While working with Devil's Kiss there was an incident which made Sheikh Nadim angry and gave him the perfect excuse to move her to his castle.Sparks flew every time they were together and in the end on a horse buying trip to look at Arabian's, they finally both had had enough. An innocent "harem dance" led to them making love in his tent, and this virgin's fate was sealed. Honestly, it was like something out of the Arabian Knights!
Because Nadim was her first, he reminded her he didn't do love or commitment. She was reminded of an earlier conversation when he revealed he did not love his wife and their's had been a marriage of convenience. So when she agreed to be his mistress, he was very firm their relationship would be over when he said so! What an arrogant Sheikh! I only hoped she would remember her conversation with her boss, the head trainer Jamilah and family friend of the Al Saqur's. Jamilah warned Iseult the Al Saqur's were ruthless and she knew it first hand because she had once been involved with Nadim's younger brother.
Back at the palace they resumed their love making; however he didn't stay the night with her and she realized then that he had the power to hurt and destroy her. There were other changes, her co-workers treated her differently, so did Lina her maid and her sheikh didn't like it when she wasn't there waiting for him. However, there was something about her; he realized was special . Nadim felt comfortable with her and shared more with her than he had with anyone. In a way, I personally thought they were somewhat alike as they had both been thrown into taking responsibility for their family......Iseult for her family and horse farm and he for his family and country.
Holding my breath, I wondered what would become of their affair because Sheikh Nadim was so adamant they didn't have a future together. Plus the fact that their world's were so different from each others. When would it end and how? Simply, Iseult ended it because she couldn't continue and spilled her emotions.... she loved him! Shock would be the word I would use to describe his reaction to her confession..... "I've fallen in love with you" . Then disbelief because she was leaving him, followed by anger. However, Abby Green gave this desert lord and sassy Irish lass a brilliant and happy ending. It was hard to believe this was Abby Green's first sheikh book.
Be on the lookout for Sheikh Nadim's brother's story in Secrets of the Oasis. It's his younger brother Salman and his family friend Jamilah Moreau, Nadim's head horse trainer. You'll get a short glimpse of the emotion and tension brewing between this couple, towards the end of Breaking the Sheikh's Rules.
