Catherine Taylor, no stranger to life’s school of hard knocks, at 18 leaves her dysfunctional family behind, striking out on her own to embrace her passion for art. Years of hard work has given her a degree of acclaim. When offered the opportunity to work in the middle eastern country of Bashir to create the defining mural for the new children’s critical care ward, Catherine embraces the chance … chance to meld her love of children and her love of art. What she doesn’t think she is ready for is the blatant and instant passion she feels the moment she meets the successful country’s crown prince, Malik.
Malik al-Hakim has been raised with the sole purpose of someday becoming the king of Bashir. Years of careful preparation by his loving family has him ready to take the yoke from his father one day, but nothing could prepare him for the instant lust he feels the moment he sees Catherine. Never one to let an opportunity slip by, Malik pursues Catherine, convincing her to explore their desire. But when political intrigue places Catherine in danger, Malik soon realizes lust has evolved to love and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the woman of his dreams safely by his side, no matter how hard she tries to fight their fate.
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I loved the H/h characters in this story. This is a very romantic book. It also shares realistic views of people who are public figures. It shows the emotional toll on living this way and the danger that it can pose. The story covers how the reporters and newspaper publish whatever they want whether it be fact or fiction. It also covers the damage the paparazzi can create by digging into people’s past never allowing them to forget certain incidents. The paparazzi can help or hurt someone’s life and public image. The love interest in the story is between Catherine Taylor, daughter of Baron and Baroness Hatcher and Malik al-Hakim, Crown Prince of the middle eastern country of Bashir. Catherine is an exceptional and in demand artist. She had been contacted and contracted by the King and Queen of Bashir to paint a mural for the children’s ward. At the age of eighteen, she cutoff all communication with her dysfunctional parents and struck out on her own. There were many things that Malik and Catherine had in common. They both knew how hard it was to be treated like a person that was not a public figure. They both knew the sacrifices that had to be made because of their public duties. It was happenstance that had brought Malik and Catherine together. From that moment on they were destined to become a part of each other’s life. A very nice romance with a tiny slice of kink. I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book via Hidden Gems and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Her Desert Prince by Marie Tuhart is the First book in the Desert Destiny Series. This is the story of Catherine Taylor and Malik al-Hakim.
Catherine has come to the middle eastern country of Bashir to create the defining mural for the new children’s critical care ward. While at the airport she happens to be kiss by a man who is trying to outrun the press…the kiss was mind blowing but he quickly set in into a ‘taxi’ to take her to where she needed to go. Catherine is staying at the Palace since the King & Queen are the ones setting up the commission of the art. Catherine has had a hard life of rich parents who used her to keep themselves out of the press then her best friend was killed. So Catherine is just trying to get away from her problems, do some good and avoid any relationships with the hot guy she meet at the airport…which will be hard since he is the oldest son of the Royal family. Malik know he shouldn’t have used Catherine at the airport but thinking she was just a women he wouldn’t see again didn’t feel to bad. But then he found her at his home and the attraction he felt for her at the airport is strong than before.
Malik goes forward to convince Catherine to have a permanent relationship with him via hiding behind a temporary one.
Loved their story!!!
Catherine Taylor comes to Bashir to paint a mural and comes under the observation of Malik al-Hakim. Obstacles need to be overcome as these two find their love. Enjoyed the writing style of this author as she created a world and characters easy to get lost in.
Ebook from netgalley and publisher with thanks.Opinions are entirely my own.
A chance encounter set the stage for their future
This is my 4th book by Marie and I love an author who writes in dual point of view. Catherine flies in to Bashir where she is to paint a mural in the children’s section of the hospital and will be staying at the royal palace. At the airport, she is met by Malik, the crown prince who asks her to play along with the paparazzi. Catherine avoids the paparazzi especially since her friend’s death, yet she forgives Malik using her to hide his true purpose at the airport. The paparazzi photo of their captured kiss at the airport leads Malik and Catherine to pretend to be engaged. But will a pretend engagement turn into the real thing? You have to read to find out and the unexpected plot twists will keep you guessing
Somebody’s been out in the sun too long…
Her Desert Prince is a romantic fantasy gone rogue. The setting is a desert principality – but they’re a Christian country with traditional Arab roots. The royal family is best described a s “the House of Saud” meets “the Waltons” with a right proper British mom/Queen. Crown Prince Malik is gorgeous, a wee bit kinky in the bedroom, and the perfect dutiful son/wise king in training/hunka burnin’ love. Catherine, British artist, daughter of minor royalty, bereaved friend of a now-deceased music star, and paparazzi-loathing recluse, takes leave of her senses and accepts the royal family’s high-profile art commission to paint a mural at a hospital for children. Malik and Catherine meet under improbable circumstances, which leads to paparazzi madness, which leads to a fake engagement, which leads to somebody not liking the fake engagement, which leads… down the primrose path to desert Never-never Land. The astonishing part is that, if you are willing to suspend all logic and reason, and just go with the author’s flow – this is a pretty entertaining read. I had fun with it, and I thank AXP for the ARC. This is my voluntary, independent and uncompensated review: 3 stars
Author Marie Tuhart has a real winner here in her latest, Her Desert Prince. I loved the exotic location and the idea of painting a full room mural for sick children at the hospital in exotic, Bashir. There’s lots of warm family moments, hot attraction between the hero, Crown Prince Malik al’Hakim and the heroine artist Catherine Taylor, suspenseful moments and plenty of super dialogue. The characters are very likable, except for the bad guys, of course. This was a fun read and I look forward to more stories in the author’s new series, Desert Destiny.
This is a very enjoyable romance. With a storyline that is filled with fun, charm, sweetness and deep emotions; the book captures your attention and keeps it as the plot unfolds. The chemistry between Catherine and Malik is instant and steamy. With a few surprises, suspense and danger added for extra flavor. At its heart it is a wonderful romance that has strong elements of realism to it. Love is often surprising, often complicated, usually life altering and never easy. All of these things come into play as Catherine and Malik’s relationship grows from an initial spark to a blaze of passion and romance. I really liked this book and look forward to future entries in this series.
I received an ARC Copy of this book and I chose to review it. This is voluntary. I loved the book. It has a little suspense in it. Since I don’t do spoilers you will need to get the book to find out what it is. This is a well written story. I enjoyed the whole story it is worth your time and effort. I love Marie Tuhart is an amazing author she is a favorite of mine. This was a quick easy read for me. I really do think you will enjoy this one.
**I received a copy of Her Desert Prince from Net Galley in exchange for a honest and voluntary review**
Her Desert Prince by Marie Tuhart is the first book in her Desert Destiny Series and I really enjoyed the story. I haven’t read this author before and hope that there will be more book for the remaining 3 brothers and perhaps Samir? I’d give this book a well deserved 4.8 stars it was that good.
Catherine Taylor grew up the pawn of her low ranking royalty parents and the paparazzi that they cultivated using their daughter to be seen by the British public. But when she won’t continue being in the public eye she goes to college to study art. But when her musician best friend passes from cancer she leaves her parents and photographers behind becoming a sought after Mural artist leading to her current job creating a mural for the Royal family of Bashir Children’s hospital. When the Crown Prince sees her at the airport and gives her a passionate kiss little does she know that he’s the Prince but also that they will explore their feelings for each other very soon.
Crown Prince Malik al-Hakim knows his destiny is to become King of Bashir when his father decides to step down but when he sees Catherine at the airport and decides to use her to draw away the paparazzi away from him with a kiss that’s explosive. But he’s not aware she is the artist hired by his family paint the mural in the children’s hospital. He soon realizes that Catherine could the woman he’s been searching for as his future Queen. But first they need to find out who has been trying to kill Catherine before he loses the woman that he loves with all his heart.
I loved how the Royal Family showed Catherine what a family really is like and that she asked the children for input on what should be on the mural and how she bonded with Zain one of the patients at the hospital. I look forward to future books with Malik’s brothers