Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Manview: The Sheikh's Convenient Princess by Liz Fielding

Welcome to another Manview. For those of you who are new to Manviews, these are reviews of romance novels specifically from a man's perspective, the reader today is my very own Steve. You can find previous Manviews here.

The Sheikh's Convenient Princess by Liz Fielding

The Sheikh's Convenient Princess by Liz Fielding
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating: star star star star

Heat rating: Flame  Flame 

The Sheikh's Convenient Princess by Liz Fielding blurb

ManviewIn one or two sentences can you sum up your overall impression of this book and how you feel about it?

This is a well written-book and presented at a good pace. I hate books involving sheikhs, but enjoyed this book more than I thought I would once I got over my ‘sheikh’ bias.

What did you think of Bram and Ruby?

I liked Ruby as she was honest with herself. And Bram and Ruby were likable as a couple working through the difficulties of truly believing the other was in love with them even though their marriage was an agreed-upon business transaction.

What did you think of Bram's portrayal as a sheikh?

Bram was presented well and I liked his caring for others and ability to be his own man and not need to be top dog (or top sheikh). He was an outstanding bloke for a sheikh. But I have met many sheikhs and none where like Bram – most were assholes who could care less about others, especially caring for and falling for a woman. That is why I had a bias I needed to get past.

How do you think Liz Fielding handled the Middle Eastern culture?

I do not have enough experience living at that level in the Middle East, but from what I witnessed from the fringes of ultra-rich sheikhs and Middle Eastern royal families, it appeared to be a good representation. I liked that Ruby could understand things were much different than in her ‘normal’ life, but was able to flow with it and accept it. This made Ruby much more likable as a heroine. In a number of other romance novels I have read, the heroine will not accept they are in a different world and are fighting it and in some cases, trying to change it. Ruby was initially uncomfortable with things in a number of scenes, but quickly worked out what was the new normal and flowed with it.

Was there anything in particular that stood out to you?

Two things. First both Ruby and Bram had some baggage and became true loners who were highly independent. Ms. Fielding wrote one line that really struck me and made me think about people I know, including myself, as to how it applied. The line was

“Like him, she was not so much unattached as detached.”

I had not appreciated the difference previously and how much different being detached was from being unattached. I thought this one line showed how great Ms. Fielding’s writing is.

The second thing was the struggle Ruby and Bram had to keep their hands off each other for so long in the book, given the situation they were in. Ms. Fielding did an excellent job dealing with this and evolving it, and I felt significant sexual tension throughout, making me rate the book as 2-flames even though in terms of actual sex, it was really a 1-flame book!

What did you think of Ms Fielding's writing and storytelling?

She is a very crafted story teller and writer. Pace was spot on. The only thing I tired of a bit and this is a true ‘manview’ versus a female view I expect, is that I did not enjoy spending 10% of the book reading about Ruby shopping for her wardrobe, her accessories, etc.! It may not have been 10%, but it felt like it to this guy. Had it been more like in 50 Shades of Grey where they go to the hardware store to buy rope and duct tape, then I may have enjoyed the shopping scene more! But as a man, I could not wait for the clothes shopping scene to end!

This is not a poor reflection on Ms. Fielding’s writing as much as just noting a manview of this is different than the female view!

What are you going to read next?

Extreme Exposure by Pamela Clare

View all my reviews


About the author

Liz Fielding

Liz Fielding: Website - Facebook - TwitterGoodreads - Amazon


About the reviewer

Steve Shipley

Steve Shipley: Website - Facebook - Twitter - Amazon


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12 comments:

  1. Hi Steve

    Fabulous review for an awesome story I loved this one and agree Liz Fielding writes fabulous stories that always take me away to places around the world with believable characters :)

    I am glad that you did enjoy this Sheikh story

    Have Fun

    Helen

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  2. While not my type of book I enjoyed the review.

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    1. It didn't used to be either, I wasn't a fan of sheikhs but I really enjoy Liz Fielding's books on them.

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  3. Oh, gosh, Steve, your review made my day. I know that the sheikh "fantasy" is not everyone's cup of tea but I'm glad you liked Bram enough to get past that. Thanks for the 2 flaes. :)

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    1. I think Steve might have been a bit disappointed there was not duct tape and rope involved! :-p

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  4. He does make me want to read this one. Lol. Excellent manview

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  5. A wonderful and refreshing review. I agree with the others, Lis Fielding writes delightful stories and this review highlighted the reasons why it crossed genders so well. Another LF book to add to my library :-)

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    1. Liz is one of my favorite authors. She writes beautiful books.

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