A Dinner, a Date, a Desert Sheikh (Harlequin Romance #4176) Book

I loved the heroine in this one. Emily is smart and practical and has big dreams for her career as a chef: she currently runs her own catering business and is saving up to eventually own a restaurant of her own. Her own family members alternately pity and scold her for not being able to get over how her younger sister and her former boyfriend are now getting married and want to know why she can't just forgive them. I found Emily's mental response to that was plaintive and heartbreaking: neither her sister nor her ex have even thought to ask for her forgiveness, and she'd forgive them if they'd do that simple thing.

Madani was less compelling. hH was certainly likable and endearing and heroic, but I found Emily, who had actual goals and a clear career, more interesting. I did enjoy their romance, and there were some lovely, memorable scenes (like when Madani, rescuing Emily from the bridal shower from hell, notices her defiantly wearing a dress in sexy red amid a crowd of pastel-clad women). I also super appreciated the dynamic between Madani and his friend Azeem. Yay, characters who have friends and don't live in a social vacuum!

There was some clunkiness (like her one-dimensional, evil ex-boyfriend, and typical "My English is not so good" "hijinks") and "seriously???" bits (she puts her home address on her business cards? seriously? even if she works out of her home, isn't that, you know, not a good idea?). It'd have been nice to have seen the heroine and hero have to work through some real interpersonal conflict (rather than conflict-of-circumstances that dominated this story: namely, that he was a sheikh and betrothed to marry someone else, and that she declined to accept a very expensive gift he wanted to give her) to see how they'd weather true marriage storms. I still found this a satisfying read, however, and it had a very cinematic feel to it. I could easily imagine it as a warm and fuzzy chick lit film.