This is the story of Doormat Dora who married a static hero. I think what gets me is that this book was published in 2004 (according to Amazon), but given the stereotypical blahness of the male/female dynamics, I'd have thought it had been published in the 80s. I'd be able to give the author a bit more leniency if it had, as societal views change and there's generally a formulaic pattern for writing the Silhouette type novels. Dora isn't really a kidnapped bride. I'm sort of still trying to figure out how that title came to be. It's sort of like a flashy headline a gossip rag might use to catch your attention. Dora is a jilted fiancee who was a few weeks away from her wedding with a guy who was willing to marry her for his own personal reasons (aka keeping his job) and not willing to keep his dick in his pants and his hands out from under other women's skirts. Dora is abandoned by him at a Kansas airport as he takes off with her luggage and purse after she throws a shit fit (rightly so) about his wandering hands. Real gem of a guy.Sadly, she doesn't exactly pick another winner. She stumbles over to Kahlil and lucks out on a ride away from nowhere and a 2 week job which will net her some needed cash before she goes job hunting (the ass she was engaged to also happened to be her boss). (view spoiler)[ Somewhere along the way we learn the Prince has his hands tied with a fortune hunting slut he's been betrothed to, and Dora's ex is surprised she's canceling their wedding and is demanding to know where she is. The Prince, despite being a Prince and an asshole, finds it really hard to tell his father that the woman he's supposed to marry is rolling from one bed to another while she's gallivanting around the world. Apparently her father (some high up official and family friend) would lose his job if it was learned that his daughter isn't pure as the driven snow. I guess that's a step up from having her stoned to death but a reality check is probably needed here. Sure the guy could lose his job, but maybe the Slutty Bitch should be a little more concerned she'll lose her main source of income and be forced into a marriage with some sort of controlling asshole. It's not like they come from a kingdom that's amazingly forward thinking on women's rights. They've got the basics, but they still require Dora to walk around with a chaperon and dress in clothing that covers her from neck to wrist and ankle. So it really does beg the question as to why this Slutty Bitch is running around by herself in the States and Europe when she's unwed. Hmmm...plot hole much?Anyway, boom, the Prince decides that he can solve his dilemma by marrying Dora. He seduces her, marries her and basically lies to her about feeling any attraction (he later on admits this to her face so basically he didn't even like her just thought of her as an efficient secretary and a means to an end) but believes that eventually he'll feel a fondness for her. Meanwhile, he refuses to tell her anything so Slutty Bitch can waltz in from time to time and spread some pretty little lies that make Dora realize that she might have just married someone worse than her first Fiance. Oops.But Dora isn't going to stand for that. Nope! Dora is going to be strong. She's going to deny him her body...until yeah nope, that didn't work. Okay, so now she's going to deny him the right to sleep in the same room together. He'll have to trek down to her room and seduce her nightly in order to get any sex out of this relationship. Way to stand strong Dora. Way to stand strong. It gets worse. She asks him to tell her the truth, to apologize for using her so that they can begin again to build their relationship on a stronger foundation. She's willing to try and start over despite learning he used the hell out of her and doesn't love her. Instead, the Prince continues to blame her for all the strife. She needs to give in, she needs to admit she loves him, she needs to get over what happened. Seriously, she was nothing (he actually tells her this) and now he's made her a Princess. She was worthless, and now he's given her power. She should be grateful to him. He's Prince Khalil Khan. In fact, he uses those words a lot. "I'm Prince Khalil Khan..." so I should get what I want.There are no strong females in the book. In fact, we're introduced to three main females and they all suck. We have Amber the Slutty Bitch who likes to tear other women down, somehow has a lot more power than a Princess does, and is weirdly obsessed with becoming a Princess. We also have Fatima who, my god, could have been an amazing strong female character! She's set up as this willful woman, the grandmother to the Prince, the Queen. She's full of advice and intelligence...until you realize that her advice is basically along the lines of "he won't bend for you, you need to learn to bend for him". In other words:"I have no idea what the strife is between you and my grandson or why you're hurt, but your female and we need to pick and choose our battles but really by that I mean we need to be sneaky and underhanded to get our way but mostly we need to give our guys what they want and that's sex so screw his brains out and then ask for that pretty thing you want". She's a product of her time, sure, but she hasn't grown out of that time. Her advice is antiquated and should have been regarded by Dora as something backwards and unrealistic. Instead, we have our final female character Dora. Doormat Dora who, after all the time spent trying to get one simple bloody apology and living through all the stupid arrogant comments and hurtful "you were nothings" from the guy she (for some odd and not full understandable reason) loves, goes to his room and basically tells him she'll cut off his dick if he cheats because she loves him. Yep. She basically says "screw that whole my heart would be broken and I would be utterly shattered and changed to the core of my being feeling I had. I'm going to ignore the one simply bloody thing I should have gotten along with wooing and groveling and maybe even some bloody flowers, and tell him he can walk all over me whenever he wants" because let's get real here, the Prince never changes his tune. He never apologizes, he never bends. He spends most of his time belittling her legitimate want of an apology and accepting all of her no's as challenges...when he isn't uttering the asinine "I'm a Prince" line. He isn't going to change. He didn't learn anything and Dora basically acted like an abused woman and rationalized all of his actions so that she could follow Fatima's advice and go give him what he wanted. The whole knife threat thing falls short and comes off as a desperate ploy of the author to make her female character seem stronger in this moment than she actually is. Seriously, like that bit of silliness is going to counter the moment before it when she actually had an "oh poor Prince he had to walk down to my room every night, he's doing his best to accommodate me" thought. Yeah, because he's too lazy to use his hand and you're a convenience as well as a challenge. He's not poor Prince who has to walk down the long hallway to screw me, he's the asshole who couldn't utter an apology and you couldn't deny him anything more than sleeping in his bed because that apology was the line you drew in your head as a point that couldn't be crossed or you'd lose some vital piece of your soul. So much for that line eh Dora? Good luck next time he does something that tears you apart. (hide spoiler)]
This was one of the funniest books I've read. I don't know if it was intended to be that way, but I laughed like crazy reading the preposterous things that came out of the hero's mouth. The man was deranged and proud of it, and I couldn't have been happier.The story is fairly simple: Prince Khalil Khan of El Bahar is engaged, against his will, to beautiful but slutty Amber. He wants out of the engagement, but he can't explain why without causing some unwanted damage in the political stability of his country. See, Amber's father is El Bahar's Prime Minister and he would be so ashamed if he found out about her daughter's whoring ways that he would be forced to resign. Down-on-her-luck Dora Nelson falls on Khalil's hands like the ultimate solution to his problem, and he doesn't hesitate to lie, seduce her and convince her to marry him. After all, he's Prince Khalil of Khan! Naturally, his lies surface soon enough and the stage is set for a rocky and tumultuous marriage. Let the fun begin! :)This story was full of clichés, including a Big Misunderstanding caused by the jealous ex-fiancée, but it all worked out due to SM's writing. Khalil was an outrageous hero, but I loved him. I couldn't take him seriously, of course. If I did, I'd have to kill him, LOL. Here are some of his best lines:"I am Prince Khalil Khan of El Bahar. You will not question my word.""I am Prince Khalil Khan and I do not dishonor women.""I am Prince Khalil Khan of El Bahar, and I do not woo women.""We are going riding. I am wooing you. You will find the ride very romantic and notice that I am an amusing companion. Then, when we return, you’ll be overcome, and we’ll make love.""You are my wife. You will be most impressed, and you will find yourself falling hopelessly in love with me.""Of course I wasn’t honored by your agreeing to marry me. Look at the life that you had before we met. So small and pitiful. You were nothing, and I gave you the world. I am Prince Khalil Khan!""I am Khalil Khan, prince of El Bahar, and I will not be dictated to by a woman. Accept what we have between us, and be grateful."ROFLMAO! Who could resist such a charmer? No wonder Dora fell in love with him.
What do You think about The Sheik's Kidnapped Bride (Desert Rogues, #1) (2000)?
Prince Khalil Khan of El Bahar & Dora Nelson meet on a Kansas airstrip, where Khalil's private jet is refueling and Dora has been abandoned by a duplicitous fiance. Oh, and she's wearing an ill-fitting wedding dress, while her purse and other belongings on still on the long-gone plane. Khalil is in need of an executive assistant for his remaining 2 weeks in the USA, which just so happens to fit Dora's skill set. Good thing, since the jerk ex was her boss... / Justifying to himself that he is
—Virginia
Nora was just a girl running after she discovered her fiancé was an asshole and treated her really bad because he was never in love with her and was just pretending all the time just to keep his job, but it was really unusual how she asked for a ride with Prince Khalil and he said yes.He wasn’t the best person in the begin of the story but I could feel his frustrations, first at his secretary that only wanted to sleep with him and enjoy his fortune, but the worst part was his fiancé. He was betrothed to her since childhood because her family was very important for the country and his job as a prince included think of the country needs first.The girl, Amber is a piece of work, because she fuck with any male, even Khalil’s brother and doesn’t even pretend to be a good girl. It’s really interesting to see how she wove a net around him and there was no way he could escape the marriage because it would be real bad.But I liked the way he seduced Nora, my only problem was the fact he didn’t explained to her about Amber and his reasons for a rush wedding in the first place. She never guessed anything and it was strange watching her discovering his lies and thinking it was her fault.I liked their relationship, Nora had trouble acpteing the reasons why Khalil had married her in the first place, but I enjoy his wooing days. The best part was his reaction on the last page. Oe thing that could had been handled earlier on the book was the Amber situation. I don’t see a reason to let her cause more problems. But that’s just me…
—Mariana Bezerra
al principio estaba emocionada ya que no fue amor a primera vista como todos pero las cosas cambiaron cuando se complico lo de Khalil y Amber, creo que su decision fue apresurada y no me gusto como reacciono.Dora es una protagonista "fuerte" pero hay veces que le falto temple con Khalil mucho amor puedes tener pero debe darse su lugar, a pesar que asi lo quiso dar a entender no fue de esa manera y me molesto como era el con ella, debio dar su brazo a torcer y no ser ella la que lo diera.para mi gusto le falto mas romanticismo
—Ivonne
