I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review~

The last of the Harlequin manga, or well, the last of the latest batch. Now it is waiting for a new batch or browsing through Amazon.nl for more. This book had to wait a bit longer as it is only releasing next week + I wanted to have one in this week after my move as I can use some fluffy romance books in my life. And this one seems to promise just that with the cover swoons and the blurb (though I am not sure how I feel about the kidnap thing, but I am sure it will all work out eventually).

So follow me as I read this book, I will be writing as I read!

Wow, a proposal right from the start! Oh my! And it was quite romantic, I did like that even though it was kind of arranged they had a connection. Yes, just from one page I could gather that they have a certain connection, thank you to the artist for capturing this moment like this.

Really, how trusting is she? She is the queen for all that is holy. Yet, despite the warnings of someone near her she just walks over to the mysterious guy. And sorry, but I laughed at this: “I only have to run a hundred feet to the royal private jet!” Yes, and you would have made it… if you didn’t wear heels (who wears heels to a desert?). Really, I was already laughing my butt of in Jurassic Park when that red-headed lady tried to outrun a T-rex with high heels, and so I can’t take this serious either.

So she is being held down by a mysterious guy and her thoughts are this: “He’s just like a graceful black panther.” and “I can’t move. His golden eyes pierce right through me..!” While I do agree the guy is sexy and a panther, but maybe this is not the moment. 😛

Lol, he didn’t need to rip her skirt to treat that wound. I mean the skirt comes well above that wound so no need. I guess maybe someone thought it was sexy or something (hint: no).

Her thoughts are again quite swoony despite the situation: “Such smooth skin.” and “The places he touches me throb with warmth..” Also her facial expressions, oh my.

We see what happened to Elena’s parents, and I just wanted to hug her. Poor girl, so young and she had to take over the throne. But didn’t have a lick of support, because these guys probably think they can just overrule her due to her being young/inexperienced/a woman (yep, a bunch of sexists).

I did like that we got to see why Khalil is doing the things he is doing. It gives more insight as I still have no clue about his character. At times he seems a bit too angry for my liking, plus I don’t like how someone would just kidnap someone to get his point across. Now I can see he is, deep inside, a good guy who wants the best for his people. I am still curious as to what more is going on with him/the whole sheikh thing, but we still have 70 pages to, so time enough for more explanations.
And later we get even more explanations plus also a backstory on the family. What happened to him and his mother after things got messy, and how he is now back in action.

Aww, I just adore Elena. She is so sweet and is now seeing that Khalil isn’t bad per se. I loved that she decided to learn all there is about the country and also debated with the kids in the tribe about things. She really is a great person and will be a great ruler… if she gets the chance that is.

Oh my, we get the sexy clothes from the cover. swoons

While I do like that the two of them are getting together, and yes I know this is still a hostage/kidnap situation, I would love some more romance. ARGH, this sounds so wrong, but this is a Harlequin Manga, I would have liked a bit more romance. Forbidden I guess it is given he is her captor, but argh, they have such a connection. And yes, it gets build more and more with each discussion, each talk, each moment they have, but it is just not enough.
I guess I should have asked sooner, that is all I will say. It was short, but oh my. swoons

snickers I can’t help but laugh each time I see Aziz. He reminds me of one of those elves from Lord of the Rings. 😛

I did love how it all ended, with Aziz and Khalil and finding the truth about things. There is so much more to the story that you won’t know until this last moment. It was really written well and I was just reading with a big smile on my face. Happy for Aziz and Khalil, but also for Olivia and Elena. It was really super sweet and brave what Khalil did for Elena. Go go Khalil! And the ending (the last pages) had me in tears. What a beautiful ending.

So, I really loved this one. A queen finds her true love through a bad situation, the story is well-written with tons of things you won’t expect until they are revealed, sweet romance, and characters you just want to root for, plus the art is just absolutely gorgeous. I would recommend this one to everyone.