Hajar's Hidden Legacy by Maisey Yates

This is my first of Maisey Yates sheikh romances (the other being The Inherited Bride, which I haven't read yet) and I gotta say that I look forward to reading more from her. I usually don't like princess characters but Katharine comes off as having a lot (and I mean a lot) more strength than a glass slipper and a silver spoon combined. She's assertive and self-sacrificing and Yates writes her in such a way that this reader didn't feel about never going to be able as selfless as she. I wouldn't want Katharine for a best friend, but if she'd step out of the pages, I would definitely admire her. Zahir  isn't your usual alpha desert hero too. He's wounded, literally and figuratively and while his seemingly endless suffering could be quite maddening, you do cheer the guy on. Both of them, actually (Notice how I seem to despise Alpha males? They do not exist outside beyond the pages of a book and romance is already glutted with the sort. Give me wounded, bleeding men with their hearts throbbing on their sleeves, please!).

Characters

Zahir, Beast of Hajar and Katharine, Princess of Austrich

Plot

To secure the crown for her younger brother and to prevent a possible civil war by a cousin who would be grabbing the crown as soon as it's confirmed that there's no male heir of legal age in Katharine's immediate family to reign, Katharine insists that Zahir marry her, in accordance to a marriage contract agreed between her and his dead brother Malik. Zahir sends her away, clearly having no interest in marrying her. An assassination attempt that wiped out his entire family left Zahir with wounds that had drove him into acquiring near-hermit status, and the nickname The Beast of Hajar. 

Hajar's Hidden Legacy is Beauty and the Beast retold, still with fairy tale elements but with characters that are wonderfully real. Each is determined to put the other first, but when the call of the heart drowns out the wail of duty, readers get an ending that's not just rooted in earth but destined by the stars.

Best Lines

"I told you to get out."

"Of your office."

"Of the country. And you knew what I meant."

We rarely get smart-ass heroines! Owned, Katharine! 

Goes Into the Kasbah or Cast Out
I'm keeping this one!