Liz Fielding's The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride is a tender romance filled with humor and emotion that sets romance within the context of family and social obligations and expectations. Single mother Diane Metcalfe works as a chauffeur at Capitol Cars assigned to the school and airport runs --- the no-frills low end of the business. When Jack Lumley, the company's number one driver catches a stomach bug along with two other drivers, her boss Sadie scrambles, assigning Diane to VIP duty in the most luxurious saloon car in he garage. Whereas the school runs required a strong voice and control of school children and their antics, Diane's new assignment requires a full dress uniform and the discipline to remain politely invisible. With the opportunity to drive the limousines for bigger money, will Diane be able to succeed at the task or will her mouth and exuberance for life get her into big trouble?

The rich and handsome Sheikh Zahir al-Khatib, the nephew of the Emir of Ramal Hamrah has come to London for a business trip and a mission to help his country by creating a fashionable tourist industry, breaking new ground that will revitalize the area without causing harm to the beauty and ecology. Zahir feels torn between his respect for the family traditions and ways at the same time as his independent spirit sees a new vision in the business world. Will his independence and vision spill over into his love life? Can business, love and family be separated?

As soon as Diane encounters Sheikh Zahir at the airport, all her intentions to remain professionally invisible are shattered. An bumping accident causes a priceless package to fly in the air beyond Diane's grasp. An antique Venetian glass snowglobe crashes to the ground. When Diane breaks her professional veneer to question the appropriateness of glass as a gift for a 10 year old girl, the trouble just begins....and gets much worse! Will this slip outside professional protocol open the door for romance or will Diane and Zahir cling to their family traditions and comfort zone when the sparks of romance move their hearts?

As the 50th book in Liz Fielding's career, The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride has all the elements that fans have come to know and love in a Liz Fielding romance, namely zany situations opening hearts, a delightful sense of humor, and an emotional depth to her characters and their romance. The exotic yet traditional background of the hero coupled with the everyday wisdom and spunk of the heroine adds to the humor while the theme of demands of family and duty as a hindrance to romance touches the heart with a universal romance conflict that will touch a wide breadth of readers. The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride also creates a fun moving tribute to popular culture and world events like Lady Diana, romance and fairy tales with its use of names and situations but Liz Fielding shifts the familiar paradigms to create a romance that moves beyond such references into a story both modern and emotionally rich. As her 50th book, The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride shows the maturity of writing of a great romance writer whose smooth narrative structure moves effortlessly between moments of humor to those of intimate emotional depth.

Publisher: Harlequin Romance (January 2008)
(Desert Brides)