As I've learned to expect, a beautifully written and fun read. Green writes wonderfully believable stories with flawed but truly good heroes and heroine

Salim and Charlotte are the characters in the second book of this duet by Abby Green. I throughly enjoyed the book and love, love, love the characters back stories which are always interesting when Abby Green writes them. Emotional and intense. Loved it!

Themes come and go in romances and it seems desert sheiks are back in fashion. This is book 2 in the Rulers of the Desert series and it has a reluctant Sheikh Salim Al-Noury facing his coronation with the idea of abdicating as soon as possible. His brother has hired Charlotte to teach him diplomacy and hopefully to remain king. This follows the typical Harlequin formula for a enjoyable love story.

Another winner from Abby Green. The second book in the series focuses on Sheikh Salim Al-Noury, a reluctant Sheik who does not want to rule a country to which he feels no ties and reminds him of his unhappy past. Life for Salim proves even more demanding when his brother hires diplomatic advisor Charlotte MacQuillan,. Charlotte has a troubled past of her own, and is relived to avoid the painful reminders of Christmas by working through it.
A prickly relationship to begin with as Salim is resentful of Charlotte's desire to help Salim take up his duties and Charlotte does not approve of Salim's reckless ways, but the attraction and passion between the two was engaging and fun to read. Four stars because it would of been nice to have more appearances from the characters in the first book to connect the books more.

A Christmas Bride for the King is a dark, sensual journey into the deserts of Tabat where deep emotions and sexual attraction threaten the walls built around broken, fragile hearts.
I always approach a Harlequin Presents book with some trepidation because I once read one that was so full of hate and anger that it scared me off the imprint. The themes in the story were so despicable I had a hard time picking up another one for a long time. And now, a long time has passed, I've recently read some by Annie West that were excellent and decided to give the line another shot. Abby Green is a new to me author and I'm pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the emotional and intense story with it's darker edge. It helped that her hero was not an asshole.
I didn't love Salim right away but I slowly grew to understand him and all the pain he carried within him which gave him such a hard and dark edge. Beneath his hard exterior, Salim is a passionate and kind man, with a tender broken heart. He's kept everyone at arms length his entire life so as to not feel the searing pain he felt when he was young again and he had closed off his heart. As I got to know Salim, I learned he's a good man, with strong morals and a deep caring for his people that he cannot run away from. His actions speak louder than his words even as he protested his feelings and intentions.
Charlotte has the same fear of pain and rejection that Salim has. In truth, they are both kindred spirits with different but similar painful experiences in life that have shaped them into the adults they are now. Where Salim was hard and uncompromising, Charlotte has closed herself off from close relationships from people, never connecting long enough for them to make an impact in her life and thereby protecting herself. But Charlotte is also bright, insightful and far stronger than she gives herself credit for.
I liked the way Salim and Charlotte fell for each other, in slow, steady stages filled with passion and fire. I liked the way Charlotte challenged Salim, and even when he was being growly, she didn't back down. I liked that they awakened new feelings within each other and a thirst that only they can quench. It was wonderful to see them get their happy ending together. Salim turned out to be an extremely romantic man underneath it all.
This may be my first foray into reading a book by Ms Green but it won't be my last. I think I'm going to go seek out the first book in the series which is Salim's brother, Zafir's book who I met briefly in this story. I'd like to see how he and Kat found their own happy ending.

Salim Al-Noury, bred to take the throne of his mother's birth, has no desire to be king. He would rather abdicate to someone more worthy than taint the crown with his black soul.

Charlotte McQuillan is a fixer. She is hired by Sheik Al-Noury's brother to prepare Salim to rule. Her job is diplomacy but how can she convince a man that his destiny isn't as bad as he thinks it will be. As she gets to know the man behind the crown, she sees his torment. And his desire.

What happens when the king-to-be taps HER as his queen?

This book has all the emotion and conflict that I expect in a Harlequin Presents. I definitely recommend!

A Christmas Bride for the King by Abby Green is the second book in the Rulers of the Desert. I strongly recommend to read the books in order.
Meet Sheikh Salim Al-Noury. He's the destined next regent, but he refuses. He hates secrets and lies.
Then a beautiful diplomat shows up on his doorstep. He's mesmerized.
Charlotte McQuillan is a workaholic. She was hired to persuade the Sheikh. He proves to be her most challenging client.
Salim accepts that he alone can bear the weight of the crown and Charlotte will be his Christmas bride.
I started reading the book and I liked the writing, but the characters and I didn't click.
I give 3,5 stars. Thank you, Abby Green.

I liked the characters in this dreamy Christmas romance. Charlotte's character will speak to women reading this book.

Reluctant ruler Sheikh Salim Al-Noury would rather abdicate than taint his realm with his dark secrets. Until one exquisitely beautiful diplomat is hired to persuade him to reconsider the throne… hristmas means heartbreak to Charlotte McQuillan, so working abroad over the festive season is the perfect getaway.The book is amazing. When I started reading I couldn't put it down I read the book is one day.Abby is magnifysent writer.I cannot wait to read more of her books.Keep up the great work.

Another solid story set in the desert for author Abby Green.

Salim is a rich playboy who has no intention of giving up his lifestyle to become King of an antiquated desert kingdom that is mired in the middle ages. The last thing he needs is protocol advisor Charlotte who with her buttoned up silk blouses incites an unexpected reaction.

Both Salim and Charlotte have their own very heavy baggage. The author does a great job of weaving in some very difficult scenarios into her Christmas miracle. I will definitely pick up a book written by Ms. Green.

While I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. It was just your typical & average Harlequin read that we've read over & over again of a cold/unlikable H with "issues" who doesn't do "love", etc. I did somewhat like the h and their HEA.

This is Charlotte and Salim’s story. She is hired to be his etiquette advisor. He wants her for just a fling. She is emotionally damaged from her parents divorce. True love conquers all. I read it in one sitting. It was great.

Charolette is hired to advise the future King of Tabat, Salim. She was hired by his brother King Zafir (from a previous story which I enjoyed immensely) to assist Salim in international diplomacy as well as relations in the weeks before his coronation.

Charlette was well aware of Salim's playboy ways and new she had her work cut out for her. But she had no idea that Salim didn't want to be king and was planning on finding someone to take his place.

The two had instant attraction when they met. Salim was all attitude and enjoyed pushing Charolette's buttons, her prim and proper buttons to be exact. Charolette was aghast that she found the future king attractive and was drawn to him. She does all she can to fight the attraction and puts up walls and barriers. The two work together as he travels to different tribes in the country to learn and acquaint himself with his people.

Salim had been gone from the country running his businesses. His family life wasn't the best and he suffered the tragedy of his sister dying in his arms. He carried a lot of baggage due to his past. Charolette was brought up by famous and volatile parents. Her childhood left her with a lot of issues and one defining moment happened during the Christmas season and ever since she's had an aversion to Christmas.

As the two explore the country side they find their attraction impossible to deny. The two embark on a physical relationship but feeling begin to encroach and walls begin to crumble, more so for Charolette. Salim fights to keep his feelings buried and comes across cold and unfeeling at times, which made him not my favorite. I really like Charlotte, she came across as strong, sweet, kind and unafraid to stand up to Salim when necessary.

The relationship between the two evolves as they, more Charolette, express and communicate their feeling and resolve past hurts and issues. The Christmas theme isn't really prevalent in the story (except for Charolette's aversion for the season) until towards the end of the story.

I found the two characters had some great chemistry and sexual tension. Charolette was a definite favorite and I did enjoy Salim's Alpha character (even though at times he did need a good slap). Pacing was a tad bit slow at the beginning but picked up after a few chapters. Very nice epilogue!!!

A nice book thought not very Christmassy until the end; nonetheless, it was romantic and sexy. Salim is not a very likeable hero; he comes across as selfish and weak. The heroine, Charlotte, is the strong character and I loved that she left before Salim asked her to do so. She did not stick around for any nonsense. I liked reading about Kat and Zafir from the previous book of the series. Overall, it was a fun read to start warming up for the Holidays.

Another sweet romance. The book seemed a little slow at first but Abby Green is very good at getting you invested in the characters even though she only has 200 pages in which to do it. I really liked Salim and Charlotte as a couple.

A Christmas Bride for the King is a wonderful story. Salim has inherited a kingdom which he has to wish to rule, he is just buying time until he can walk away from it all. Salim's parents and his childhood have led to much resentment for Salim and all he wants is to take care of the empire that he build, but Charlotte who is hired by his older brother to help him transition into his new position opens up his eyes to what he can have if he would only give him self the chance and Charlotte also must go on a soul searching journey as in the process of helping Salim and falling for him she is forced to deal with the suffering that was inflicted on her by her uncaring, selfish parents.