Dark Fantasy

[pinkalienfred]

I am trying to find a book I read when I was a young teen, that I found in the teen section of my local library. This would have been 1999-2005 era, though the book may have been published before that. It was a fantasy novel taking place in another world, and the societies involved were more of a desert tribal people. There were a male and female protagonist, and it was a love story. In my recollections, I am not sure how much this was actually appropriate for a young reader, as I recall their being some very dark and near death scenes. There was magic, but not a flashy spell casting kind, and their was a romance between the protagonists (who were either older teens or young adults). I want to say one of them was cursed, and there were scenes where they separated due to misunderstandings (some cultural) and they definitely had to overcome societal/magical/warring clans to come together. I of course remember no ones name, nor the title...

can anyone help??