What an amazing story Ms. Ashenden penned. Inara is a young girl who is running from a forced marriage that can only take place if she is pure. With that she jumps into the limo of Prince Cassius known for his love of women, she pleads with him to ruin her so this evil man won't marry her. Never known for protecting anyone he takes her under his wing as he knows it will be helpful for him also. He marries her and puts her in a beautiful house and ignores her except for brief times for 5 years. When he comes after that time telling her he is going to get a divorce, she refuses. What happens? Loved this story so much and another fantastic book by this author. She is definetly one to follow. Watch Inara bring Cassius to his knees. awesome story

When she was 16 years old, Inara asked Prince Cassius of Aveiras for help so that she could free herself from a forced marriage. The prince, a consummate womanizer, offers her a marriage of convenience as a solution, and she agrees. Five years later, Cassius, now the King after a tragic event that culminated with the death of his parents and his twin older brother —the king, the queen and the crown prince—, needs heirs and, therefore, he must divorce Inara and find a woman more suited to the demands of the Crown. The problem? Inara, who is in love with Cassius, refuses to give the King a divorce, so she will have to overcome her issues and insecurities so she could fulfill her role as wife and queen.

Cassius is the typical playboy, the black sheep of the family, carefree, following his own rules. The death of his family plunges him into a deep sense of guilt, which defines his personality; After that event, he changes to become the king his people need. Suppressing his rebellious impulses and influenced by the pressures of his deceased father and his royal position, he's unwilling to go back to being the selfish prince that, according to him, he used to be. Furthermore, he doesn't know how to love, because no one has given him love.

On the other hand, we see through the pages the evolution of Inara, from the desperate teenager to the determined woman to be the queen Aveiras deserves and the King's wife. What will never change are her limitations: the young woman, a math genius, has a lot of trouble socializing with people, thus preferring numbers to royalty stuff. The fact that her parents have made things worse for her by demanding what she cannot give has locked her in a shell that she must break if she wants to remain married to Cassius.

They are both very similar; there are no opposites attracts here. And it is precisely those parallels between both that make them work as a couple. Of course, the chemistry is remarkable, but sometimes it is weird. However, the love between them is credible.

The story is made so that the main characters are the focus of the plot. With no active supporting characters, all scenes are themselves in different settings. I think that some characters who interacted with the hero and the heroine would have reinforced the plot. It doesn't mean that the passive secondary characters (their respective families) haven't done a good job, on the contrary. They do it perfectly, especially when it comes to influencing the main characters. Despite this, the writing is good and there are no loose ends and no meaningless scenes. Also, the ending is excellent, with a wonderful epilogue that I loved.

In conclusion, a story that, while not perfect, is very beautiful and interesting. It is a book that I couldn't put down until I finished it and I found it pleasant to read. Highly recommended.

I received a copy from NetGalley & Publisher for an honest review.

Unfortunately this one did not work for me. Not only did I not find they had any chemistry, but the characters came across as unlikable with heroine often too naïve & Hero an asshole.

It was also not a safe read for me because even though this was a “marriage of convenience” with heroine being a child when he marries her, he still fooled around for 2 years after they married. For me that is called cheating. Yes, I know he didn’t take the marriage seriously and she was a kid, blah, blah, BUT in fictional romances I need my Heroes to stay celibate no matter the circumstances AFTER heroine comes into the picture. This one did not and it ruined it after that.

Fascinating, slow-burn romance!

Cassius rescues a sixteen-year-old Inara from a forced marriage to a horrible man, though his own reputation as the playboy prince is hardly seen as an improvement. A couple years later, tragedy forces him to assume the crown and he focuses on straightening up his life to avoid bringing any more scandal. That includes continuing to ignore his child bride, now a twenty-one-year-old woman, until he realizes his need for an heir and therefore, a divorce first.

Inara, despite her growing feelings for her husband, is happy to be married in name only, as she vastly prefers her quiet scholarly life to the spotlight that usually surrounds the royal family. Her reaction to his request surprises them both, leading to the rather sudden change in the direction of their marriage.

I loved the way their romance grew from their careful friendship, and how she helped him come to grips with all the emotional undercurrents he'd been ignoring for so long. The entire plot was fresh, vibrant, and authentic, even while set in a completely fictional environment.

I'm never disappointed reading a Jackie Ashenden romance, and this one brings all the steam and sizzle that we expect. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves royal romances. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Rakish Prince Cassius is shocked when 16-year-old Inara asks him to save her from an arranged marriage with an abusive aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather. So he does the only thing he can: he marries her. The plan is to divorce her once she's of age and no longer under the control of her parents. But when the time comes, bookish Inara doesn't want to let him go. Can she prove she can be the queen he needs?

This book is so much fun. It's a Regency-style plot set in the present day, and it works surprisingly well. Cassius helps Inara come out of her shell (with a lot of missteps along the way), and she helps him reconnect with the carefree prince he was before he inherited the pressures of the monarchy. This is an entertaining, opposites-attract royal romance.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

3.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I had really had a great time reading this. I enjoyed the characters, and of course, it's a royal romance which I'm a sucker for. I would've liked a little bit more tension from the characters, but with it being such a short book that was to be expected. Overall I would recommend picking it up.

The Wedding Night They Never Had was everything a Harlequin Presents should be. I really enjoyed it. The one thing I can say that I did not like was that Inara was so young. She could have been some 3-5 years older and things could have unfolded in the same way. Other than that, everything was spot on: the pacing, the conflict, even the steam level. Really well done. 5 stars.

This is Cassius and Inara’s story. As a teenager she pleads with him to save her from her parents machinations to give her to a horrible man. He was a prince so he married her to protect her. His family dies. He has to be king. He needs a queen. She won’t give him a divorce. They have a passionate encounter. He brings her back to palace to mold her into being the perfect queen. She wants love. There are many twists and turns in their relationship. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.