He must take a bride…
But he already has a wife!

Charming Prince Cassius wed young Inara Donati to save her from a dreadful forced betrothal. But their arrangement was only on paper.

Five years later, after tragedy makes him king, Cassius needs heirs, and for that, he requires a real queen!

Bookish Inara isn’t made for court life. But when Cassius demands a divorce, even she’s surprised by the strength of her refusal—and unfulfilled desire.

Yet to find the courage to ask him for a true marriage, Inara must first believe she can be the queen he needs…

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  The Wedding Night They Never Had
Series:
Author:  Jackie Ashenden
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  August 24, 2021
Publisher:  Harlequin Presents
My Rating:  3 stars

The Wedding Night They Never Had is an okay story — but for the first time in a very long time, I’m not engaged with this story or these characters in the least bit I’m sorry to say.  I don’t know.  I went into this story thinking I’d like it but more than halfway through I knew that neither would ever redeem themselves in my eyes and I finished it because I so dislike leaving any chance that the story or characters would get better by the ending.

Don’t get me wrong, the writing is good, I’ve always enjoyed Jackie Ashenden… I simply couldn’t like either character or care if they got their happy ending.  While I understood, in part, why Cassius acted as he did there were too many cringe-worthy moments to overlook for me.  And as for Inara… she never came across to me as a believable character.

I rarely do this rating, especially for a Harlequin but The Wedding Night They Never Had was simply a good book, one that has an audience I’m sure, but that audience is not me.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

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