Holly, the virgin waitress, has just been dumped by her fiancee for not being glamorous enough and for not putting out. She's called into work as a waitress for the Prince of Santallia, Casper, during a rugby match and is so attracted to him she ends up handing him her v-card on a table in the middle of the match. Then, before she leaves, understanding this was a one-time deal, she kisses him...but in front of a window and all the press capture it on film. Holly is humiliated and runs off, but Casper believes she was clearly setting herself up as a media storm and writes her off. That is, until news of her pregnancy makes the headlines. Now he's forced to act...even though he knows the child can't be his, he'll have to marry Holly to satisfy his people. Holly reluctantly agrees to the marriage believing that every child deserves a father, but she's quick to realize that he still doesn't believe the child is his and that he doesn't believe himself capable of love, towards anyone. She's fallen in love with him and soon begins to doubt whether her love will be enough for their family.
Well, this was full of delightful angst and borderline asshole behavior. Casper the not-so-friendly Prince has an issue with love being a source of pain, so he has some serious emotional barriers. He's pretty cold and unfeeling a lot of the time and leaves Holly, a naturally affectionate and loving person feeling alone. I didn't see Casper as deliberately being an ass, just trying to protect himself and avoid love...and hurting the heroine in the process. So, because of that, I felt for Casper, even as he's disbelieving of the heroine and avoiding her (and her love). It's a good author who can make me feel for a hero who's acting like he was. Holly was the more negative side of the equation...I didn't hate her, but her OTT naivety and innocence were a bit grating. She's also a major social butterfly and wants desperately to connect and talk to everyone she meets, believing them all to be good people. She was borderline doormat/martyr for a good part of the story, but she found her spine in the back of the closet and managed to beat the hero upside the head with it. I liked that she refused to accept the same old platitudes like, "I loved you from the beginning and didn't know it." She tells him exactly how it was and to stop dressing it up. She does continually shoot down his apology, even criticizing the lack of apology in it, until she finally gets what she's looking for...love. Hell, I even appreciated that the hero attempted the grovel. It wasn't half-bad either as far as HPlandia grovels go - one of the better ones in my reading experience. This might have shot itself to a 4-star read, but it needed an epilogue in the worst way.