She Tried to Tell You

 The Runaway Princess by Christina Dodd

Evangeline comes into some money and goes on an adventure. But, she is disrupted by Danior, who thinks she is a princess. She continues to tell him that she's not and he refuses to listen. They have to get married after all. He is convinced that she is his betrothed and they have to break the curse to unite their two kingdoms. So, he decides to bind her to him emotionally and romantically. It works and she falls in love with him, the entire time maintaining that she is not the lost princess. He tells her that he loves her, but it's originally a lie. She escapes a few times and they are each harrowing, only for her to be caught by the rebels, who are led by Danior's half brother Dominic. The second time he catches her he's going to violate her, but he discovers that she doesn't have the mark of the princess and she incapacitates him to get away. And then she ends up back in Danior's hands. He shows up to her room and finally sees her, and sees that she doesn't have the mark that she's supposed to have. I was waiting for that to happen and was a bit disappointed in how it played out. He realizes that she is telling the truth, but he also realizes that he loves her and is going to marry her anyway. The wedding happens and she tries one last time to tell him that she's not the princess and he tells her he knows. Then the rebels start shooting. They finish the ceremony and it's time to open the magic case, but they can't because she's not the princess. But, one of the nuns steps up to administer the blessing and when she puts her hands on theirs, the case opens. That's because she is the real princess, but she gives them her blessing because they love each other and she doesn't want to marry him. Turns out, the head nun is the same lady who took Evangeline out of the orphanage and raised her. She did this because she's also a 1000 year old saint who knew that she would be the one Danior fell in love with and would be able to unite their kingdoms because she looks enough like the real princess for trick everyone. It was kind of confusing, the magical element didn't really belong in a historical romance. But, I liked Evangeline and Danior grew on me (but not enough to be on the book boyfriend shelf). Still, it was a solid, enjoyable book.