Marriage of Convenience Historical Romance Books

The Arrangement by Mary Balogh (2013)

Historical romance in Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Survivors’ Club Series. We have our charming and beautiful viscount who was blinded in the war. He’s escaped his meddling family members and off on his own. A quiet young lady rescues him from being compromised into marriage by her cousin and her guardians toss her out. When our charming viscount learns this, he offers her a marriage of convenience with the knowledge that they’d someday follow their separate independent dreams. This one starts slow, as most Balogh novels do, but sometimes I enjoy reading this slow pace of falling in love and all the character-driven emotion behind it.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Only a Promise by Mary Balogh (2015)

Historical romance, Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Survivors’ Club series. Ralph feels terribly guilty that his three friends followed him to war and did not survive. He’s cold and emotionless and empty. As heir to a dukedom from an elderly and ailing grandfather, he knows his immediate duty is to marry. Chloe is visiting the duke and duchess as she is the daughter of the duchess’ god daughter and attempting to serve as a companion. She hears of Ralph’s plight and proposes a marriage of convenience to him, no emotional ties, and no disappointment. Chloe’s reputation is mired in scandal, with her younger sister running off with a married man years ago, and recent speculation that her acknowledged father is not her natural father. She’s looking forward to the comforts of the countryside. However, tragedy strikes soon after the wedding and they’re bound for the London Season after all. Definitely a slow burn angsty romance with all the drama you’d expect from Balogh. And you come to adore Ralph’s grandparents through the story.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Some Dukes Have All the Luck by Christina Britton (2022)

Historical romance in Regency-ish era England; Book 1 of the Synneful Spinsters series. Odd-girl Bronwyn aspires to be a published entomologist, much to the dismay of her social-climbing parents. They push her to marry a titled gentleman and are even more abrasive after a past heartbreak and a recently lost chance at courtship by a duke. Meanwhile, Ash is trying to recover his runaway wards and shield them from his own dukedom’s cruel reputation. They literally bump into each other in the street, and unexpectedly meet again at his manor when she visits his playful and inquisitive wards. Ash gets the bright idea to marry a woman who will care for the wards and proposes to Bronwyn. We have a delightful marriage of convenience, where they do participate in the marriage bed, and a supportive friendship between the two. Loved seeing these two slowly learn to trust each other, but they’re both still hanging on the past hurts and betrayals. I love how quick Ash is to defend Bronwyn’s intelligence. Basically, any support of a partners’s aspirations as an A+ in my book.

Advance ebook provided by Forever via NetGalley. Print book provided by Forever.

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Much Ado About Dukes by Eva Devon (2022)

Book 2 of the Never a Wallflower series. Two fiery and independent people agree on their political aspirations, but William wants nothing to do with passion or love. Beatrice needs the duke’s support for her political endeavors so continues to seek him out. They are thrown together when his brother wants to marry her cousin and they strike up a friendship. When she finds her uncle has lost all her money, he proposes a marriage of convenience to help her situation. I loved reading these two very supportive friends and partners.

Advanced ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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Texas Glory by Lorraine Heath (1998)

Book 2 of the Texas Trilogy series. We have our oldest brother Dallas who is still wishing for a wife and son. After his last bride left him for his brother in the last book. Amidst a fight over water rights and land on the neighboring property, Dallas realizes the family has a daughter that he didn’t know about. He offers marriage to the woman in exchange for a strip of land that he will give to her family. So they start their marriage of convenience, but Cordelia has been sheltered for so long that she is absolutely terrified of her new house, her new life, and her new husband. Dallas decides to give her space and they slowly get to know each other over the course of the book. At first, I found Dallas to be really gruff and unlikeable, especially after reading the last book. However, I really appreciated the slow burn in this book and how gentle he was with Cordelia throughout.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Prisoner of Love by Beverly Jenkins (2013)

Standalone Novella. So the set up for this one is a little crazy, but it makes for a short and steamy novella. We have some law happening where a prisoner will be released if he marries someone. Well, Elizabeth was abandoned by her first husband and the household chores are piling up and she needs some assistance. So she goes and marries herself a prisoner so she’ll have some help around the farm, and then he’ll be free. What neither of them count on is being attracted to each other, so they end up sharing intimate relations even though that was never the intention. This one was a delightfully steamy read. Probably one of those hidden gems you rarely hear about.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Leave a Widow Wanting More by Charlie Lane (2021)

Book 1 of the Cavendish Family series. Bookshop meet cute and argument over a rare book for a Sarah, a widow with a teenage son and Henry, a widower baron and explorer. The baron is looking to marry and find a new mother for his daughters, while the widow has just been fired from the bookshop and needs funds. They come to an agreement to marry and Henry takes his new bride home to meet his daughters. Now Henry has a tragic backstory because he was so sad when his first wife died, so now he doesn’t want his daughters to get attached to him so they’re not heartbroken when he leaves, but he keeps leaving and they miss him anyway. It’s a whole big thing and his new wife is too enticing, so he needs to face all these feelings that he’s been trying to avoid.

Ebook accessed via Kindle Unlimited.

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Daring the Duke by Charlie Lane (2021)

Book 1 of the Debutante Dares series. Tabitha and her wallflower friends pass the time at balls by daring each other to do things. Tabitha introduces herself as someone different everytime she sees someone and they never remember her, except for Arthur who is displeased at being pranked. I love this microtrope of everyone forgetting about Tabitha except for the one man who notices her and can’t believe everyone else forgets her. When she finds that he is looking for the perfect duchess, she offers herself at the job. She needs the protection and finances of the dukedom to provide for herself and her sisters. And even though she’s naturally a wallflower, she has an impeccable memory and can play the role of a perfectly poised duchess.

Ebook accessed via Kindle Unlimited.

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Counting on a Countess by Eva Leigh (2018)

Book 2 of the London Underground Series. Tamsyn is in London to oversee a shipment of smuggled goods, but somehow finds her way to a ball. She meets Kit, who has recently come into an inheritance, but the will stipulates he needs to marry within the month to get the money. These two embark on a marriage of convenience with the idea that Kit will have the money to fund his new project and Tamsyn will have the money to keep her house and her smuggling operation going. The twist is that the inheritance requires that the wife oversee all the management and spending, knowing Kit’s history of wasteful spending. Ouch. Plus Tamsyn can’t be honest about her smuggling operation since Kit is an upholder of the law, and it’s all sorts of secret-keeping between these two new married people.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Buying Her Viscount by Ann Marquette (2022)

Book 1 of the Naughtily Ever Afters series. Novella-length. A quick steamy read where a spinster orphan suddenly inherits a lot of money and proposes a marriage of convenience to a handsome and impoverished viscount. For as quick of a read this book was, the steam and emotional investment of the characters was totally believable for me. I adored how they each fell in love with each other and shying away from it because it wasn’t part of the original bargain. Definitely recommend.

Ebook accessed via Kindle Unlimited

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Ten Rules for Marrying a Duke by Michelle McLean (2022)

I love when a woman does the proposing in this era because it’s so unexpected. Arabella goes straight to a rakish duke’s house and proposes to him. She’ll give him an heir if he marries her. She’s out to save her family’s reputation after her older sister eloped and wants to protect her younger sister’s prospects. They arrange ten rules for the marriage. I love this clear and open communication between the two. Well, until they start to have feelings… This one is another lovely low-angst humorous book.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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Convergence of Desire by Felicity Niven (2022)

Historical romance in Regency-ish era England, Book 1 of the Lovelocks of London series. I pretty much picked this up because Julia Quinn (author of the Bridgertons series) posted about it on Instagram. We have a neurodivergent heroine in this one who aims to solve a missing mathematics proof (tbh, the math in this book went over my head and I skimmed it) but her stepmother insists she participates in society. Our hero is a destitute earl who needs to marry rich to salvage his estate. It takes probably 25% of the book for them to meet and contrive a chaste marriage of convenience (which the heroine proposes). Once they start interacting and get married, we’re off to their country estate and we get to see the sweetest slow burn ever with caretaking galore. It was absolutely delightful to watch these two people slowly fall in love. And the heartbreak when they each think the other isn’t interested. The last third will have you tearing up from the longing. Such a great read. (Also, sets up the future couples in Book 2 and 3 nicely as well).

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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