Trope Round Up: Fake Engagement in Historical Romance Books

A Counterfeit Betrothal by Mary Balogh (1992)

Book 2 of the Waite series. So this one starts with a group of young people picnicking and one of them decides she wants to see her estranged parents get together, so she plots a betrothal with her friend (who is slightly rakish and unsuitable) so that her parents will be forced to spend time together, either to break up the engagement or to stay for the wedding planning. Most of this book does actually have to do with the parents’ relationship and only very little of the fake betrothed couple. We get to see an older couple who have been apart for over a decade, only corresponding through letters and shared custody of their daughter. We find out the cause of that estrangement and whether or not they can overcome it. This story is actually intensely emotional, with bits of lighthearted fun with the younger couple. Definitely an interesting set up using the fake engagement to further a different romance plot that you would not have expected from reading the summary alone.

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A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh (2002)

Book 2 of Bedwyn Prequels. Lauren is recovering from her abandonment at the altar and is in London for the social season. Kit is looking for the perfect wife so that he can snub his father’s chosen bride. Kit has heard the rumors of how serious and unflappable Lauren is and wagers his friends that he can get her to marry him. Lauren doesn’t fall for his flattery, but learns that he wants to defy his father. Lauren proposes a deal where she will pretend to be his fiance in exchange for a summer of adventure (and passion?) since she has led such a sheltered, prim, and proper life thus far. This is where we’re introduced to the Bedwyn family. Apparently, Kit’s childhood home bordered the Bedwyn home and he and his brothers were friends with the Bedwyn siblings growing up. One summer, he believed himself to be in love with the fiery Freyja Bedwyn, but was heartbroken to find that she becomes betrothed to his older brother, the heir to the earldom. His older brother died recently and now his father is trying to set Kit back up with Freyja, but he’s not interested. Lauren of course thinks that the adventurous Freyja is a better match for Kit than she is, but you know, this is Kit and Lauren’s story. In addition to all of that, Kit feels terribly guilty that his younger brother was badly injured in the war, with his face mangled and his right arm amputated. Lauren’s soft-spoken nature is essential to help the brothers mend their rift and bring peace back into the household. While Lauren is not the type of lady that Kit’s family expected him to end up with, he of course thinks she’s a keeper.

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Slightly Scandalous by Mary Balogh (2003)

Book 3 of Bedwyn Series. Freyja is traveling to visit a friend in Bath. While at an inn along the journey, Joshua bursts into her room to hide. She forces him to retreat out the window and thinks she is rid of him for good. Joshua also visits Bath to call upon his grandmother. Both our protagonists are headstrong and fierce and end up stirring up drama in the sleepy town with their loud quarrels. When Joshua’s aunt comes to town to set up a betrothal with her daughter, he proposes a fake betrothal to Freyja. She is willing to go along with the excitement and plans to be free of the betrothal in short order. Freyja wants nothing to do with any real romantic entanglements after Kit had spurned her the year before (in the events from A Summer to Remember). Chaos ensues when the rest of the Bedwyns get involved though. Eldest brother, the Duke of Bewcastle, comes to collect Freyja and Joshua back home so they can attend the christening of Kit’s newborn son. There also never seems to be a good time to shake off this engagement and Freyja and Joshua keep getting more entangled with each other. In this one, we learn about the horrible rumors surrounding Joshua’s inheritance, the death of his cousin, why he’s supporting an unmarried woman with a child, and his sweet younger cousin. And with the Balogh world-building, we will see his cousins again in the Simply series.

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My Mistletoe Beau by Anna Bennett (2022)

Historical romance, Regency era England. Novella. Young lady breaks into an earl’s apartments to steal back her father’s pocket watch. The earl has a grudge against her father since his own father’s intended eloped with him and left the jilted man heartbroken. However, he has been telling his grandmother that he is courting a girl and will give back the watch in exchange for a fake fiancee. And of course, these two grow closer together, despite the antagonistic start.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett (2020)

Book 1 of the Misfits of Mayfair series. Seven years ago, it seemed like Ethan and Charlotte were courting, but then one day Ethan publicly disparaged her and basically ruined her reputation that season. (We do find out why he does that later in the book). Now, they cross paths again, and she’s trying to avoid an unwanted suitor, so recruits him as a fake fiancee. Obviously, they’re still attracted to each other, but still need to work out all the reasons why he ruined her all those years ago.

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Someday My Duke Will Come by Christina Britton (2021)

Book 2 of the Isle of Synne series. Our characters here had met in the previous book in the series, but you don’t really need to read that to enjoy this one. Clara is basically a spinster and caregiver to everyone in her family, due to some mysterious event in her past. If you’re a historical romance reader, you’ll probably be able to guess what her big secret is. Quincy is a recent duke and for some reason is being pushed to honor a betrothal between his late brother and a woman and wants to avoid it. So the reason for the fake engagement here is to get out of another engagement.

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Four Weeks of Scandal by Megan Frampton (2022)

Book 5 of the Hazards of Dukes series. Octavia and Gabriel fight over who actually owns her late father’s house. Both Octavia and Gabriel have gambling fathers who tend to lose to each other with regularity. While they try to figure out who has the rights to the house, they enter a fake engagement and start to restore the house. I really enjoyed the bookish and steady hero who just wants a place to call home.

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The Winter Bride by Anne Gracie (2014)

Book 2 of the Chance Sisters series. The couple from Book 1 is off on a honeymoon, so Max has asked his friend Freddy to watch over his aunt and Abby’s sisters. He starts befriending Damaris and walking her to and from her work. She’s trying to avoid the old lady’s meddlesome insistence that she participate in the London season because of something that happened in her past. At some point, Freddy is being called to his parents’ house for a house party that he knows is just going to be a matchmaking attempt, so he convinces Damaris to be his fake fiancee and brings her home to meet his parents. There’s basically a lot of bad blood between Freddy and his parents and we get to see Damaris slowly uncover the hidden depths of her fake fiancee. Definitely a good one.

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Never Fall for Your Fiancee by Virginia Heath (2021)

Historical romance in Regency-ish era England, Book 1 of the Merriwell Sisters series. A carefree and jovial earl prevents his mother’s matchmaking from America by writing to her about a fictional fiancee and her tragic tales that have prevented them from marrying. When his mother comes to visit, he hires a woman to pretend to be his fiancee. This book is full of far-fetched tales and silliness and it totally works. Expect a light-hearted and humorous story here. Though there is actually heartbreak in both characters’ pasts, those experiences have made them stronger and most of the book contains witty banter and calamity.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Always Be My Duchess by Amalie Howard (2022)

Book 1 of the Taming of the Dukes series. High stakes meet-cute when running from footpads, Lysander and Neve have an instant connection. He hires her to pretend to his escort for an evening (which then turns into the rest of the season). He’s cold and doesn’t show emotion well, prioritizing business over relationships. Neve is just trying to survive and care for her injured sister, without sacrificing her integrity. The level of angst and longing and realizations of love in this book are really good in this book.

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Only Rakes Would Dare by Charlie Lane (2022)

Book 5 of the Debutante Dares series. Childhood friends meet again and strike a deal for a fake engagement. Griffin is avoiding passion and emotions at all cost to prevent himself from turning into his rake-ish father and late brother. Edith is licking her wounds after disastrously trying and failing to compromise another lord. She is much too emotional and spirited to suit Griffin, but he feels his ice walls melting around her. And since he’s the only male in her life to treat her with any kindness and respect, she’s at too much risk of falling in unrequited love (again). Being pushed to marry others by their fathers, they strike a bargain for a fake engagement. Until they realize their feelings cannot be ignored. Super sweet book and I love how Griffin comes to Edith’s defense.

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Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret (2014)

Book 1 of the Wallflower Weddings series. This one is an inheritance scheme. Quincy needs to convince his grandmother that he’s seriously engaged before his inheritance is released to him, so he picks his best friend’s sister to fake-propose to. She goes along with it… maybe because she had a crush on him all along, but also, she doesn’t want anyone to find out that she’s secretly a painter, which is somehow unladylike. I’m not sure, but everytime they try to call it off, it doesn’t quite work and then somehow end up married before they talk everything out.

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The Rogue to Ruin by Vivienne Lorret (2019)

Book 3 of the Misadventures in Matchmaking series. The fake engagement in this story is to warn off a villainous suitor. Although Ainsley and Reed are basically enemies with opposing businesses on the same street, she declares him to be her fiancee when faced with a terrible suitor from her past. While these two have never gotten along before and always bickered with each other, Reed becomes intensely protective of Ainsley and watches over her safety. And I think somehow they make the business stuff work out too.

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Hitched to the Gunslinger by Michelle McLean (2021)

Book 1 of the Gunslinger series. Outlaw Gray is trying to retire and ends up in a sleepy town where no one knows him called Desolation… Somehow, he gets himself embroiled into trouble when a woman wants to shoo off some other men from her land, and declares Gray to be her fiancee. He agree to the farce in exchange for a place to sleep and daily hot meals. (too bad for him that the lady can’t actually cook). Gray ends up involved in the small town dynamics and even becomes the sheriff at some point. This one is a low-angst and funny one.

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The Mistletoe Temptation by Eve Pendle (2022)

Historical romance, Regency England. Book 2 of the Faking Stitch Series. The second book of this series catches up with one of Amelia’s embroidery clients. Gina is avoiding marriage until she can gain her inheritance at age 21 to travel the world. At a ball over the summer, her brother’s best friend Emmett catches onto her ruse of dressing poorly and dancing atrociously and proposes a fake engagement. They agree that the engagement will last until her 21st birthday, which is Christmas. Except Emmett secretly wants to keep Gina forever since she is unlike all the other ladies on the marriage mart. As they spend time together over the next six months, they form a friendship and grow closer, but still need to discuss and resolve their disparate goals. I also really enjoyed this quick read.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Hoopla.

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My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid (2019)

Our poor wallflower Kitty is desperate. So she starts a rumor that she’s engaged to a reclusive duke, hoping that it will help her younger sisters land good marriage matches. She figures she’ll just break the engagement after her sisters are married and go about her wallflower-spinster way. Except things don’t go exactly as planned. All of a sudden, she’s being given credit and all of the duke’s staff are treating her like she’s really his fiancee. And then when he hears about it in the newspaper, he finally shows up in London just to see what this audacious girl is all about. So there’s a reason why the duke is a recluse in the first place. He was terribly injured in a house fire, leaving him scarred and with impaired mobility. There’s a lot of underlying insecurity there and these two have a lot to work through.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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An Affair by the Sea by Erica Ridley (2022)

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A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe (2017)

Lady Honora has been sent from England to New York by her father to keep her away from an unsuitable man. She decides that if she’s properly ruined, her father will bring her back home, and she can reunite with that guy. She proposes a fake engagement to Julius, who has a scandalous reputation, in hopes that her father with disapprove. But then, he starts acting like an upstanding gentleman now that he has a way into the fancy New York society. And he’s also trying to seduce dear Honora til she forgets all about the other guy.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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