A Marriage of Convenience

It’s a familiar plot and a popular one. I’ve always liked this premise and, when I decided to write a historical, this was the first element I chucked into my plot.

So what is a marriage of convenience? What are the characteristics of this type of plot?

In a marriage of convenience story, marriage is forced on the hero and heroine. They don’t marry for love, but instead the marriage takes place for more practical reasons such as sealing a contract, securing an inheritance or to perpetrate a pretense of some sort. Sometimes a child needs parents and a couple marries to provide security for him or her.

These stories bring conflict because the characters aren’t in love and they don’t have to pretend they’re head over heels for each other. The getting-to-know each other stage of the relationship become the conflict. Sexual relations are sometimes part of the deal—this is usual in contemporaries—while in a historical story, they often come with time. This will depend on the way the author has set up their plot.

The marriage of convenience trope is easier to do with an historical setting, although there are some stories set during contemporary times. A contemporary story requires special circumstances to be realistic and acceptable to a reader.

For those who are interested in specific titles All About Romance has a list of marriage of convenience stories.




As I mentioned earlier my new release, The Spurned Viscountess is a marriage of convenience story. Here’s the blurb:

She must marry him.

Cursed with the sight and rumors of witchcraft, Rosalind’s only chance at an ordinary life is marriage to Lucien, Viscount Hastings. She doesn’t expect love, only security and children of her own. Determined to go through with the wedding, she allows nothing she encounters at the gloomy Castle St. Clare to dissuade her.

He wants nothing to do with her.

Recently returned from the Continent, Lucien has no time for the English mouse his family has arranged for him to marry, not when he’s plotting to avenge the murder of his beloved Francesca. He has no intention of bedding Rosalind, not even to sire an heir.

Dark secrets will bind them.

Though spurned by her bridegroom, Rosalind turns to him for protection when she is plagued by a series of mysterious accidents and haunted by terrifying visions.

Forced to keep Rosalind close, and tempted into passionate kisses, Lucien soon finds himself in grave danger of falling in love with his own wife…

Purchase at Carina Press

Do you enjoy marriage of convenience stories? Do you have any favorites?

Everyone who comments on this post will go into my quarterly draw to win a $25 Amazon voucher. The next draw takes place during the first week of October.