Definition: “A marriage contracted for social, political, or economic advantage rather than for mutual affection” (Merriam-Webster).
When I was going back through my Books Read on Goodreads prepping for A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books, I couldn’t believe how many of my favourite authors had written Marriages of Convenience. I love this trope and I love Book Lists (#BookNerd) so today’s post (which I’ll keep adding to in the future) is all about My Favourite Marriages of Convenience.
If you’ve got any recommendations, let me know in the comments or by e-mail at louisehallbooks@gmail.com.
P.S. If you’re looking for more Book Lists (including the similarly marriage-themed After I Do: Fictional Marriages on the Rocks), you can find links to them all in the Archives.
Happy reading x
***UPDATED 17 FEBRUARY 2024***
(1) Isn’t It Bromantic? (Bromance Book Club #4) by Lyssa Kay Adams (2021)
What better place to start My Favourite Marriages of Convenience than with a book I’ve literally recommended to everybody I know. I love all the Bromance Book Clubbers but Vlad & Elena are by far my favourite couple. How can you not fall completely head over heels in love with a big, tough professional hockey player, who is secretly writing a romance novel, and joined the Book Club to learn how to make his MoC wife love him back? #TeamVlad
With his passion for romance novels, it was only a matter of time before Vlad wrote one.
Elena Konnikova has lived her entire adult life in the shadows. As the daughter of a Russian journalist who mysteriously disappeared, she escaped danger the only way she knew how: She married her childhood friend, Vladimir, and moved to the United States, where he is a professional hockey player in Nashville.
Vlad, aka the Russian, thought he could be content with his marriage of convenience. But it’s become too difficult to continue in a one-sided relationship. He joined the Bromance Book Club to learn how to make his wife love him, but all he’s learned is that he deserves more. He’s ready to create his own sweeping romance—both on and off the page.
The bros are unwilling to let Vlad forgo true love—and this time they’re not operating solo. They join forces with Vlad’s neighbours, a group of meddling widows who call themselves the Loners. But just when things finally look promising, Elena’s past life intrudes and their happily ever after is cast into doubt.
“I don’t even remember my first time. I remember the girl, but not the act itself. I was in a rush to shed my virginity, and that was all that mattered to me. I’m ashamed of it now. But you? You waited, man. You put yourself in cold f***ing storage for years to wait for the woman you loved. You really are a romance hero.”
Tags: Favourite Author – Favourite Book by This Author – Favourite Series – Five Star Reads – Sports Romance (Ice Hockey)
(2) A Negotiated Marriage (Convenient Marriages #1) by Noelle Adams (2013)
If you’re a fan of the MoC trope, Noelle Adams should definitely be on your radar because she’s written so many amazing MoC books. I’ve chosen my favourite, ‘A Negotiated Marriage’ to post about here but I also recommend the Beaufort Brides, Convenient Marriages & Willow Park Series.
Sex wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal.
Three years into a marriage of convenience, Molly’s high-powered CEO husband wants to add a new term to their marriage agreement. Sex—without any messy emotional entanglements. But weekly sex with Luke, despite their carefully negotiated terms, is likely to get messy eventually.
Content in a mutually beneficial arrangement, Molly isn’t going to fall for Luke the way she fell for an old lover, only to be crushed in the end. She vows to stay strong, no matter how much intimacy develops between them in bed. When her old lover returns, finally wanting a real relationship, Molly has the chance to give her heart to a man who will accept it.
It’s too bad she now wants to give it to her husband, who has never admitted her heart is what he wants.
Tags: Favourite Author – Five Star Read (Pre-Blog)
(3) Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires #2) by Lauren Asher (2022)
Declan: I’m destined to become the next CEO of my family’s media empire. The only problem? My grandfather’s inheritance clause. Fulfilling his dying wish of getting married and having an heir seemed impossible until my assistant volunteers for the job. Our marriage was supposed to be the perfect solution to my biggest problem. But the more we act in love for the public, the more unsure I feel about our contract. Caring about Iris was never part of the deal. Especially not when breaking her heart is inevitable.
Iris: My plan to marry Declan was simple in theory. Move in together. Throw a wedding. Have a baby. We set rules to prevent any kind of issues. Ones that were never meant to be broken, no matter how much Declan tempts me. But what happens when our fake relationship bleeds into our real one? Falling in love was never an option. At least not for me.
“Who knew you were such a nice guy underneath your grumpy exterior?” “Don’t go telling anyone else or they’ll be disappointed to find out it’s only for you.”
Tags: Favourite Author – Five Star Reads
(4) Would You Rather by Allison Ashley (2022)
If you like ‘Would You Rather,’ you should definitely check out The Roommate Pact, which was published on 1 August 2023 and features Mia & Noah’s friends, Claire & Graham.
Would you rather play it safe in the friend zone, or risk it all with a modern marriage of convenience?
Noah and Mia have always been best friends. Life is going great for Noah and he’s up for a promotion in a job he loves. But Mia’s life is on hold as she awaits a kidney transplant. She’s stuck in a dead-end job and, never wanting to be a burden, has sworn off all romance. So when the chance of a lifetime comes to go back to school and pursue her dream, it’s especially painful to pass up. She can’t quit her job or she’ll lose the medical insurance she so desperately needs.
To support her, Noah suggests they get married — in name only — so she can study full-time and still keep the insurance. It’s a risk to both of them, with jobs, health and hearts on the line, and they’ll need to convince suspicious co-workers and nosy roommates that they’re the real deal. But if they can let go of all the baggage holding them back, they might realise that they would rather be together forever.
“I’ve waited my entire life to get to where we are. I’m not interested in going back or starting over.”
Tags: Friends to Lovers
(5) Plan B (Best Laid Plans #2) by Jana Aston
Mistakes were made, okay?
The moment I laid eyes on Kyle Kingston I knew he was a mistake. A satisfying, toe curling, hair pulling, best night of my life mistake, but a mistake all the same. I didn’t yet know his name, or who he was, but I knew he was a bad idea.
I take comfort in that, because it means my instincts are still good. Too late, but it’s something.
Because, FYI, I’m pregnant
… and did I mention my baby daddy is both heir to a retail empire and impossible to get a hold of?
I do what any girl would. I break into his Grandfather’s retirement gala by telling the prissy gatekeeper Kyle’s my fiancé. It was a halfway decent plan at the time, trust me.
But it blows up in my face, disastrously so. You see, Kyle Kingston is all about representing the family values his family’s retail empire was founded on. At least in public. In private- well I’ll tell you about that later.
He proposes – a marriage of convenience.
Convenient for everyone but me, because while I’m falling in love with my convenient husband, he’s keeping a billion-dollar secret. From me.
Tags: Favourite Author – Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) – Oopsie Babies
(6) Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey
Adored by all, Britta is an ambitious waitress working at Sluggers. The popular bar holds a special place in her heart and is a regular hangout for the Bridgeport Bandits, the local hockey club. With a half-brother on the team, Britta has a strict no-dating policy for hockey boys. But she does have a soft spot for one particular player.
A beast on the ice, Sumner Mayfield is on the brink of breaking into the NHL. But time’s running out. With his work visa about to expire, Sumner’s only chance to stay in Bridgeport is to marry an American—and get a green card. Otherwise, it’s back to Canada for the defenseman.
On New Year’s Eve, the team begs Britta to marry Sumner that very night. Sum is embarrassed yet hopeful—he’s desperately in love. But Britta balks at first. Until something about Sumner’s soulful brown eyes and ripped physique makes her reconsider…
Tags: Favourite Author – Five Star Reads – Sports Romance (Ice Hockey)
(7) Unfortunately Yours (A Vine Mess #2) by Tessa Bailey (2023)
A down-on-her-luck Napa heiress suggests a mutually beneficial marriage of convenience to a man she can’t stand… only to discover there’s a fine line between love and hate.
After losing her job and her fiancé in one fell swoop, Natalie Vos returned home to lick her wounds. A few months later, she’s sufficiently drowned her sorrows in cabernet and she’s ready to get back on her feet. She just needs her trust fund to finance her new business venture. Unfortunately, the terms require she marry before she can have the money. And well, dumped, remember? But Natalie is desperate enough to propose to a man who makes her want to kill him–and kiss him, in equal measure.
August Cates may own a vineyard, but he doesn’t know jack about making wine. He’s determined to do his late best friend proud, no matter what it takes. Except his tasting room is empty, his wine is disgusting (seriously, he once saw someone gag), and his buddy’s legacy is circling the drain. No bank will give him the loan he needs to turn the business around… and then the gorgeous, feisty heiress knocks on his door. Natalie has haunted his dreams since the moment they met, but their sizzling chemistry immediately morphed into simmering insults.
Now, a quickie marriage could help them both. A sham wedding, a few weeks living under the same roof, and then they can go their separate ways–assuming they make it out alive. How hard could it be? There’s just one thing they didn’t account for: their unfortunate, unbearable, undeniable attraction.
“Bottom line, he knew in his bones that in fifty years, he’d still want to look at her face.”
Tags: Enemies to Lovers – Favourite Author
(8) Mr. Notting Hill (Mister #6) by Louise Bay (2022)
Ever proposed marriage on a first date?
To a guy you first met covered in whipped cream?
(I haven’t even mentioned the bit where he won our date at an auction)
There’s no ring in my pocket, but I really hope he says yes.
Not because I’m in love with him—that would be ridiculous.
He needs to impress my father and I need access to my trust fund. That’s all our union will be about.
For three months, I’ve just got to ignore the rock-hard muscles I felt when I ran into him, the look in his eye that tells me he tastes as good as he looks, and the chemistry that sizzles between us whenever we’re together.
Easy. Right?
Tags: Favourite Author – Favourite Series
(9) Part-Time Lover (From Paris with Love #2) by Lauren Blakely (2018)
It was only supposed to be a marriage of convenience…
Let me just say, this whole part-time lover thing was her idea. I’d have gone all-in from the start, but hey, when a gorgeous, brilliant woman invites you into her bed, and only her bed…well, I said yes.
But then, one hysterical phone call from my brother later, begging me to find myself a wife so grandfather’s business stays in the family, and I need a promotion with Elise. Turns out a full-time husband suits her needs too, and a temporary marriage of convenience ought to do the trick, until we can simply untie the knot…
As long as no one finds out…
As long as no one gets hurt…
As long as no one falls in love…
But our ending was one I never saw coming.
Tags – Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)
(10) The Co-op by Tarah Dewitt (2022)
They say love and construction don’t mix. By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.
LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens – certainly nothing to build a foundation on. But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they’re thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.
LaRynn has the money, but in order to access her trust, she has to be married. Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds. A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.
Thrust into a home without walls, LaRynn and Deacon quickly learn that it’s easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks, much to their growing mutual frustration) they’ll also have to learn what it means to truly cooperate as a team.
Tags: Love Under Construction / One Bed / Second Chance
(11) Game for Marriage (Game for It #1) by Karen Erickson (2013)
He’s going in deep to make her his…
Struggling artist Sheridan Harper never imagined she’d spend a sizzling night with Jared Quinn, the smoking-hot star quarterback of her local professional football team, the San Jose Hawks. And she’s even more shocked when Jared’s publicist offers her a proposition: a fake marriage to keep Jared out of the gossip mags. Being that close to Jared would be too tempting, so to protect her heart, she insists on secretly including a clause forbidding sex between them.
Jared just wants to keep his starting QB job and keep it in San Jose. His reputation as a ladies’ man has landed him in the headlines one too many times, but there’s something about his kind, passionate new wife that tempts him beyond reason. Any sort of intimacy between them is completely forbidden, but as their bodies fall in deep, will their hearts follow suit?
Tags: Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) – Sports Romance (American Football)
(12) Luck & Last Resorts (Love, Lists & Fancy Ships #2) by Sarah Grunder Ruiz (2022)
Commitment-phobe Nina Lejeune lives by two rules:
1) Always have fun.
2) Don’t rely on anyone but yourself.
The first rule is easy; the second, she’s only broken once.
Ten years after fleeing home, Nina is the chief stewardess on the super yacht Serendipity, single by choice, and perfectly content with how life has turned out.
But Nina’s ex-coworker and old flame, Irish chef Ollie Dunne, isn’t so happy with the status quo. One year after leaving yachting, he’s returned as the Serendipity’s chef with an ultimatum: if Nina continues to deny she’s in love with him by the end of this charter season, he’ll go back to Ireland for good.
Nina and Ollie’s shared secret from their past threatens to shipwreck not only their relationship, but the entire boat. But as their connection grows amidst chaotic guests and crew drama, could there be smooth sailing in their future?
Tags: Chefs / Second Chance / Workplace Romance
(13) Call Me Crazy (Bellamy Creek #3) by Melanie Harlow (2021)
It was the perfect plan. I needed a wife—temporarily—in order to inherit the family business. And she needed a favour—the kind that takes nine months to deliver.
We had it all worked out, from the no-touching policy on our wedding night (her rule) to the no-falling-in-love decree (mine). She’d marry me, I’d give her the means to have the baby she’d always wanted, and one year later we’d amicably part ways with no hassle, no demands, and certainly no regrets.
After all, Bianca DeRossi and I are experts at infuriating one another—we’ve been doing it since we were kids. Trouble is, she grew up gorgeous and feisty, and she still knows exactly how to get under my skin.
And that wedding night? Well, it doesn’t exactly go down hands-free.
Then she moves in with me, and I really start to lose my mind. From her sexy little pout to her wicked sense of humour to those meatball sandwiches she makes just because she knows they’re my favourite . . . I find myself wanting to break every rule we put in place.
Our story was never supposed to end with happily ever after. But call me crazy, I just might be in love with my wife.
“In the dim lights of the dash, I could see him scowling like he was ready to take on the playground bully for me. And that was the moment I knew—I was madly, deeply, desperately in love with him.”
Tags: Favourite Author – Favourite Series – Five Star Reads
(14) Make-Believe Match (Cherry Tree Harbor #3) by Melanie Harlow (2023)
Fall in love with my enemy? No way.
Marry him to save my family’s struggling ski resort? That’s a different story…
Getting hitched is the only way I can inherit Snowberry Lodge, and I’ll do anything to spare my childhood home from the wrecking ball–even wear Devlin Buckley’s ring on my finger.
Not that I’ll enjoy it.
Sure, he’s charming and handsome, and that no-last-names one night stand we shared ended with a fantastically big bang (I saw stars I hadn’t seen in six months, if you catch my drift).
But I’ll never trust him–he was working for the company trying to bulldoze my life.
Right up until the day he knocked on my door with an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Marry him, and he’ll help me restore my family’s crumbling resort to its former glory–and get revenge on his ex-boss in the process. Once our goals are achieved, we’ll go our separate ways.
It’s temporary. Strictly business. Purely for show.
Until I realize how much I like it when he says “my wife.”
Once we’re sharing a last name–and a bed–our make-believe match starts to feel a little too real.
And if I’m not careful, I could lose everything… my home, my dreams, and my heart.
Tags: Enemies-to-Lovers – Favourite Author – Vegas Weddings
(15) Work in Progress (Red Lipstick Coalition #3) by Staci Hart (2019)
Thump. Thump. Thump. Yep, that’s me jumping up and down (Tom Cruise style) to demonstrate just how much I adore Amelia & Tommy.
I never thought my first kiss would be on my wedding day.
But here I stand, clutching a bouquet of pale pink roses behind the doors of a Las Vegas chapel, and at the end of the aisle is the absolute last man I imagined would be waiting for me.
Thomas Bane.
Bestselling author. Notorious bad boy. Savagely handsome, dark as sin, chiseled as stone. And somehow, my soon-to-be husband.
Marry him, and I’ll land my dream job. Save him, and I’ll walk away with everything I’ve ever wanted. All I have to do is remember it’s all for show. None of it is real, no matter how real it feels.
But first, I have to survive the kiss.
And with lips like his, I don’t stand a chance.
Tags: Favourite Author – Favourite Series – Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)
(16) Roomies by Christina Lauren (2017)
Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient.
For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions.
Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the try-out goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago.
Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?
Tags: Favourite Author – Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) – Stage & Screen Romance
(17) The Prenup by Lauren Layne (2019)
Of course I had to include the book which became the gateway into me becoming a Lauren Layne Super Fan, duh!
My name is Charlotte Spencer and, ten years ago, I married my brother’s best friend. I haven’t seen him since.
Charlotte Spencer grew up on the blue-blooded Upper East Side of Manhattan but she never wanted the sit-still-look-pretty future her parents dictated for her. Enter Colin Walsh, her brother’s quiet, brooding, man-bun-sporting best friend, and with him a chance to escape.
He’s far from Charlotte’s dream guy as but they need each other for one thing: marriage. One courthouse wedding later, Charlotte’s inheritance is hers to start a business in San Francisco and Irish-born Colin has a Green Card.
Ten years later, Colin drops a bombshell: the terms of their prenup state that before either can file for divorce, they have to live under the same roof for three months.
Suddenly this match made in practicality is about to take on whole new meaning…
“It doesn’t occur to me until this very moment that this is what real love is about—wanting what’s best for the other person. Wanting their happiness above your own because you love them.”
Tags: Brother’s Best Friend – Favourite Author – Five Star Reads
(18) The Marriage Arrangement (Marriage to a Billionaire #0.5) by Jennifer Probst
She had run from her demons…
Caterina Victoria Windsor fled her family winery after a humiliating broken engagement, and spent the past year in Italy rebuilding her world. But when Ripley Savage shows up with a plan to bring her back home, and an outrageous demand for her to marry him, she has no choice but to return to face her past. But when simple attraction begins to run deeper, Cat has to decide if she’s strong enough to trust again…and strong enough to stay…
He vowed to bring her back home to be his wife…
Rip Savage saved Windsor Winery, but the only way to make it truly his is to marry into the family. He’s not about to walk away from the only thing he’s ever wanted, even if he has to tame the spoiled brat who left her legacy and her father behind without a care. When he convinces her to agree to a marriage arrangement and return home, he never counted on the fierce sexual attraction between them to grow into something more. But when deeper emotions emerge, Rip has to fight for something he wants even more than Winsor Winery: his future wife.
Tags: Favourite Author
(19) Marriage of Inconvenience (Knitting in the City #7) by Penny Reid (2018)
There are three things you need to know about Kat Tanner (aka Kathleen Tyson. . . and yes, she is *that* Kathleen Tyson): 1) She’s determined to make good decisions, 2) She must get married ASAP, and 3) She knows how to knit.
Being a billionaire heiress isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Determined to live a quiet life, Kat Tanner changed her identity years ago and eschewed her family’s legacy. But now, Kat’s silver spoon past has finally caught up with her, and so have her youthful mistakes.
To avoid imminent disaster, she must marry immediately; it is essential that the person she chooses have no romantic feelings for her whatsoever and be completely trustworthy. Fortunately, she knows exactly who to ask. Dan O’Malley checks all the boxes: single, romantically indifferent to her, completely trustworthy. Sure, she might have a wee little crush on Dan the Security Man, but with clear rules, expectations, and a legally binding contract, Kat is certain she can make it through this debacle with her sanity—and heart—all in one piece.
Except, what happens when Dan O’Malley isn’t as indifferent—or as trustworthy—as she thought?
Tags: Favourite Author – Favourite Series
(20) Be A Doll by Stephanie Witter (2017)
At Carter Manor, women were groomed to become the perfect next trophy wife for the most influential and powerful men in the world. Polished, educated, and disciplined… they met every criterion. Or did they?
Lila: After escaping two prospective husbands, I knew I didn’t have much of a choice anymore but to play by the rules if I didn’t want to end up back in the streets.
Upon meeting him I expected an older disgusting man, but he proved me wrong.
He was young, handsome… and despicable.
His cold hearted behaviour and condescension caused me to lose my carefully built appearance of sophistication, but somehow, it made me win a husband who enjoyed toying with me until he could break the last pieces of who I used to be. I wouldn’t let him.
I hated him.
At least I did at first, until I had a peek underneath his walls and discovered the kind of pain he shouldered.
Mathis: I never thought I’d get married and even less that I would be purchasing my wife, but for my business I would do anything.
At the Manor, I was sure I’d find bland women so polished that nothing of their own personality was left. But one candidate couldn’t hide the fire in her.
I was drawn, ready to toy with her, to tease her until she folded for me and let me take her to make her fully mine and not in name only.
I didn’t want love, I didn’t want her to be in my living space and I certainly didn’t want her to see who I really was under the façade I had spent years shaping myself to be, but that was exactly what was happening.
She fascinated me.
Her strength made me want her in the most all-consuming way.
Now I wondered who possessed whom.
(21) The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata (2016)
Vanessa Mazur knows she’s doing the right thing. She shouldn’t feel bad for quitting. Being an assistant/housekeeper/fairy godmother to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans and none of them include washing extra-large underwear longer than necessary.
But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door wanting her to come back, she’s beyond shocked.
For two years, the man known as The Wall of Winnipeg couldn’t find it in him to tell her good morning or congratulate her on her birthday. Now? He’s asking for the unthinkable.
What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?
“I don’t know,” I stuttered, “Do you love me?”
His gaze was so intent the entire world seemed to stop. “You tell me. I never stop thinking about you. I worry about you all the time. Every beautiful thing I see reminds me of you. I can’t finish my practices in Colorado without wishing you were around,” he said in a steady tone. “You tell me what I feel.”
Tags: Favourite Author – Sports Romance (American Football) – Vegas Weddings
Louise Hall 
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