Confession: my favorite trope of all time is the marriage of convenience. In the marriage of convenience, two people agree to marry for practical reasons, and they’re both (usually) very convinced they will absolutely not, never, not ever fall in love.
And then, of course, they do. The drama becomes not when they’ll fall in love but how they will become vulnerable enough with each other to confess they are gauche enough to be in love with their spouses.
If you love the marriage of convenience trope as much as I do, check out these eleven historical romances! Each is featured on the Historical Romance Sampler (meaning you can go listen to the episode where the author reads a scene aloud and then chats with me about how they craft their stories).
Each of these books is also available to purchase via Bookshop.org! When you purchase from Bookshop.org, you’re supporting local independent bookstores and the Historical Romance Sampler all at once. Win-win-win-win!
Without further ado, I present to you: eleven awesome historical romances featuring the marriage of convenience trope!
The Historical Romance Sampler podcast is an affiliate of Libro.fm and Bookshop.org, and we may earn a profit from purchases you make after clicking on these links
11 Marriage of Conveniences (featured on the Historical Romance Sampler)
SEASON 1, EPISODE 19
THE TEMPLE OF PERSEPHONE by Isabella Kamal
Persephone Honeyfield is witty, intelligent, and very aware that the only way to escape the monotony of the life she shares with her father and sister in the English countryside--and the wagging, ever-critical tongues of the people around her--is through marriage. She also knows the likelihood of it being a love match is nearly zero.
Aidon Barrington has carried on the legacy of his family's funeral furnishing business, losing himself in the process. A shell of his former charming self, he's traded his reputation as a rake for that of a recluse and regularly appears in the scandal sheets as London's mysterious Lord of the Dead.
When Persephone finds herself at Gallowsgate--the old Barrington estate--on a seemingly simple errand, an unexpected run-in with the Lord of the Dead himself leaves her on the brink of ruination. With no other way to silence the village rumor mill, or save her sister's reputation, Persephone agrees to marry Aidon, becoming the wife of a man she hardly knows.
Persephone finds herself increasingly fascinated by her new husband, whose kind, patient nature stands in stark contrast to the ever-swirling rumors about him. But when the gossip begins to sound more like reality than fiction, she attempts to uncover the truth behind the Lord of the Dead while discovering she may have already lost her most guarded possession: her heart.
SEASON 1, EPISODE 20
A DUKE MAKES A DEAL by Matilda Madison
When this duke wins a wife, all bets are off.
When nouveau-rich Clara Woodvine attends her first high society ball, she's expecting it to be the most wonderful night of her life. Unfortunately, it turns out to be the worst. When Clara overhears her would-be fiancé has bet her and her dowry away in a card game to the Duke of Combe, aka the Divorced Duke, all hopes for a happily ever after seem lost.
Silas Winters, the Duke of Combe, has spent over a year brooding in misery after the end of his toxic marriage. Saddled with crippling anxiety and the reasonability of recovering Clara's reputation, Silas proposes a marriage based on friendship and nothing more. Clara accepts, but only on the condition that she understands this is a marriage of convenience because Silas is determined never to love again
But when the past comes back to haunt them, will Silas realize that love is something he can choose? And will Clara be able to stand up for those she loves, even if she must do it alone?
SEASON 1, EPISODE 35
THE SEASONAL HABITS OF HUSBANDS AND HONEYBEES by Emmaline Warden
Harrison Metcalf, the newly appointed Earl of Everly, has only ever been in love with Margaret Reedy, his uncle's widow. When she marries another, and he is once again alone, he decides the cost of love is far too steep to hazard again. Alas, duty calls, and he is required to procure a wife and secure the line. He will fulfill his obligation, but he could never knowingly marry someone who requires love.
Phoebe Kent would happily trade beekeeping for the uncomfortable noise and the press of bodies the social season requires. But with her parents' fear of spinsterhood, she knows marriage is a must. If only she could approach her inevitable union in the straightforward way one does a business deal.
With an agreement made, and a contract written, Harrison and Phee embark on the beneficial bargain that is to be their marriage. They never fathomed that nightly card games and pesky kittens would be a surefire path to flirting. Contract modifications are made as a touch becomes a kiss, and a kiss becomes a night, and the two settle into their new life as husband and wife. But can their burgeoning love prevail when it was never part of the plan?
SEASON 1, EPISODE 43
THE EARL WAS WRONG BY BRITT BELLE
An earl has no choice but to marry...
When his father died, sixteen-year-old Sebastian inherited a crumbling earldom. He dedicated himself to becoming a respectable lord, and now, a decade later, he will do anything to prevent his scandalous sister from undermining his status-even marry a sensible spinster. Emmeline ought to be the ideal wife, but she is less biddable and more beddable than he expects. To his dismay, feelings beyond friendship begin to emerge. Although intimacy breeds affection, can it inspire love?
...a lady with an impeccable reputation.
Born a vicar's daughter, Emmeline has dedicated herself to her younger siblings and, as a result, has been too busy to consider her own future. At twenty-four, marriage seems unlikely-until she meets a practical lord who offers her the very thing she's always dreamed of: a family of her own. Sebastian ought to be the perfect husband, but he can be overbearing and emotionally distant. To her relief, she begins to catch glimpses of a kind, caring man behind his cold exterior. Can she convince him that they deserve more than a marriage of convenience?
SEASON 1, EPISODE 45
VOLUPTUOUS by Felicity Niven
Her father's best friend is the man-of-her-dreams.
Lady Henrietta Staf-ford can't remember a time when she wasn't fascinated by the tall, dark, melancholy Mr. Oliver Hart-well. But she knows she is meant for some other, far less compelling man. Her father's friend would never be interested in her. She's too young. She's not beautiful or clever. And, of course, he's already married.
A widower twice over, Oliver Hart-well's life has been marked by failures-his boyhood-dream-turned-hellish-nightmare, his tragic marriages, the utter botch he is making of fatherhood. In truth, he has only ever found happiness in the home of his friend, the Duke of Bex-ton. But now that his friend's oldest daughter has grown into a gorgeous, voluptuous woman, Oliver seems doomed to ruin his chances for love and affection, just as he has ruined everything else.
In one weak, wicked moment, ruination becomes the first step towards redemption . . .
SEASON 1, EPISODE 49
SECOND DUKE’S THE CHARM by Kate Bateman
The wedding-night death of her much older husband left Tess Townsend the Dowager Duchess of Wansford—and still a virgin. Now she and her two best friends investigate London’s most scandalous crimes, and while Tess longs to experience physical pleasure for herself, she can’t risk losing her treasured independence...
Cynical shipping magnate Justin Thornton never expected to inherit a dukedom, but he’ll do his duty. When the ravishing woman he kissed at a party turns out to be the Dowager Duchess, Justin sees an obvious solution: a marriage of convenience that will suit them both.
But the passion that sparks between them is anything but convenient. As Tess works on a new case at the request of Queen Charlotte, her increasingly suspicious behavior makes Justin question her motives—and her past. The infuriating woman clearly can’t be trusted, but Justin doesn’t believe in love, so there’s absolutely no danger of him falling for his own wife...is there?
SEASON 2, EPISODE 3
A FIGHTING CHANCE by Emily E.K. Murdoch
William Chance, Duke of Cothrom, is tired of fighting for his family's reputation.
And it's not like his wayward brothers do much to help. Rascals, rakes, and rogues, the lot of them-and William is always the one picking up the pieces and staving off scandal.
He needs stability. He needs calm. He needs certainty.
He doesn't need a wild young woman launching herself into his arms and demanding that he marry her . . .
But marriage is precisely what Alice Fox-Edwards does need. After surviving a scandal four years ago, the threats of a blackmailer now mean she must find a protector-preferably one with lots of money.
An unlikely pairing, to be sure, but William decides that a wife will give him the balance he so desperately needs. Because Miss Fox-Edwards has no outrageous past, does she? Nothing that might upset his calm or set any tongues wagging. Surely, she wouldn't lie about a thing like that . . .
Soon they're fighting their feelings, fighting the truth, and fighting the disaster that fast approaches as secrets and lies-on both sides-threaten what could be a chance for happiness.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 9
THE TRIBUNE TEMPTATION by Jenna Bigelow
He married her to win the vote. Now, he has to win her heart.
In the cutthroat world of Roman politics, family is everything. Aelius, a freedman turned ambitious politician, knows winning his next election will require a marriage alliance with a powerful patrician family. But finding a woman who will entertain courtship from a freedman is near impossible.
Crispina is the daughter of one of Rome's oldest families, but after failing to give her husband a child, a humiliating divorce sends her back to her parents' restrictive house in shame. All she wants is the freedom to pursue her true passion: a secret venture to educate the children of Rome's poorest.
When Aelius meets Crispina at a dinner party, he knows her powerful family name could secure his victory. Desperate for freedom, Crispina agrees to a marriage of convenience. Prickly one moment and icy the next, Crispina is determined to keep her charming husband at a distance. That is, until Aelius undertakes a campaign to win not just the city's vote, but his wife's heart.
But Crispina has an agenda of her own, and when a political rival leaks her unconventional activities, it sparks a scandal that could cost Aelius the election. Distancing himself from his wayward wife should be easy, but as the election looms, Aelius must decide which victory is truly worth fighting for.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 31
THE BLACKSMITH’S BRIDE by Alison Mckenzie
England, 1383: thirty years ago, the Black Death overturned the social order. Two years ago, a band of rebels tried and failed to oppose their unfair taxation at the hands of the king's men. In the Nottinghamshire countryside, however, Elizabeth has bigger problems: she's fallen pregnant by her employer, is the sole supporter of her widowed mother and her younger siblings, and needs to find a husband - fast. She's just about ready to despair at her lack of prospects when hope appears from an unexpected source: her best friend Matthew, upon learning of her situation, offers to marry her to keep her and her child safe.
Matthew's problem isn't that he doesn't want to marry Elizabeth - quite the opposite. He's been quietly in love with her since they were children, holding his tongue because he knew she would never be able to marry and leave her family behind. He'd assumed that this state of affairs was permanent, and had been busy fending off his sister's attempts at marrying him off when Elizabeth tells him she's in need of a husband and he impulsively offers her his hand in marriage. No, his problem is that he can't tell her that he's actually marrying her for love - after all, she believes it's a matter of convenience, and if he confessed his true feelings, it would throw their whole relationship off-balance. But while he'd resigned himself to pining from afar, he hadn't been prepared to pine from one side of a shared bed . . .
As Matthew and Elizabeth learn to live together as man and wife, it becomes increasingly clear that the affection between them is growing into something more than the bond between childhood friends. But as vassals, their lives are not their own, and threats to their respective families threaten to tear them apart just as they've begun to find each other.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 43
YOU MAY KISS THE DUKE by Charis Michaels
Sabine Noble has given little thought to her husband over the past five years. Theirs is a true marriage of convenience: she gained protection from her abusive uncle and the chance to live freely in London, while he gained the dowry necessary to make his business venture a success. But as she’s investigating her uncle’s nefarious deeds in hopes of gaining her revenge, she discovers the body of a half-dead man on a ship, only to realize the man is her husband.
When Captain Jon Stoker awakens in a strange house, he’s astonished to realize that he’s being cared for by his estranged wife. Although she’s not much of a nursemaid, he finds his long-held attraction for his beautiful wife deepening as he discovers her powerful spirit and fierce drive.
As Stoker regains his strength, he begins to help Sabine on her quest to bring her uncle to justice. And along the way, two lonely people discover that their marriage of convenience has become a union of souls.
SEASON 3, EPISODE 3
HEIRS AND SPARES by Jennie L. Spohr
It's 1569. Elizabeth I sits on the English throne, the Reformation inflames the continent, and whispers of war abound. But in Troixden, just north of France, the Lady Annelore isn't interested in royal politics. Times are hard, taxes are high, and the people in her duchy need her help just to survive. Her widowed father is a good man easily distracted by horses, and her newly knighted childhood friend...well, he has plans of his own. Then Annelore receives a call she can't ignore. When Troixden's sadistic king dies childless, his younger brother William returns from exile to find his beloved country on the brink of civil war. He's in desperate need of the stability that comes with a bride and heirs. But Annelore, his chosen queen, won't come quietly. Now the future of Troixden lies in the hands of two people who never wanted the power they've received and never dreamed that from duty and honor they might find love and a path to peace. Heirs & Spares is one part history, two parts palace plotting, and a whole lot of spicy romantic intrigue.