Historical romance novels often feature wonderful tropes. The Arranged Marriage is one of my favorites, where characters are forced into a marriage for political or social reasons, leading to unexpected love.
There’s something about women being forced into marriage in times past that I find equally horrifying, angering, and fascinating.
It makes one wonder what we would do if we had so little autonomy that another person could direct our lives in such an egregious way.
One of the reasons I like this trope in historical romance is that the story arc can go in so many different directions. The heroine can begin hating her husband and gradually fall in love with him. She can try to escape the marriage by running away, aided by her true love. Some other noble hero can swoop in and spoil the marriage plan by rescuing her.
The heroine can try somehow to invalidate the marriage or foil her parent’s plot by making her fiancé withdraw from the contract, as was done in the latest season of Bridgerton. Cressida’s move to discredit herself was brilliant.
I recently read a fun historical romance in which friends of the prospective bride and groom foiled two different prospective marriages. That was a very unusual take on this very popular trope, and a lot of fun.
Of course, I had to try my hand at this. So, in my second novel, Marry Me, Duke, I decided that the arranged marriage would be orchestrated by the heroine, Ginny, rather than an authority figure. She arranges her own marriage in order to escape from a life of forced caregiving.
And, of course, there is resistance, and problems arise. A love between the couple grows, and there is a happily ever after. Marry Me, Duke is now on Kindle Unlimited; if you like this trope, you should check it out.
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DEE HARPER LEWIS 