Shannon here: Christine Hill Suntz shares her favorite romantic trope, plus an excerpt from her Historical Romance, The Lawyer and the Laundress, and a chance to win my 4 title Sepember Book Bundle Giveaway #1. Comment or answer on any post dated Sept 2nd – 20th to enter the drawing. Deadline: Sept 27th, 11: 59 pm central time. Here’s Christine:
My favorite romance trope: The Marriage of Convenience
If a book blurb mentions a marriage of convenience, I am hooked. I LOVE this trope. Some of my recent favorites include Laura Frantz’s The Indigo Heiress, The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews and These Long Shadows by Jennifer Mistmorgan. All 5 star reads for me.
I suppose it’s no surprise that my debut historical romance, The Lawyer and the Laundress, features a marriage of convenience between James (the Lawyer) and Sara (the Laundress). When I started writing this trope, however, I realized how challenging it is to create a believable marriage of convenience that readers can get behind. The stakes must be so high that the reader thinks: “Yup, these two HAVE to get married. It’s the only solution.”
In The Lawyer and the Laundress, James is a widower with a young, precocious daughter. He sends her to school to learn social graces, but instead she befriends the laundress, Sara, a woman who is hiding from her past in a life of drudgery. James forbids their friendship, but soon Evie falls ill, Sara nurses her back to health and James realizes she is the mother his daughter needs.
Will a marriage of convenience solve all their problems? What would make Sara desperate enough to marry James when his position in society could threaten all her secrets? Why would James consider marriage when he’s sworn off love forever? These were some of the questions I wrestled with.
One of my favorite scenes in the marriage of convenience story is when the couple agrees to marry despite their misgivings and hesitations. As readers, we know these dummies will fall in love…they just haven’t realized it yet!
Here are two excerpts from The Lawyer and the Laundress. James comes to realize the only way to keep Sara in his life is through marriage. Then, he figures out how to propose to Sara in a way that will convince her to take a chance on him. Enjoy!
Excerpt from the Lawyer and the Laundress by Christine Hill Suntz:
James couldn’t shield a governess, not completely. People would see what they wanted to see, no matter how he tried to stay away from her.
The only way to protect them from would be…to marry her.
A man in your position needs a wife.
Of course, Sara wasn’t the wife Ballantine had in mind. He pictured the faces around the table tonight. Proud, entitled. They wouldn’t acknowledge Sara O’Connor, and he realized he didn’t care. High society had been Amelia’s dream, not his. He didn’t strive to be a part of that world, and he certainly didn’t want that for Evie.
Marriage to Sara would cause gossip, yes, but it wasn’t unsurmountable. As his wife, Sara would be under his protection in the eyes of God…and the law. The thought was reassuring. While every other certainty in his life failed him, the law never did.
His wife.
He drew his first easy breath since arriving at the party. Instead of sending him into a panic, the thought of marriage to Sara soothed him. It wouldn’t be like the first time, when he’d let romance cloud his vision and drive him to foolishness. She’d know from the start what he could give her. Loyalty. Protection. And what he couldn’t.
###
“Why did you leave?” Sara flinched at the harshness in his voice, and he tried to soften his tone. “Did something happen?” He thought of Osgoode. “Did someone threaten you?”
She looked up sharply at this, fear flitting across her face before she could lower her eyes. She said nothing. He ground his teeth in frustration. Why wouldn’t she trust him?
He let the silence linger. Her hands twisted in her lap until he brought his own to rest on top of hers with a gentle squeeze. She sighed, the tension leaving her shoulders and chewed her lip as though she were deciding what to say. He felt a tiny thrill beneath his worry. He’d gotten through her defenses. She was going to tell him.
She cleared her throat. “I—I came to realize my presence in your home…might hurt you and Evie. He has powerful friends,” she said finally, her voice low. “I’m sorry you were worried, but running away was the only way to stop him.”
“Not the only way,” he said. Was she thinking about their kiss as much as he was? Surely he hadn’t imagined her response.
She looked up, an unspoken question drawing her brows together.
James took a breath. Marriage was risky. He told himself he’d never face the torment of love and wanting and rejection again, yet when it came to Sara O’Connor, he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Over the past hours, one thought had overshadowed all the others. He never wanted to lose her again.
He cleared his throat, jumping in before he lost his nerve. “You could marry me.”
Question for Readers: What makes a good marriage of convenience story? Tell me about some great ones that you’ve read.
Sept Book Bundle Giveaway #1
A Texas Bond by Shannon Taylor Vannatter, print, Contemporary Romance
Sharktooth Island by Susan Page Davis, Linda Fulkerson, Elena Hill, and Deborah Sprinkle, print
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge: A Biography for Children by Susan Braun, ebook
A Very Bavarian Summer by Katie M. Reid, US. Only, Contemporary Romance
About Christine: Christine Hill Suntz knew she wanted to write as soon as she finished Anne of Green Gables, and she’s been lost in her imagination ever since. In 2022, she won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Genesis Contest and the West Coast Christian Writers Goldie Award. When she’s not writing, she teaches high school French and tries out historical recipes on her (mostly) willing family. Follow her adventures in writing and historical farming, learn more and connect on her social media.
Christine’s Website Christine’s Instagram Christine’s Facebook
About the book – The Lawyer and the Laundress:
Lawyer James Kinney isn’t looking for love, and laundress Sara O’Connor doesn’t want to be found. When their paths cross in a British colony on the brink of rebellion, a marriage of convenience may be their best hope of survival. Canada, 1837. Widower James Kinney knows his precocious daughter Evie needs more than his lessons on law and logic, but Toronto offers few options. Classes with the neighbor children seem ideal until James discovers Evie is secretly spending her time with Sara O’Connor, a kind and mysteriously educated servant.
For propriety’s sake, James forbids their friendship. But then Evie falls victim to the illness ravaging the city, and James must call upon Sara’s medical knowledge and her special bond with Evie to save his daughter’s life. When Sara’s presence in his household threatens scandal, however, James offers an unexpected solution: become his wife, in name only, and help him raise Evie to be a proper young lady. If Sara can ignore the sparks she feels when they’re together, his logical proposal could keep her secret secure forever. But soon, the forces of rebellion unravel their tidy arrangement. When James is accused of treason, Sara must find the courage to face a past that could save her husband’s life.
Interested in Christine’s book?
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The Lawyer and the Laundress – Tyndale The Lawyer and the Laundress – Amazon
Come back Sept 6th for Shannon’s Book Bargains Roundup!
I would like to read this book. The marriage of convenience stories I have enjoyed reading are the wagon train requirements of a spouse if not traveling with a male relative. At the very last minute they must decide to wed before the scout says it’s time to go. Children get a new “Ma” and a wagon ready to be removed has a new driver. Doesn’t that sound good!
That reminds me of Love Comes Softly. What a great book! I think that’s where my love of marriage of convenience originated 🙂
Thanks so much for featuring me in your blog! It was such a treat.
I don’t think I’ve read many marriage of convenience stories, but I would like to.