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The Marriage Bargain
In this follow-up to "The Improper Wife," Perkins presents a heartwrenching romance that matches duty with desire. Set in Regency England, this is the story of a couple who agree to a marriage of convenience. Slowly, they form bonds. And ultimately - to their surprise - they fall in love. Original.
315 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 22, 2017
Hero left h on his estate while he went on with his freedom. He is killed in a duel and brought back to his wife in a coffin! At the last minute she asks to see him and he is alive. She nurses him back to health and they fall in love. someone is trying to kill him and there are several attempts. He leaves her again but she follows him to London. More attempts and more suspects. The villain was a little hard to figure out but he got his in the end All ends up well in the end. HEA and out!
April 10, 2008
PLEASE, somebody explain the five star reviews on Amazon to me?! I'm serious! For Raybourn it made sense if you know the world and most humans; but these are reviews that even other romances don't get, and I'm suffering from acute inflamation of the heart and brain trying to understand these women.
The first book of this author I had read was "Reputable Rake", written under her Gaston pseudonym, which like so many others I never wrote about. Since it was the first sexually explicit regency that I remember reading, and said to be not as good as her supposedly very special Wagering Widow and Mysterious Miss M (her regencies being about prostitutes etc.) and had the advantage of a likable couple and the woman wanting and then letting herself look at and touch the man, I tried to get all of Diane's books.
Sadly Gaston's Vanishing Vicountess was awful, book 1 then already/as well a big disappointment (since it had neither the depth or sparkle I had expected, but I cannot say if it was the order I read them in or just time or really worse), and now this earlier work is TEDIOUS. THAT is a fact.
Marriage Bargain was promising in that it looked longer than her later genre novels, and with more time spent on the characters. I'm not sure if that or the author's inexperience also made the sex so forgettable, or - again - if my reading better books in-between just blurred that RR had had only a single encounter.
The part about the heroine having had to scrounge in genteel poverty for three whole years, the distrust of his friends and her anger, that was promising (probably taken from RL of the author). But already the taken-for-dead chapter was so bad that I kept thinking there must be some later pay-off. Off course that never comes - while I was glad the heroine was vindicated, after a forgettable not-really-love-part there follow bland, pointless, summary-like chapters (and if I say him leaving her because he thought she would not die was the only thing that made sense - believe me).
Gaston's books tended to have a huge action scene pastede_on at the very end; disappointing and infuriating, I blamed those end-bits on publishers. This novel has some nothingness pastede_on; the heros trauma about dead brothers, his need to travel, her aversity to travel - these real and big issues were not resolved; there was too much, but not "much" in that it was barely an outline, her mother, the bad uncle, the male friends obviously only set up for books of their own - all that were not given more space than I did here, and I feel bad for wasting so many words, since people writing so many words about her had made me believe there must have been SOMETHING to the book. Njet, nada, rien, nichts, nihil.
I'm not even going to mention how the heroine "pored" over newspapers or "he stood at her entrance and gazed at her" (no, the sex is also very bland). It is very badly written, especially towards the end *boggles* I might have read so fast I didn't even catch the last few lines. Even taking negative and positive reviews on amazon into consideration, that was a very expensive and mentally deteriorating experience.
If you make it through the book, you were neither excited, amused, titillated or - anything. The opposite of elevated, energised or entertained, in fact.
I could not even say what h and h LOOKED like by the end, btw.
The first book of this author I had read was "Reputable Rake", written under her Gaston pseudonym, which like so many others I never wrote about. Since it was the first sexually explicit regency that I remember reading, and said to be not as good as her supposedly very special Wagering Widow and Mysterious Miss M (her regencies being about prostitutes etc.) and had the advantage of a likable couple and the woman wanting and then letting herself look at and touch the man, I tried to get all of Diane's books.
Sadly Gaston's Vanishing Vicountess was awful, book 1 then already/as well a big disappointment (since it had neither the depth or sparkle I had expected, but I cannot say if it was the order I read them in or just time or really worse), and now this earlier work is TEDIOUS. THAT is a fact.
Marriage Bargain was promising in that it looked longer than her later genre novels, and with more time spent on the characters. I'm not sure if that or the author's inexperience also made the sex so forgettable, or - again - if my reading better books in-between just blurred that RR had had only a single encounter.
The part about the heroine having had to scrounge in genteel poverty for three whole years, the distrust of his friends and her anger, that was promising (probably taken from RL of the author). But already the taken-for-dead chapter was so bad that I kept thinking there must be some later pay-off. Off course that never comes - while I was glad the heroine was vindicated, after a forgettable not-really-love-part there follow bland, pointless, summary-like chapters (and if I say him leaving her because he thought she would not die was the only thing that made sense - believe me).
Gaston's books tended to have a huge action scene pastede_on at the very end; disappointing and infuriating, I blamed those end-bits on publishers. This novel has some nothingness pastede_on; the heros trauma about dead brothers, his need to travel, her aversity to travel - these real and big issues were not resolved; there was too much, but not "much" in that it was barely an outline, her mother, the bad uncle, the male friends obviously only set up for books of their own - all that were not given more space than I did here, and I feel bad for wasting so many words, since people writing so many words about her had made me believe there must have been SOMETHING to the book. Njet, nada, rien, nichts, nihil.
I'm not even going to mention how the heroine "pored" over newspapers or "he stood at her entrance and gazed at her" (no, the sex is also very bland). It is very badly written, especially towards the end *boggles* I might have read so fast I didn't even catch the last few lines. Even taking negative and positive reviews on amazon into consideration, that was a very expensive and mentally deteriorating experience.
If you make it through the book, you were neither excited, amused, titillated or - anything. The opposite of elevated, energised or entertained, in fact.
I could not even say what h and h LOOKED like by the end, btw.
November 16, 2025
Calificación: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5)
Matrimonio Pactado es un libro que me hizo enojar de formas que no sabía que un libro podía enojarme. No lo odié: LO DETESTÉ CON TODO MI SER. Me sacó de quicio, me frustró, me hizo suspirar de rabia y, sinceramente, me hizo perder el tiempo.
Para empezar, la tragedia del principio. Claramente metida solo para causar drama barato. Vacía, innecesaria y escrita como si la autora hubiera dicho: “Bueno, ahora toca shock emocional”. No funciona, no aporta, no genera nada más que incomodidad.
Después… los amigos del protagonista. Gente detestable. La protagonista no había hecho absolutamente nada, y aun así la trataban como si hubiera arruinado el mundo. Juzgaban sin saber, sin preguntar, sin usar una neurona. Y cuando finalmente descubren la verdad, ni una mísera disculpa. Nada. Silencio. Cobardes.
El protagonista, Spence, es otro tema:
La insistencia constante en recalcar que Emma “había cambiado”. Y claro, ¿cómo no va a cambiar después de que él la abandona por tres años? Pero él lo dice como si fuese un descubrimiento filosófico profundo. Y encima, cada dos páginas, la autora recordándonos que él es fuerte, atractivo, masculino, irresistible…
No.
Para mí es el retrato perfecto de la masculinidad frágil con patas. Todo el tiempo queriendo aparentar dureza porque mostrar vulnerabilidad, al parecer, sería la peor atrocidad del universo.
Emma tampoco se salva. Dice desde el principio que no planea ocultarle a Spence la verdad sobre la finca. Y ¿qué hace? Cien páginas más tarde sigue sin decir NADA. Solo atrasaba todo, frenaba la trama y me hacía querer entrar al libro para gritarle que reaccionara.
Y cuando finalmente llega el perdón… el perdón más rápido e injustificado de la historia. En un momento está enojada, y al siguiente vuelve a ser “una adolescente enamorada”. Fue devastador ver cómo su personaje retrocedía así. NEFASTO.
Ahora, lo peor:
LA PRIMERA ESCENA DE SEXO.
No sé cómo describirla sin volver a enojarme. Fue espantosa. Incómoda. Mal escrita. Nada de química, nada de emoción, solo una escena que me hizo cerrar el libro y dejarlo tirado. Ahí decidí abandonar la lectura porque ya había pasado mi límite.
Y para rematar:
El libro es predecible de principio a fin. Todo lo que pasa se ve venir desde kilómetros. Nada sorprende, nada emociona, nada funciona.
En resumen: un desastre.
Lo odié profundamente.
Matrimonio Pactado es un libro que me hizo enojar de formas que no sabía que un libro podía enojarme. No lo odié: LO DETESTÉ CON TODO MI SER. Me sacó de quicio, me frustró, me hizo suspirar de rabia y, sinceramente, me hizo perder el tiempo.
Para empezar, la tragedia del principio. Claramente metida solo para causar drama barato. Vacía, innecesaria y escrita como si la autora hubiera dicho: “Bueno, ahora toca shock emocional”. No funciona, no aporta, no genera nada más que incomodidad.
Después… los amigos del protagonista. Gente detestable. La protagonista no había hecho absolutamente nada, y aun así la trataban como si hubiera arruinado el mundo. Juzgaban sin saber, sin preguntar, sin usar una neurona. Y cuando finalmente descubren la verdad, ni una mísera disculpa. Nada. Silencio. Cobardes.
El protagonista, Spence, es otro tema:
La insistencia constante en recalcar que Emma “había cambiado”. Y claro, ¿cómo no va a cambiar después de que él la abandona por tres años? Pero él lo dice como si fuese un descubrimiento filosófico profundo. Y encima, cada dos páginas, la autora recordándonos que él es fuerte, atractivo, masculino, irresistible…
No.
Para mí es el retrato perfecto de la masculinidad frágil con patas. Todo el tiempo queriendo aparentar dureza porque mostrar vulnerabilidad, al parecer, sería la peor atrocidad del universo.
Emma tampoco se salva. Dice desde el principio que no planea ocultarle a Spence la verdad sobre la finca. Y ¿qué hace? Cien páginas más tarde sigue sin decir NADA. Solo atrasaba todo, frenaba la trama y me hacía querer entrar al libro para gritarle que reaccionara.
Y cuando finalmente llega el perdón… el perdón más rápido e injustificado de la historia. En un momento está enojada, y al siguiente vuelve a ser “una adolescente enamorada”. Fue devastador ver cómo su personaje retrocedía así. NEFASTO.
Ahora, lo peor:
LA PRIMERA ESCENA DE SEXO.
No sé cómo describirla sin volver a enojarme. Fue espantosa. Incómoda. Mal escrita. Nada de química, nada de emoción, solo una escena que me hizo cerrar el libro y dejarlo tirado. Ahí decidí abandonar la lectura porque ya había pasado mi límite.
Y para rematar:
El libro es predecible de principio a fin. Todo lo que pasa se ve venir desde kilómetros. Nada sorprende, nada emociona, nada funciona.
En resumen: un desastre.
Lo odié profundamente.
February 7, 2008
For this months AOM at HistoricalRomanceChat Group I read Diane Perkins's The Marriage Bargain.
Handsome soldier Spencer Keenan and timid country girl Emma Chambers agree to a wedding in name only, rescuing Emma from his uncle’s unwanted suit and providing her the home she desperately desires. After Spence leaves for war, however, Emma’s idyllic life is soon transformed into worry and toil, caring for his crumbling estate. Emma’s youthful romantic fantasy that Spence will return to make their marriage real is quickly dispelled. Now Spence has returned, but in a coffin, struck down in a duel. Needing to look upon his face one last time, Emma narrowly saves him from being buried alive. In return she seeks a new marriage bargain – Spence must give her a child. While Spence battles haunting memories and unknown treachery, the one thing he doesn't bargain for is falling deeply in love with his now valiant and captivating wife.
It is a really nice story, the hero and heroine married a few years before the story starts but he went off to war and left her at his estate. For several years now his money transfers have been reduced and she is almost penniless when suddenly his two closest friends come back with his coffin and the announcement of his death. By a strange event the hero wasn't dead and it's the heroine who rescues him. From then on not only he has to recover from his wounds but he also has to gain her trust (she believes he stopped sending money because he gambles) and they will have to solve the mystery of the missing money.
As you can see there's nothing really new regarding the plot but Perkins manages to build some really nice characters that we end up caring about and that really made it work for me. I would still prefer her Gaston books because they are more original but I would grade this one a solid B. Even if the bad guy was a bit predictable...
I was curious about his uncle, after all Spence did marry Emma to save her from him but here he only looked like a sad figure and not particularly threatening. Spence's two friends who are build up to future hero material will probably never get their own stories because the author is not writing under her Perkins name anymore.
Grade: B
Handsome soldier Spencer Keenan and timid country girl Emma Chambers agree to a wedding in name only, rescuing Emma from his uncle’s unwanted suit and providing her the home she desperately desires. After Spence leaves for war, however, Emma’s idyllic life is soon transformed into worry and toil, caring for his crumbling estate. Emma’s youthful romantic fantasy that Spence will return to make their marriage real is quickly dispelled. Now Spence has returned, but in a coffin, struck down in a duel. Needing to look upon his face one last time, Emma narrowly saves him from being buried alive. In return she seeks a new marriage bargain – Spence must give her a child. While Spence battles haunting memories and unknown treachery, the one thing he doesn't bargain for is falling deeply in love with his now valiant and captivating wife.
It is a really nice story, the hero and heroine married a few years before the story starts but he went off to war and left her at his estate. For several years now his money transfers have been reduced and she is almost penniless when suddenly his two closest friends come back with his coffin and the announcement of his death. By a strange event the hero wasn't dead and it's the heroine who rescues him. From then on not only he has to recover from his wounds but he also has to gain her trust (she believes he stopped sending money because he gambles) and they will have to solve the mystery of the missing money.
As you can see there's nothing really new regarding the plot but Perkins manages to build some really nice characters that we end up caring about and that really made it work for me. I would still prefer her Gaston books because they are more original but I would grade this one a solid B. Even if the bad guy was a bit predictable...
I was curious about his uncle, after all Spence did marry Emma to save her from him but here he only looked like a sad figure and not particularly threatening. Spence's two friends who are build up to future hero material will probably never get their own stories because the author is not writing under her Perkins name anymore.
Grade: B
September 5, 2010
This is a cute little book...
Okay, so Emma was being courted by this guy who was practically her father's age, Zachary Keenan... and she was pretty grossed out by the whole situation. But in swooped his nephew, Spencer Keenan (young, handsome, etc.), who proposes a trade: he'll marry her in name only and set her up at his country estate (saving her from his gross old uncle) and he'll be free to go off to war... and I'm not sure if the plan had an "and after the war" part or not.... So they get married and he leaves.
But then the financial stability he promised her doesn't go through: her budget for maintaining the estate is drastically cut and she embarks on 3 years of severe economies before Spencer turns up... and when I say "turns up," I mean in a coffin... FORTUNATELY, Emma rescues him from being buried alive (he was NOT dead after all).......... But she's totally pissed off at him. Heehee... Fun times. He doesn't even recognize her, since she's grown up and lost the baby fat. She just wants to ream him, but he's injured and is recovering... Good times!
Also Read:
Nov 18, 2009
Sept 2-3, 2010
March 26-26, 2012
Okay, so Emma was being courted by this guy who was practically her father's age, Zachary Keenan... and she was pretty grossed out by the whole situation. But in swooped his nephew, Spencer Keenan (young, handsome, etc.), who proposes a trade: he'll marry her in name only and set her up at his country estate (saving her from his gross old uncle) and he'll be free to go off to war... and I'm not sure if the plan had an "and after the war" part or not.... So they get married and he leaves.
But then the financial stability he promised her doesn't go through: her budget for maintaining the estate is drastically cut and she embarks on 3 years of severe economies before Spencer turns up... and when I say "turns up," I mean in a coffin... FORTUNATELY, Emma rescues him from being buried alive (he was NOT dead after all).......... But she's totally pissed off at him. Heehee... Fun times. He doesn't even recognize her, since she's grown up and lost the baby fat. She just wants to ream him, but he's injured and is recovering... Good times!
Also Read:
Nov 18, 2009
Sept 2-3, 2010
March 26-26, 2012
October 30, 2016
Well there were twists I did not think of and the vilian in my mind changed several times..
I was very disappointed in our hero, as he was at best...unheroic.... he sadly married Emma three years ago and then despite his claims otherwise forgot her... forgot his lands, his responsibility while off to war and once back for over a year on a toot.
He cared more about his friends than his abandoned wife (no matter the reasoning in marriage), he owed everything to her... she saved his land, people and in the end his very life and in the interim he was more or less pretty much a thoughtless coward. He finally makes her his wife only to abandon her because of his fears.... I know despite the story never clear on it, that he was faithless along with thoughtless and in the end was the only redeeming part of him.... it was somewhat believable but you sorta get a HFN feeling despite the authors writing of HEA
I was very disappointed in our hero, as he was at best...unheroic.... he sadly married Emma three years ago and then despite his claims otherwise forgot her... forgot his lands, his responsibility while off to war and once back for over a year on a toot.
He cared more about his friends than his abandoned wife (no matter the reasoning in marriage), he owed everything to her... she saved his land, people and in the end his very life and in the interim he was more or less pretty much a thoughtless coward. He finally makes her his wife only to abandon her because of his fears.... I know despite the story never clear on it, that he was faithless along with thoughtless and in the end was the only redeeming part of him.... it was somewhat believable but you sorta get a HFN feeling despite the authors writing of HEA
September 8, 2016
I liked this book at first, but after chapter 4,it just got to mushy for me
March 30, 2016
Me desagrado mucho Spencer un hombre egoista, egocentrico, inmaduro a quién Emma perdono muy rápidamente para mi gusto :# Y encima estan los queridos amigos de Spencer pero que tipos, juzgandola sin averiguar las cosas y pensando lo peor de ella sin si quiera pasar por sus cabezas que su amigo era el culpable de todo :/
March 26, 2009
Meh. Highly predictable, but a cute story. I doubt I'll remember much about it after a few days. It's one of those same-old comfort regency historicals that I swear I've read a hundred times or more. They all blur after a while.
October 15, 2008
Really good, one of my favorite historical novels. The characters are interesting and the plot is not clear cut but requires some thought.
March 30, 2009
this book was great. it kept me at the edge of my seat. lots of twist and turns and a love that was discovered.
March 1, 2011
A fun, light romance between two star-crossed lovers (plagued by a wonderfully deceitful villain).
September 11, 2016
placeholder until multiple reads in enabled
February 6, 2016
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews