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Contract Brides #1
Marriage on Demand
In just four days, Rena will marry Ford Harlow. Just imagining the ceremony fills her with intense excitement -- and trepidation! It won't be an ordinary wedding. Their union is a marriage deal: Ford wants her property; Rena will do anything to keep it....
But if Rena is expecting a marriage of convenience -- sharing their lives but never a bed -- she has a shock in store. Ford has long been intrigued by his shy bride, and he fully intends to be a husband in every sense of the word!
But if Rena is expecting a marriage of convenience -- sharing their lives but never a bed -- she has a shock in store. Ford has long been intrigued by his shy bride, and he fully intends to be a husband in every sense of the word!
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2001
9 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Susan Fox
138 books48 followersThere is more than one author with this name. When entering books for this particular Susan Fox. The name needs to be entered with only one space between the first and last name.
Susan grew up with her sister, Janet, and her brother, Steven, on an acreage near Des Moines, Iowa, where, besides a jillion stray cats and dogs, two horses, and a pony, her favorite pet and confidant was Rex, her brown-and-white pinto gelding.
Susan has raised two sons, Jeffrey and Patrick, and currently lives in a house that she laughingly refers to as the Landfill and Book Repository. She writes with the help and hindrance of five mischievous shorthaired felines: Gabby, a talkative tortoiseshell calico; Buster, a solid lion-yellow with white legs and facial markings; his sister, Pixie, a tri-color calico; Toonses, a plump black-and-white; and the cheerily diabolical, naughty black tiger Eddie, aka Eduardo de Lover.
Susan is a bookaholic and movie fan who loves cowboys, rodeos, and the American West, past and present. She has an intense interest in storytelling of all kinds and in politics, and she claims the two are often interchangeable.
Susan loves writing complex characters in emotionally intense situations, and hopes her readers enjoy her ranch stories and are uplifted by their happy endings.
Susan grew up with her sister, Janet, and her brother, Steven, on an acreage near Des Moines, Iowa, where, besides a jillion stray cats and dogs, two horses, and a pony, her favorite pet and confidant was Rex, her brown-and-white pinto gelding.
Susan has raised two sons, Jeffrey and Patrick, and currently lives in a house that she laughingly refers to as the Landfill and Book Repository. She writes with the help and hindrance of five mischievous shorthaired felines: Gabby, a talkative tortoiseshell calico; Buster, a solid lion-yellow with white legs and facial markings; his sister, Pixie, a tri-color calico; Toonses, a plump black-and-white; and the cheerily diabolical, naughty black tiger Eddie, aka Eduardo de Lover.
Susan is a bookaholic and movie fan who loves cowboys, rodeos, and the American West, past and present. She has an intense interest in storytelling of all kinds and in politics, and she claims the two are often interchangeable.
Susan loves writing complex characters in emotionally intense situations, and hopes her readers enjoy her ranch stories and are uplifted by their happy endings.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 17, 2018
Close toss up as to who has worse fictional parents, Margaret Way or Susan Fox.
This MOC romance between the poor, pitiful and put-down heroine and a surprisingly nice guy hero is overshadowed by the evil actions of her father. Raised as nothing but a cowhand and a scapegoat by her father as she was the cause of her mother's death, she has no emotional protection.
What worked was this was a real MOC and the hero was both gentle and a gentleman about drawing the heroine out from a shutdown plain Jane into real woman.
If I were going to suggest a SF, this would probably not be it, but more likely Wild at Heart, The Bad Penny or The Black Sheep.
This MOC romance between the poor, pitiful and put-down heroine and a surprisingly nice guy hero is overshadowed by the evil actions of her father. Raised as nothing but a cowhand and a scapegoat by her father as she was the cause of her mother's death, she has no emotional protection.
What worked was this was a real MOC and the hero was both gentle and a gentleman about drawing the heroine out from a shutdown plain Jane into real woman.
If I were going to suggest a SF, this would probably not be it, but more likely Wild at Heart, The Bad Penny or The Black Sheep.
October 18, 2019
Low-conflict, leisurely-paced story about the healing power of love.
Heroine has been emotionally abused by her father for her whole life. She thinks she is “mannish,” undesirable and not worthy of life since her mother died in childbirth. Her father forces her to marry the owner of the neighboring ranch (hero). Heroine has always had a crush on hero, but she is terrified of being happy.
Hero, for his part, has always thought the heroine was beautiful and intriguing and agrees to the marriage.
SF could have made the hero out to be a golddigger (Heroine will inherit the ranch), but hero makes sure heroine’s interests are protected, insists on a church wedding, buys her an engagement ring, etc. It’s obvious he is smitten and kind and patient.
Heroine is not completely pathetic. She is able to tame horses and stands up to the hero about her place on the ranch.
Daddy dearest eventually dies for a bit of justice – but the best revenge is the author’s assurance of H/h’s (and their children’s) happiness at the end.
Heroine has been emotionally abused by her father for her whole life. She thinks she is “mannish,” undesirable and not worthy of life since her mother died in childbirth. Her father forces her to marry the owner of the neighboring ranch (hero). Heroine has always had a crush on hero, but she is terrified of being happy.
Hero, for his part, has always thought the heroine was beautiful and intriguing and agrees to the marriage.
SF could have made the hero out to be a golddigger (Heroine will inherit the ranch), but hero makes sure heroine’s interests are protected, insists on a church wedding, buys her an engagement ring, etc. It’s obvious he is smitten and kind and patient.
Heroine is not completely pathetic. She is able to tame horses and stands up to the hero about her place on the ranch.
Daddy dearest eventually dies for a bit of justice – but the best revenge is the author’s assurance of H/h’s (and their children’s) happiness at the end.
December 23, 2015
4 Stars ~ Ms. Fox has a knack for portraying downtrodden tortured heroines who have had little love in their lives. In this one, Rena has been bullied and hated by her father all her life as he blamed her for her mother's death in child birth. All she ever wanted was his respect and affection, so she worked hard on the ranch, trying to be the son he would never have. The harder she worked, the more he rode her. She'd lead a sheltered life, forbidden to make friends at school and never allowed very far off the ranch. Being feminine wasn't something she knew much about. So when her father informed her he was marrying her off to the neighbour as part of a land deal, she was floored; she'd never thought much about marriage. Ford needed a section of their ranch, and he'd get it if he married her, and for Rena, her first son would inherit her father's ranch. The injustice of it infuriated Rena and though she hated the thought of leaving the ranch, she decided she had no choice, but first she needed to talk to Ford. Ford had always been intrigued by the shy beauty that worked harder than most men. He needed the water on the land he wanted to buy, but when Rena's father had offered her in marriage as if she were a brood mare as part of the deal, he was outraged on her behalf. Rena had earned her right to inherit and Ford felt her father's insult as if he'd been insulted too. It took a lot of courage for Rena to come to Ford and tell him her decision to leave, which only made Ford more determined to see that she got what was rightfully hers. He told her that he'd see that her old man locked up his will so that she got the ranch directly, otherwise there'd be no marriage. Ford was ready to settle down, and he wanted a real marriage, telling Rena that they suited each other and they could make things work.
Rena already had a crush on Ford before a marriage had been suggested but her self-esteem has been trampled on so badly by her father, she doesn't see herself as a desirable woman. Worrying that Ford will come to resent and hate her like her father, she nearly backs out of their deal. The more Ford learns about Rena the more furious he is at her father and the more he comes to respect her bravery to forge ahead even though self preservation has her wanting to run. This is a heartwarming love story with a sweet journey toward HEA.
Rena already had a crush on Ford before a marriage had been suggested but her self-esteem has been trampled on so badly by her father, she doesn't see herself as a desirable woman. Worrying that Ford will come to resent and hate her like her father, she nearly backs out of their deal. The more Ford learns about Rena the more furious he is at her father and the more he comes to respect her bravery to forge ahead even though self preservation has her wanting to run. This is a heartwarming love story with a sweet journey toward HEA.
January 7, 2020
Not a 5 star because h got very frustrating for me by the end, the H was so sweet and had given her enough reason to trust him and showed his tender and caring nature, and yet she held back
Didn't seem fair to me. Otherwise was a nice, slow read, with no dramatic climax or anything.
Didn't seem fair to me. Otherwise was a nice, slow read, with no dramatic climax or anything.
November 16, 2019
Others have written excellent plot reviews of this book, but I just want to say that I loved how Ford stuck with Rena no matter what and was so patient with her, even when she began to pull away. I'm not sure, though, that he fully understood what her life was like under her father's abuse.
May 8, 2018
I loved this book. Rena was such a sad heroine who did everything to please her demanding bully of a father, but it was never enough. When he commanded her to marry Ford, she was scared and insecure. I loved Ford as a hero, he was strong and commanding but totally protective of Rena! He was always so sweet and understanding to her, he truly turned out to be her knight in shining armor.
June 23, 2020
Not enough angst! 😂
October 2, 2016
Hmm, let's see... I'll start with the fact that the heroine has zero experience with men. I'm talking about never held anyone's hand, never been kissed, and obviously never did the dirty. Not only that, she has zero friends and zero experiences outside of the ranch that she grew up on - never even been to a movie. Totally unbelievable. I'm surprised she didn't walk around on all fours and grunt when she was upset.
While I don't want to read about a coke sniffing hooker, I do like my heroines to have at least a little common sense and life experiences. This Cinderella-like naïveté is just stupid.
Not sure when this story is supposed to take place, but the hero does have a cell phone so I'm guessing post 1990. That being said I had to suspend belief that The hero would marry the heroine for access to some of her father's land that adjoins his ranch. And let's not even talk about the heroine accepting this deal in return for a guarantee that she inherits her father's ranch.
Apparently daddy dearest hates his daughter because his wife died giving birth to her. So he treats her like a slave and is cruel and demeaning to her. He thinks his daughter will never be able to find a man on her own because of her mannish mannerisms so he stipulates that she must marry the neighbor to inherit or everything he owns goes to one of the ranch hands.
After four days of knowing each other the hero and heroine marry. On day six she realizes that she has fallen in love with him. The entire time she's plagued by self-doubt and feelings of not being worthy of the hero. Pu-leeeeeze!
Overall, I found the heroine too naive and saccharine sweet. A sniveling coward who was also hesitant about absolutely everything! The plot was completely unrealistic for the time period, The evil father too one-dimensional. Oh, and it was kind of boring. Just wanted to gag.
While I don't want to read about a coke sniffing hooker, I do like my heroines to have at least a little common sense and life experiences. This Cinderella-like naïveté is just stupid.
Not sure when this story is supposed to take place, but the hero does have a cell phone so I'm guessing post 1990. That being said I had to suspend belief that The hero would marry the heroine for access to some of her father's land that adjoins his ranch. And let's not even talk about the heroine accepting this deal in return for a guarantee that she inherits her father's ranch.
Apparently daddy dearest hates his daughter because his wife died giving birth to her. So he treats her like a slave and is cruel and demeaning to her. He thinks his daughter will never be able to find a man on her own because of her mannish mannerisms so he stipulates that she must marry the neighbor to inherit or everything he owns goes to one of the ranch hands.
After four days of knowing each other the hero and heroine marry. On day six she realizes that she has fallen in love with him. The entire time she's plagued by self-doubt and feelings of not being worthy of the hero. Pu-leeeeeze!
Overall, I found the heroine too naive and saccharine sweet. A sniveling coward who was also hesitant about absolutely everything! The plot was completely unrealistic for the time period, The evil father too one-dimensional. Oh, and it was kind of boring. Just wanted to gag.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2015
I can't believe this book. I can't believe the... "heroine". She's pathetic. I don't even care for her abused-by-her-father life, I simply can't stand her. Oh, and the "hero" too, is unbelievable... he can read people's minds, since half of the book is him just doing that with the heroine. Yeah, right. *face palm* and *shakes head* was my reaction for the whole book. *shrug*
June 24, 2020
I enjoyed the book. I was a little annoyed with the h, she wasn't completely spineless but there was a pathetic-ness about her. She didn't have any sense of conversation. Similar to the heroine from Yesterday's Echoes so my review for that book stands for this one, except this H can expect good sex for the near to medium term....
May 9, 2017
Leído el 08/01/2012
June 12, 2021
This sweet romance is why I still read Harlequin Romances after all these years and when I want to take a break from heavier genres/story lines. Lovely!
July 4, 2022
Not bad but I struggled a little to finish the book.
The heroine felt unloved and unwanted by her father.
MOC and both MCs cared for each other a lot but had problems with communication.
The heroine felt unloved and unwanted by her father.
MOC and both MCs cared for each other a lot but had problems with communication.
November 16, 2023
Good story with two likable main characters. Yes, even the H is a decent guy.
April 9, 2024
Muy dulce.
March 1, 2012
Marriage on Demand by Susan Fox
A marriage of convenience: he gets her property and she
will do anything to keep it. Only way for her to keep the
land is to produce a son.
Rena was on her way to Fred's to talk to him prior to the dinner
before the wedding when the stallion got away from him and was
about to attack her but she handled the problem by grabbing onto
the flank and the lead rope til the horse circled himself out of
the tantrum. She stayed calm the whole time. Fred was amazed.
His plan is to marry her, then give her the land as her own but
stayed married to her. This way her father can't take the land
from her-Fred feels it belongs to her.
After her father is brought to the hospital major changes happen..
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews