The Paper Marriage

by Bronwyn Williams

CONFIRMED BACHELOR MATTHEW POWERS WAS IN NEED OF A NURSEMAID!

His aunt Bess assured him that she could find a suitable woman, one who would tend the orphaned infant under his care in exchange for a paper marriage. All Matthew had to do was marry by proxy and wait for his bride to arrive ...

Penniless and alone, Rose had accepted the position, but found herself unable to face her new husband. So Aunt Bess had come to the rescue again, arranging for Rose to stand in for the "temporarily detained" bride. But what would happen when the taciturn Captain Powers learned that his "houseguest" was really his "wife"? And who was going to be the one to tell him?

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Romance, Harlequin, Marriage Of Convenience

299 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

Dixie Burrus was born on September 09, 1930 in North Carolina's Outer Banks, U.S.A, where her family had lived for generations, to sea captain Dozier Burrus and Achsah Williams. Her father was the professional baseball player Maurice Lennon "Dick" Burrus, she has two sisters, Mary and Sarah Burrus.

Dixie is an artist and romance writer. She began writting contemporany romance novels as Zoe Dozier, now she writes her contemporary romances with her married name, Dixie Browning, and historical romances with her sister, Mary Burrus Williams as Brownwyn Williams, one combination of their married names. She has been awarded a Romance Writers of America RITA Award, and been a five-time RITA finalist. She has also won three Maggies, and numerous awards from the National Federation of Press Women and the NC Press Club.

Reviews

[GuisBell · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me gusto tanto, sentí que le faltaba emoción, sentimiento...

[OddCloud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5/5

It started off promising and I was looking forward to a slow burn, where the hero realizes he loves her and will slowly break through the fears she'd accumulated throughout her life. But the buildup went nowhere, really. It just ended abruptly, like running into a brick wall. In the last third of the book the author started to add in ingredients to stir up unnecessary additional drama. And then the story just ran off a cliff. I started yelling at my kindle when I flipped the page and was met with acknowledgements. What happened with Tressy? What was the point of her existence? What about Annie? What about the Black Swan? Apparently we don't need to know...

Circling back to the relationship between Matt and Rose... I kept expecting it to flourish into something. But it was pretty dry. The character development as a whole was pretty dry.

We're told of all these fears Rose has. She's been mocked as a child by her parents because she was tall, thus she doesn't view her looks as favorable in any way. Her husband married her for money. She's been through domestic violence and lost a pregnancy because of it. She's had to live with a crazy grandma because there's no other relative and then she loses that home too. Rose hasn't had stability in years, she's been through A LOT. But it doesn't show when it counts, which is through her reactions, through her actions. She's not reluctant, she's not really anxious, and a lot of changes in her character happen somewhat behind the scenes.

We're told she's terrified of electric storms because the loss of her pregnancy and her husband's death happened on such a night. But then nothing really comes out of it. It's a scene where he steps into her room, sees her scared, and tells her not to be scared, sort of. We're told she's not good with babies, but goes on to be a perfect caretaker. Am I wrong to want to see her learning, to witness her grow?

There's no stolen glances, no longing, there's no small gestures to win each other's hearts (save for him dragging home a rosebush for her to plant). And then one night he goes to her room because he decided it's his right to bed her, having found out she's his wife, and boom. They're in love. What the heck. Especially since she's been basically sexually abused by her husband, or so we've been told.

And I have to mention Annie. She was like a pawn, a mechanic used in the story to insert cuteness. Babies have tantrums, babies keep people up at night, babies are sometimes difficult with no logical reason. Yet this baby was always smiling and sleeping soundly through the night and all around content. She was conveniently around to give the hero scenes in which he was tender.

All in all, the writing is really decent and the book starts off actually good. But it loses track on the way, having laid a foundation and then not tying up the plot or characters to it. The romance was tepid, if there at all. Character development was a little inconsistent, and there were a lot of characters introduced that didn't really matter, they didn't do much. A lot of issues were brushed over, or left hanging, especially the ending. I am craving an epilogue so bad I just might write one myself, give my soul the piece of fiction-cake it craves.

[kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a dull and cliche story but I might have still given it three and a half stars as a nod to the interesting location. However the ending fell off a cliff. The writer needs to go back and write an epilogue as there were way to many unanswered questions. What happened to Annie? How did they get rid of Tress? Where does he wind up working?

Frankly I'm more then a little concerned for our heroine. First her father leaves her penniless . Her first husband beats her up and leaves her with nothing but a few bruises. Her grandmother squanders her fortune and leaves her homeless.Then dear Aunt Bessie steals the few hundred dollars her husband to be sends her. Finally she marries the hero who has the business savvy of a 10 year old. He hasn't worked in 4 years. He has spent the time trying to buy back a boat he sold after a giant case of sellers remorse. He succeeds in getting it back only to find it is a broken shadow of it's former self. Not to worry. He mortgages everything he owns to repair this barely seaworthy money pit even as he acknowledges that the days of the sailing ships are numbered. Seriously. He'll probably fall overboard on his first voyage and she'll be back looking for waitress work.
In retrospect two stars was a gift.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro fofo e bem narrado. Dá vontade de continuar a leitura e não cansa. Me apaixonei pela Annie e os dois marinheiros idosos, babando pela menina e a mimando sem nem saber o que fazer direito. O livro deixou alguns pontos em aberto que me incomodou, mas não atrapalha em nada o desenvolvimento da leitura. Também acho que merecia um epílogo, mas ao menos terminou de forma satisfatóra.
Resumindo: um livro ideal pra ler de tarde e em climas chuvosos... faz se sentir grato de não sofrer com tantos insetos e calor... <3

[Jeanine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of this book was enjoyable but there were too many issues with it to give it more stars! The ending was stupid after a fairly solid story. It was an easy, quick book to read.

[Anita N · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF after 47% read. I just didn't care about the characters.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bronwyn Williams proves once again why she is an all-time favorite author with the emotionally rich and utterly charming historical romance, The Paper Marriage. This book is a masterclass in the slow-burn romance trope, combining laugh-out-loud situational comedy with genuine emotional depth that fans have come to expect from her distinctive and beloved writing style.

The premise is delightfully complex: Confirmed bachelor Captain Matthew Powers finds himself in sudden need of a nursemaid for an orphaned infant, leading his resourceful Aunt Bess to arrange a marriage by proxy. Enter Rose, the penniless woman who agrees to the arrangement but is too nervous to face her taciturn new husband. Instead, she arrives disguised as a "houseguest," allowing her to observe Matthew and the situation while the true, "temporarily detained" bride is supposedly delayed. The tension created by this magnificent deception—where the Captain is unknowingly housing his own wife—is pure gold. The reader is left breathless, waiting for the inevitable moment when Matthew realizes the woman under his roof is the one he vowed to marry.

Williams excels at crafting two wonderfully complex main characters. Matthew is not just a brooding, taciturn hero; his evolving tenderness toward the infant and his deepening, confused affection for Rose are beautifully handled. Rose, meanwhile, is fiercely independent, brave, and utterly endearing as she navigates her impossible secret. This book is a triumph of character-driven romance, featuring witty dialogue, unforgettable supporting characters (Aunt Bess deserves her own novel!), and a truly satisfying journey to a well-earned happily ever after. A must-read for any historical romance enthusiast.

[Dorry Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up at The Book Exchange as it was set back in 1898. It was somewhat interesting about a man who was left an infant to raise. He wanted a suitable woman to tend this baby as he was a captain on a ship and gone a lot. Along comes Rose a penniless and girl all alone. She meets the aunt of this guy who talks her into marrying him by proxy. Rose wants to be sure she can even live with this him, so she ask the aunt not to tell him she is the bride he is waiting for. The rest is pretty much typical.

[Koxecho · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

Read this in a day. It's a quick easy read. This is the first book I've read where an infant/child was integral to the plot. I really liked the way all the characters developed relationships with the baby and as a result with each other. The plot seemed very believable, nothing new or unexpected but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, solid story.

I really enjoy stories where the couple is arranged or otherwise begin a marriage under less than romantic circumstances. This one was a solid story-set in the hot, steamy wild of the Outer Banks, an area near and dear to me. I enjoyed the circumstances of Matt and Rose, their steady but intense chemistry, their humanity.

[Captmashpea]

I thought this was a really fun book. As soon as I started reading it I could not put it down. I felt the ending was a little abrupt, but on the whole well worth the read.

[Vmontgzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia entretenida.