Jassmine’s Reviews > Walks with Spirits > Status Update

How is marriage of convenience romantic? :O

alia wrote: "How is marriage of convenience romantic? :O"

I feel like this is a trick question 😂 (Not really, I'm just not sure how to answer it...)
Idk, there is just something romance books that use fake-dating/arranged marriage etc. tropes that is highly alluring to me. Something about people who don't really want to be together, working with one another and discovering that they are actually perfect together just speaks to me 😂 Example of this done well would be Radiance, it's almost pure romance, so I wouldn't recommend it to you, but... ugh, loved it so much 😅
But in these cases, it's clear that those are actually good people and that they have lot in common and everything will be good.
But in this book, one of the protagonists - who is a lesbian - is marrying a man, even though she loves the other protagonist... and the man is an idiot, but I also feel sorry for him, because he's clearly smitten and he has no clue, this whole situation is so fucked up I could cry...
And the parents are so stupid I could just strangle them...

hahahah, I got you explaining me stuff in different threads, the nerve of some people! :P
Romance writers are busy bees! I knew about the enemies-to-lovers trope, not that one. It is kind of strange to me the arranged marriage trope, I guess maybe I have a very real life image of it and something like what you say about the book.
I am beginning to think that I am romance-challenged :S

I guess it really depends on a tone and a way it's written in. But when one starts really thinking about it, it can get depressing really fast. But I simply can't help it, it's the ultimate guilty pleasure for me 😂

hahahaha I was going to tell you about my great grandma, but I am not such a bad person... maybe hahahaha. Anyway, controversy is the spice of themes! So, spicy romance should be tastier hahahaha

From what I've read about this book, I suspect there is going to be a way out of the forced marriage.
If it is with the actual LI, one can make either marriage-of-convenience or forced marriage work...but only if BOTH were forced into it (and therefore clearly in agreement to not violate each other's consent). Good examples are 'In Pursuit of the Green Lion' (where the heroine and her husband were actually friends before, but his asshole relatives almost ruin it by making them marry each other to get her money...and that plot is resolved early so that we can get to the main plot of her rescuing him from a demon-summoning nobleman) and 'Clear and Muddy Loss of Love' (a Chinese epic novel where a barbarian princess is going undercover as a male scholar to get revenge for her people, and ends up being forced to marry the enemy princess...who, fortunately for her cover, didn't want to get married either)

That makes sense. So it is a trope with, lets say, only the red skittle in the afternoon. But then, red candy of whatever is always good :D

Emily wrote: "From what I've read about this book, I suspect there is going to be a way out of the forced marriage.
If it is with the actual LI, one can make either marriage-of-convenience or forced marriage wor..."

Yeah, I know, but I have to admit that it's hard for me to push through. I already took a break of this book and now I had to take another one... it's not a good sign.
Otherwise, completely agree with your points and both of those books are already on my TBR (thanks to your reviews) 😄