Need a date for your ex's wedding, hire a total stranger to be your +1. Your father's will won't let you inherit until you marry? You don't need a love match, just someone willing to say I do.  What makes this such a beloved romance trope? Are there kinds of MoCs you love more than others. Does it work better in one sub-genre than another.

Marriage of Convenience works the best for me in Historicals but this year I read a fantastic MoC in contemporary, that reminded me that all tropes can be awesome in the hands of great writers. I loved Olivia Dade's Cover Me in Rogue Acts.  This is a friends-to-lovers MoC for insurance purposes. The heroine is so determinedly independent and the hero so determined to care for her. The result is incandescent.  

Ilona Andrews gave us marriage of convenience between distrustful partners in their new series, Iron and Magic. Hugh needs shelter for his hounded Iron Dogs and Elara and her people need their protection. They marry to cement the allegiance but have not come close to trusting their hearts yet.  I can't wait to see where it goes.

Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner's Free Fall has a marriage of convenience between an astronaut and a sorority girl after their one-night-stand has complications. I loved how much space Vivy takes up in this story. She is loud, brash, and bold as she fight for her marriage despite her husband's desire to keep his feelings boxed up.

I adore grumpy widowers convinced they will never love again, and so I loved Tempest by Beverly Jenkins. Seeking adventure Regan agrees to a MoC with a doctor who needs someone to care for his daughter.  They get off to a terrible start when she accidentally shoots him and things get hotter from there!

An Archive of the day's tweets 

A list of all the prompts and posts so far