Books › The Makeshift Marriage
The Makeshift Marriage
First published 1983 · 1 pages
A sweeping, angst-filled Regency romance where a deathbed marriage of convenience unexpectedly turns into a battle for true love.
What it feels like
Reading this classic 1980s Regency feels like stepping into a beautifully melodramatic stage play, where every glance is loaded with unspoken longing and every misunderstanding threatens to break a heart. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging pace, sweeping the reader from the romantic canals of Venice to the stifling tension of an English country manor. It is steeped in a mood of romantic angst, perfectly capturing the agonizing push-and-pull of a marriage of convenience complicated by rival suitors and lingering past attachments. The prose is earnest and expressive, leaning into the dramatic flair of its era. It will utterly delight fans of old-school historical romances who love watching a desperate obligation slowly transform into a passionate, hard-won devotion.
- Mood
- sweeping
- tense
- atmospheric
- melancholy
- Tone
- dramatic
- earnest
- romantic
- angsty
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- marriage of convenience · duty versus desire · romantic jealousy · unrequited longing · misunderstandings
- The writing
- Emotionally expressive and classically styled, leaning into the florid dramatic flair typical of 1980s traditional Regencies.
- The arc
- Begins in desperate obligation and navigates a maze of jealousy and misunderstanding before arriving at a hard-won, passionate devotion.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave old-school, angst-heavy Regency romances where marriages of convenience are complicated by lingering past loves and tempting new suitors.
Content notes
- dueling
- emotional infidelity
- romantic manipulation
About the book
DUEL OF HEARTS — When lovely young Miss Laura Milbanke was asked for her hand in marriage in romantic Venice, the irresistibly handsome Sir Nicholas Grenville was at death's door. He had fought a disastrous duel to defend Laura's honor, and now he would defend her from poverty by leaving her his estate when he died. — But Sir Nicholas did not die. He lived to bring Laura home to King's Cliff manor. Waiting for him was the fabulously beautiful Augustine Townsend, whom Nicholas had long adored and who would be his - if only Laura did not stand in the way.
Should Laura try to fight this ravishing rival? Or should she give her husband his freedom by giving herself to the temptingly attractive Daniel Tregarron, who offered her all the love Sir Nicholas denied her? Never did a young bride find herself in a greater dilemma - as a marriage that broke all the rules threatened to break her heart...
Description from Open Library.
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