A Bride For His Convenience by Edith Layton

Another example of a book that seems promising based on the premise, but turns out to be a disappointment...

A Bride For His Convenience by Edith Layton
(2008, Regency Historical) 12/18/08
Grade: 3

Forced to marry for money, Lord Ian Sutcombe makes an agreement with Hannah Leeds, the daughter of a wealthy mill owner. Her money enables him to restore his beloved estate, but can either of them get past the financial bargain they made? Can a marriage that started with money turn into something more?

I love a marriage of convenience story, but this one was a great disappointment. The hero and heroine spent most of the book obsessing about the same issues over and over (mostly money), and there was very little romantic development until the end, when the hero suddenly declares his great love for the heroine. First, the hero and heroine are separated for almost a third of the book. The hero spends much of his time declaiming his opinions in long speeches, while the heroine wrings her hands. Then, they get together, and proceed to have the same argument over and over - they seem to be getting along, one of them brings up money, they get offended and start over again. The hero remains a cold, imperious aristocrat for almost the entire book, which might be realistic but didn’t do much to develop his personality. Finally, we find out that his eeevvvvilll stepmother has the magical ability to make every member of society treat the heroine like dirt - which brings about the sudden change of heart for the hero. I kept reading this, thinking “it’s got to get better” but it never really did. A disappointment.

I couldn't tell if Layton's very negative view of ton society in this book was supposed to be real, or the result of the hero's evil stepmother's machinations. (Every society person the heroine meets treats her like scum.) I was curious to see if this was realistic to the period (as opposed to the cheery view in romancelandia) but it's hard to tell based on this book.