Best Arranged Marriages
A favorite trope of mine has turned out to be the Arranged Marriage. It gives us the forced proximity, the tangled emotions, usually a begrudging, hard won respect for each other and that slow burn romance. Gimme! Here are some of my faves:
Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha #1) by Tasha Suri
Mehr and Amun are an amazing example of all the perfect ways to use the arranged marriage from their first interview all the way through their complicated, controlled interactions. They nail that begruding, growing respect that turns into much, much more.
Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin
I fell in love with Lou immediately and Reid’s natural contrast kicked their forced marriage up a notch because of that sweet sweet enemies to lovers tension. A religious zealot who believes all witches should be burned at the stake, marries an irreverent witch? Sign. Me. Up.
Bride of the King (Tales of the Enchanted Wildwood) by Angela J. Ford
Not every short story in this collection features arranged marriages, but they are all fantasy romances. Bride of the King features that sweet arranged marriage where the characters inadvertently get everything they wanted, they just have to realize it.
A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic #1) by Elise Kova
An elvish spin on a Hades and Persephone retelling. I love how much this story focuses on choice. Sure they fell for each other, but if Luella never really gets to choose, how can she be sure? Trust me, you’ll be turning page after page until you both figure it out.
The Shadow Wand (The Black Witch Chronicles #3) by Laurie Forest
Honestly, Laurie Forest may be the queen of arranged marriages in her wand fasts. Though The Shadow Wand takes the cake in that terribly wonderful tension of how do you feel when you’re forced together, and have a lot of other stuff to deal with, but maybe you don’t hate it. If you like the wand fasting turning out HEA, you can also check out her short story Wand Fasted.
