New column--on forced marriage!

[Eloisa]

Hi everybody,

My new B&N column is up on forced marriages. Please stop by and check it out...

I don't know about you, but this is one of my absolute favorite plots ever.

So what forced marriage romance should I have put in the column that I missed?

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reading-Romance/Strange-Bedfellows/ba-p/2141

hugs,
Eloisa

[IrishEyes]

Awesome column, Eloisa.

This is definitely my favorite storyline and it never gets old for me. What is really fascinating is how you can take the same premise and spin it so many different ways to make the story original, especially in a contemporary. You would think that modern day women do not need to marry at all, let alone enter a forced union, but the contemps I've read with this premise are outstanding - most notably the ones by SEP. Another great one of hers is Kiss An Angel. I read the back blurb of that book and thought no way! I was hooked by the end of the first chapter.

_________________
Minds are like books: they function only when opened.

[sheralyn]

Good column! I generally love or hate this sort of plot, and some of my favorite books start with a forced or unintended pairing. (Too many to list.)
If the story is believable in the context of the time, setting and human nature, a couple forced into marriage finding their HEA can be the most rewarding path to follow.

On the other hand, if I'm left scratching my head and wondering "How could (or why would) the hero(ine) have accepted that?" I'd rather I hadn't picked up the book at all.

I'll have to buy Ravishing in Red - it sounds great.

[Eloisa]

IrishEyes,

I SO agree about Kiss an Angel! The book sounds ridiculous. Well, honestly, the plot is ridiculous. But the book itself...sigh. It's just fabulous romance. I've read it over and over, especially after she runs away and he can't find her. One of my absolute favorite Susan E Phillips!

Eloisa

[piper]

The one that comes to mind for me is "The Unwilling Bride" by Jo Beverley.

I so liked that one.

[DLS]

Jo Beverly has a few of these--I'm also thinking of An arranged Marriage, Tempting Fortune, Forbidden and The secret marriage. She also tackles really tough issues, so her books tend to be quite interesting.

And there are some very old Joan Wolfs that really work remarkably well--Margerita, The Deception, and Golden Girl all come to mind.

Of course, child marriages like the ones in Eloisas books are another form! (Duchess in Love, Jemma and Elijah, When the Duke comes home....)

What I can't enjoy as much are modern forced marriages--they just seem so unrealistic. What I did for Love, for example--there is a lot of really good stuff in that book but the basic premise really doesn't work for me.

[Elyssa]

[serenissima]

[Sara Lindsey]

I'm still happy-dancing at being mentioned in the same column as SEP's This Heart of Mine, which was my first SEP and remains my favorite. Molly and Kevin -- sigh!

I love JoBev's An Arranged Marriage, too. And JQ's The Duke and I. And Elizabeth Thornton's You Only Love Twice. Wow, I didn't realize how much I love forced marriage plots...

_________________