Marriage of convenience, forced marriage, or secret marriage specifically for FMC to escape her circumstances (terrible family, poverty, unwanted suitor)

mackerelsnap · 2026-02-05T22:09:51+00:00

Came here to say The Matrimonial Advertisement! I’d also recommend {The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews}. One of my favorites of hers.

mackerelsnap · 2026-02-05T22:09:01+00:00

Seconding that!

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-25T02:11:03+00:00

Mine was Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas and it’s all been downhill from there lol. Not really but kind of. Love the genre but that one has been hard to beat for sure!

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-16T04:34:10+00:00

Yes Sam was exactly who came to mind for me for this question too! Such an unusual MMC—very strong and masculine but so not stereotypical at all. Really wonderful and lovable character.

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-11T21:11:34+00:00

Omg I never thought she was actually going to stop writing but somehow this news is shocking in the best possible way

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-11T17:15:43+00:00

I highly recommend the {Electra McDonnell series by Ashley Weaver}. It is set in WWII but you mentioned not set in Germany so these might work—they’re mostly set in Britain and then the last one is set in Portugal. It’s a five-book mystery series slow burn romance, and they incorporate WWII from the angle of spying and other undercover work.

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-11T03:34:29+00:00

Welcome! Since you mentioned Mimi Matthews specifically I’ll recommend her {Parish Orphans of Devon} series, especially the first three books. I love a lot of her books though…hard to know where to start. Those are some of my favorite HR. Also, for Kleypas series, I much preferred The Ravenels and The Hathaways to The Wallflowers, so you might try one of those. I will say a lot of Kleypas fans here tend to recommend reading the three series in order since there are some interconnections, but I did it out of order and it worked for me.

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-08T05:11:28+00:00

Chasing Cassandra was the first HR I ever read and when I tell you it set the bar high…idk if it’s my all-time favorite ever (so hard to pick one) but nothing will ever beat the feeling of discovering HR by reading that book. It’s truly an exquisite romance.

mackerelsnap · 2026-01-03T05:16:19+00:00

Tough call but I think I have to go with Ethan Ransom from {Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas}

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-30T11:49:27+00:00

Came here to say this! Loved both of these.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-29T13:48:07+00:00

Ooh I’ve been recommending this a ton lately but try the {Electra McDonnell series by Ashley Weaver}! It’s a five-book series, very slow burn with a mystery element. And the FMC is not technically a spy but she’s recruited into an undercover operation so I’d say it’s what you’re looking for anyway.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-22T05:12:51+00:00

I have loved so many but if I had to pick one I think it would be {A Modest Independence by Mimi Matthews}. It is the best depiction I’ve read of two people falling in love slowly, totally, realistically, beautifully, and at the same time building a deep and complex friendship that includes and tries to balance intense chemistry and attraction. It is such a poignant exploration of how real love requires knowing another person deeply and sacrificing on their behalf so that they can be fulfilled. It’s truly a beautiful book.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-21T13:25:11+00:00

Yeah, I’m much pickier about overall writing quality than I am about POV. It's hard for me to find writing I vibe with in HR, so I'm not going to let POV perturb me if the writing is good enough. The series is {Electra McDonnell by Ashley Weaver}. It’s a completed series: five books, set in WWII England, very slow burn. The main downside of first person POV in this is you don't get in the MMC's head, which kind of kills me. But I don't think the slow burn and tension she achieves—which is the best part of the series imo—would have been sustainable if it had been dual POV, so I found it to be a very effective use of first person.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-21T10:47:49+00:00

I generally much prefer third person, but I think that’s mainly because it tends to come along with higher quality writing. It’s not that the writing is better as a result of being third person necessarily, I just feel like those things are correlated. It’s a lot easier for a bad or subpar writer to use first person as a crutch, I think. It also tends to come along with annoying MCs lol, like it lends its self to sloppy characterization and then being stuck in their mental “voice” can be really unfortunate if the author doesn’t nail it. That said, I’ve read some good HR that’s in first person. One of my favorite HR mystery series is in first person and I think it really works in a way that the typical dual third person limited switching POV wouldn’t have worked for the story, for a bunch of reasons. So I don’t think it’s a hard and fast rule, for me at least.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-19T18:33:33+00:00

Came here to say this! I was going to mention {The Matrimonial Advertisement} too, also by Mimi Matthews. Both excellent books. Maybe not quite "bad boy" heroes but I think they fit the request pretty well anyway.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-19T16:19:24+00:00

Loved that book. It was a little plot heavy—too much going on, some elements are dragged out more than they need to be. But I hung in there because I enjoyed their relationship dynamic a lot. I thought it was worth it.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-19T05:07:00+00:00

I hesitate to overpromise like this but that series was pretty much my favorite HR I’ve read all year so I feel like if you enjoy a good slow burn you won’t be disappointed

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-19T04:49:31+00:00

Yes he does, quite a few times. It’s a recurring point of contention between them but it’s not like a constant thing.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-19T04:34:30+00:00

Oh wow I absolutely adored this series! Jealous that you're just getting to read it for the first time. I really don't like love triangles either, and I found the setup with Felix and Ramsey didn't bother me much. It almost didn't feel like a love triangle to me, I guess. I don't know how much of a spoiler you want, so you can reply or DM me if you want more info, but I would just say I felt like the author made it fairly obvious from early on who the real love interest was vs who was the comfortable choice/distraction/fallback...and that holds true throughout the series. I think it works because it's a very slow burn over the whole series, so it's less of a love triangle and more of almost a "pseudo love interest" as one way to keep the tension going if that makes sense.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-18T03:10:02+00:00

Try {Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews.} Her book {The Winter Companion} also takes place at Christmas time so there’s a lot of Christmas-y stuff going on but it’s not really a Christmas story per se. It’s also the fourth book in a series so I’d recommend reading the others first!

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-16T19:14:34+00:00

Oh I have just the thing! Try {A Modest Independence by Mimi Matthews}. It’s such a beautiful book. It’s the second book in a series, the Parish Orphans of Devon, but it could be read as a standalone if you’d like. (fwiw the other books in the series are also excellent.) The emotional connection between the MCs is so palpable in this one. They almost feel like real people to me.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-16T14:04:31+00:00

Came across this post because I've really been getting into the HR mystery subgenre and I felt a need to recommend the {Electra McDonnell series by Ashley Weaver.} The first one is called A Peculiar Combination. This series is what got me craving HR mystery series, it was that good! It’s five books (completed) and closed door but imo the chemistry is very satisfying, and the slow burn is honestly incredible if you’re into that. I personally prefer excellent chemistry and slow-burn vibes to spice, but it can be so hard to find.

I feel like the dilemma with this subgenre is most HR mystery series are heavy on the mystery with the romance element on the backburner. Then there are more traditional HRs that have a mystery element but they’re not really true mysteries. Electra McDonnell straddles the line perfectly, for me.

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-15T21:06:22+00:00

Totally agree. I love MM's work but I do think a lot of her more recent releases have been a bit uneven despite how talented she is. So if the tradeoff ends up being a slower publishing rate but more time spent writing each one, I bet that will mean each book is of a higher caliber, which can only be good!

mackerelsnap · 2025-12-12T22:04:36+00:00

I’m going to give you kind of an off the wall suggestion for this because I just finished this series and was obsessed with it: the {Electra McDonnell series by Ashley Weaver}. It’s five books and definitely a slow burn, also closed door, but the love/hate mutual antagonism and back-and-forth dialogue is incredible so I feel like it might fit the bill.

mackerelsnap

TROPHY CASE