The Unwanted Marriage by Catharina Maura is a contemporary romance book with the marriage of convenience trope. This book follows the story of Dion Windsor and Faye, who were introduced in the previous books. They have been engaged for a long time, according to Dion’s grandmother’s wish, but Dion and Faye are unsure of each other. Dion does not want anything to do with Faye, but when he sees her with another guy, he reevaluates their dynamic. It is the third book of the Windsors series. I enjoyed reading the first two books of the series – The Wrong Bride and The Temporary Wife– a few months ago.
Faye and Dion have been engaged since childhood because their mothers wanted it. This wish is fulfilled by the grandmother after both their mothers pass away in an accident. Faye does not belong to an affluent family like the Windsors; her home life is troubled. She is a concert pianist, and her whole life has been molded around becoming a Windsor and Dion’s wife. Dion has made his disinterest clear from the start; they keep a distance from each other. When Faye, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, decides to make a choice for herself with another man, Dion unexpectedly shows up. A few months before the wedding, seeing Faye with another man makes him think about his choices with Faye.
Dion and Faye decide to give their relationship a proper chance. They spend more time together, trying to understand one another before their wedding. Dion helps bring Faye out of her shell. He has his own demons, related to the death of his parents. This guilt transfers to Faye because she lost her mom, too. It’s one of the reasons he has kept his distance from her for years. He has a darker side that he wants to hide from Faye and even his family. I loved the build-up of the romance between Dion and Faye. The way they slowly start getting comfortable around each other and think of their life together is cute. This book is a steamy romance, I think, because these characters are used to suppressing their emotions. So, when they are together, it is passionate.
The story begins at a good pace, but for me, it faltered slightly somewhere in the middle. I needed a little more exploration of Dion and Faye’s past. These characters have a beautiful arc in the story, which would have been further amplified. Faye accepts Dio as he is and does not hold a grudge against him because of the way she was raised. Dion learns to open up and let others in; slowly, he lets go of his fears. I think the romance between Faye and Dion has emotional intensity balanced with spicy romance. The marriage of convenience trope is not as angsty as I had imagined. There are parts of the story that I loved, like the character development, romance, and minor characters. I had imagined it to be darker for some reason, especially with Dion’s character.
The Unwanted Wife by Catharina Maura is an engaging contemporary romance with the marriage of convenience trope. The Windsors’ siblings are different from each other in personality, and I like their family scenes. I enjoyed reading this book and I can’t wait to read the next books in this series.
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