The Marriage Contract

Title	The Marriage Contract
Author	Cathy Maxwell
Series	Marriage #3
Release Date	January 1, 2001
Genre	Historical Romance
Rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Heat Level	🌶️🌶️🌶️
Goodreads	View on Goodreads

I was reading The Marriage Contract by Cathy Maxwell, and thinking to myself that this is a pretty funny book. The heroine is plucky and a fighter, despite the fact that the situation she finds herself in is far from ideal. Anne is on her last legs. After two seasons, her somewhat “plain” countenance seemed to keep her from making an advantageous marriage. So instead, she was faced with making a choice that would send her into the wilds of Scotland, married to a man, sight unseen. Not everyone would be willing to chance it with the unknown, but Anne saw the possibility of freedom as an enticement enough to brave the long journey.

The book starts off with a tragedy as the coachman has a fatal accident, which leads her to her first meeting with her husband-by-proxy, Aidan, the Earl of Tiebauld. He appears to be a wild man, looking like Braveheart of the 1800’s. However, it turns out he is merely a medieval enthusiast scholar in the body of a hunky warrior type.

However, Aidan’s life did not start as the object of women’s desires. In his youth, he was gangly and uncertain, too into his studies to ever feel comfortable with the trappings of society. After suffering their ridicule for his unrefined manners, he left for the Highlands to become a ‘man’. I think he succeeded rather well, but as all things done well, it’s easy to take it too far, and when Anne encounters Aidan, she discovers that her fairy tale castle is really nothing more than an ill-kempt bachelor lodge.

What follows is her attempt to forge her niche in this new world she has been transported to, determined to prove to Aidan that he should keep his intended bride-to-be and consummate their marriage instead of seeking to annul it and ship her back to England. She finds that the village is ready to accept her as the laird’s wife, and the women of the village see that if Anne can make an exemplary husband out of Aidan, the men and young lads in their families will be seen to follow suit. The author did a good job of making Anne’s plight poignant without being fake and whiny. I was rooting for her long before I was even halfway through the story.

Aidan goes through some changes of his own. Anne’s arrival forces him to face the fact that he was running from his duty to his title when he was, in fact, a seasoned man who needed to settle down. Without even making it obvious that she is doing so, Anne makes him long for the “English” things he thought he could live without.

There is intrigue in the subplot regarding the Scots forming a band to rebel against the crown, but Anne opens Aidan’s eyes about the actual level of his involvement and how that will affect their future. It keeps the story moving, and it forces them together in a way that only adversity will either make or break a relationship. In this case, it strengthens their bond.

I enjoyed it. Would definitely read it again.