The Marriage Bargain Review

A marriage in name only...

To save her family home, impulsive bookstore owner, Alexa Maria McKenzie, casts a love spell. But she never planned on conjuring up her best friend's older brother—the powerful man who once shattered her heart.

Billionaire Nicholas Ryan doesn’t believe in marriage, but in order to inherit his father’s corporation, he needs a wife and needs one fast. When he discovers his sister’s childhood friend is in dire financial straits, he’s offers Alexa a bold proposition.

A marriage in name only with certain rules: Avoid entanglement. Keep things all business. Do not fall in love. The arrangement is only for a year so the rules shouldn’t be that hard to follow, right?

Except fate has a way of upsetting the best-laid plans…

It was the title that grabbed me first.  Well, that and the smexy front cover of course ;)  In case you haven’t guessed already, The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst is an adult book and so I’m just warning you now, that whilst it has a lot of romance, it obviously features adult content.

All in all, this was a quick, fun read and I really enjoyed it.  I loved the chemistry between the two main characters and am surprised more wasn’t made of her being a witch.  I guess I thought it might have a paranormal edge to it because of the book description but it didn’t and you know what? I’m not sorry.  I liked the fact that it was more of a contemporary romance.  The love spell Alexa cast however reminded me of Practical Magic when Sandra Bullock’s character (as a little girl) made a list of all the qualities she would like in a man and wished for him to come to her.   Ahh, if only it were THAT simple...

At the time of reading (back in March) it made me question whether I’d like to read more adult books and whether I was growing out of YA.  I’m happy to say that this is definitely not the case although yes, I am enjoying reading a mixture of YA and adult books at the moment.   I understand that The Marriage Bargain is just the beginning of a series but I’m not sure if other characters might take the spotlight in future books.   I will definitely be picking up the next book and watching this author with interest.

The Marriage Bargain was published on 14th February, 2012.  To find out more about Jennifer and her books, please click here to visit her website.