Once, Abrielle was a privileged daughter coveted for her bearing, her breeding, her wit, and her beauty. But when her stepfather is denied his rightful title and the wealth that accompanies it, Abrielle finds herself suddenly disgraced. Only one man would still have her: the oafish and grotesque Desmond de Marlé. To rescue her once-proud family's honor, Abrielle must sacrifice her virtue to this scoundrel she fears and detests . . . even as she yearns...

Nazneen is forced into an arranged marriage with a much older man whose expectations of life are miserably low. When they flee the oppression of their Bangladeshi village for a high-rise block in the East End, she finds herself cloistered and dependent on her husband. It soon becomes apparent that of the two, she is the real survivor and more able to deal with the ways of the world and the vagaries of human behavior. Through her friendship with another...

Honor Penworthy finds herself wedded through an arranged marriage to a hearing impaired man. As she becomes involved with the Underground Railroad Samuel must decide whether to support Honor in this pursuit.

To free herself from an upcoming arranged marriage, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, a futuristic prison with a mind of its own, decides to help a young prisoner escape.

Where the Cape of the Winds juts into the endless sea, there is Castle Ocean, and therein dwells the royal family that has ruled it from time immemorial. But there is an Empire growing in the east, and its forces have reached the castle. King Reymarro is dead in battle, and by the new treaty, Queen Marioza must marry one of the Emperor's brothers. She loathes the idea, and has already killed the first brother, but a second arrives, escorted by more...

In order to save herself and her family during WWII, a young English woman decides to marry a wealthy suitor that she doesn't really love. Unfortunately, the man she does love is an American soldier. Will she take security over happiness?

"Shadow Rider Elie Archambault has been called many things: domineering, brash, loyal, but most of all fast. And there's nothing faster than choosing to marry a woman you've never met ... He's not expecting love or some happy ever after, just a partner that knows exactly what she signed up for ... Elie has no idea that his choice is about to spark a blaze that will burn all his carefully laid plans to the ground"--

Jack Haines, the Earl of Lambourne, flees into the remote Highlands when a price is put on his head and agrees to a temporary marriage to the fiery-spirited Lizzie Beal if her bounty hunter brothers will not turn him in.

Across history, marriage has often been used as a means to gain money, social status, and security, as well as basic companionship and family. Could love really come in the bargain? Here are nine stories of women journeying into marriage hoping to be content-- but dreaming of love, and filled with faith.