Review: The Marriage Bargain


The Marriage Bargain
The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I give this 2.4 stars out of 5.

Girl needs her perfect guy to have money so she can pay for her parents' house. Guy needs to marry so that he can inherit his uncle's company. Girl believes in love, family and marriage. Guy, a product of a broken family, doesn't believe in any of those. What started out as a simple business contract developed into something.

I'm sure the story is all too familiar. This novel is not original in any way I can think of. It's a very common plot. However, I want to give props to the book because it admitted it was a cliche or rather the girl admitted she was becoming cliched. Not a lot of books do that :))

Ok, I don't normally read books of this type, but let me explain. I have 2 perfectly reasonable (I hope so) justifications as to why I read this book.
1. I wanted to read something light after reading several thought-provoking novels consecutively. After seeing the cover and reading the synopsis, I figured I don't need to do a lot of thinking if I read this book.
2. I wanted to find out what kind of book gets nominated for Best Romance in the Goodreads Choice Awards. This book is a nominee.

So I will now review this book based on my two reasons.
1. I was right. This book doesn't need a lot of brainpower (no offense). Nonetheless, it is enjoyable. I think my first reason allowed me to give this book a higher rating because if I read this at a time when I am craving for thought-provoking novels, I would probably throw this book away for being "brainless".
2. So.... If I were to nominate a book for best romance, would I nominate this book? No. Simply no. I am quite disappointed at the list of nominees for best romance (although a few of them have piqued my curiosity and may well be great books). Most of the books I saw on the list were mostly concerned with the supernatural and love. No, not love. I'd say lust. I get a general feeling that most romance novels today compete in terms of who can give the best (I'm going to be explicit) sex scenes (Although to be fair to The Marriage Bargain, the intimate scenes were short and weren't uselessly prolonged. They weren't over the top. They're tolerable. Fifty Shades is still worse). Hay, I hope the great romance novels get more recognition.

As for recommendations, I only recommend that you read this book if you want to do some light reading. Do not expect anything heavy and great, and you will probably enjoy this book.



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