You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Jessie, who is looking for a contemporary romance that was published in the last decade:
I’m looking for a book that I read within the last 10 years. I think it was a fairly contemporary book. I’m 99% sure I read it on my Kindle, so I don’t know what the cover looks like.
The heroine owns a soap (or maybe toiletries in general) store in a city (probably New York City). Something happens and the business is in trouble, or maybe even is forced to close. For some reason, the solution to her problems is to marry (or maybe just get engaged to) some guy and move with him to a house in Connecticut for a year. I don’t think she likes or maybe even knows the guy, but he needs this marriage/engagement for some reason too – maybe in order to actually inherit the house or some money?
Once in Connecticut, she has a really hard time fitting in. All the other wives she is supposed to interact with dress very conservatively (lots of navy and plaid and pearls) and she doesn’t. She also maybe has trouble fitting in with his family? Over the year, they actually fall in love with each other, but misunderstandings get in the way. I don’t remember any explicit sex scenes.
Quite the setup for a contemporary romance!
Mating Rituals of the North American WASP
by Lauren Lipton
Add To: Goodreads to-read list →
This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
Could this be Jennifer Crusie’s The Cinderella Deal? Free spirit Daisy ends up in a marriage of convenience with her neighbor to help him land a position at a conservative college. She does not fit in with the wives, etc.
How about One the Dotted Line, by Kim Carmichel. Willow owns a holistic store on the brink of foreclosure. Randolph needs to marry by his 33rd birthday.
Sorry, can’t type today. On the Dotted Line, by Kim Carmichel. It was published in 2015.
I also wondered if it could be The Cinderella Deal. Daisy is a painter though, and doesn’t own a store, and the man is her neighbor in an apartment building. So maybe not 🙂
It’s not the Cinderella Deal – that’s an old favorite that I’ve re-read many times.
On the Dotted Line is closer, but not it. I really think it was set on the east coast.
sounds like fun
I think I know this one! Could it be Mating Rituals of the North American Wasp by Lauren Lipton, published in 2009? A woman (Peggy) owns a personal products store in New York City. It’s successful, but the landlord raises the rent and she can no longer afford it. Early in the book, she goes to Vegas for a friend’s bachelorette party and ends up having an uncharacteristic one night stand with some guy (Luke) and, on a lark they get married (as one does), but in the morning she runs off back to real life. Then, weeks later he tracks her down because their fun, Vegas marriage was also 100% legal and they need to divorce. But, he’s the last of the line of an old WASPy family in Connecticut and while there’s no money, his eccentric aunt, who owns the old, dilapidated family home, makes him a deal that if he stays married to Peggy for a year, they’ll both inherit the home and then they can sell it. Peggy would get money for her store and he would have enough money to support himself as a poet. She agrees to spend the year with him and initially they don’t like each other; she doesn’t fit in with his blue blood WASPy friends and she is too career-driven/big city focused. But, of course they fall in love and it all works out.
I read it awhile ago, but remember it being cute and charming! Lots of forced proximity/enemies to friends to lovers/house renovation/eccentric old lady catnip!
weeks later he tracks her down because their fun, Vegas marriage was also 100% legal and they need to divorce
<tangent>
File under: Critical Research Failure? Annul, yes. Divorce, no.
</tangent>
Em, you’re a genius! Mating Rituals of the North American Wasp is it! I too remember it being a fun read. I just borrowed the ebook from my library so I can revisit it. Thanks!