Noelle Adams continues her exploration of unconventional relationships with Married by Contract, the second book in the Convenient Marriages series. This time, the marriage-of-convenience trope comes with a refreshing twist: Jenn Castle, a self-made, ambitious businesswoman, is the one who enters into a five-year contract and “purchases” her groom Nick, an ex-military private investigator with an easygoing nature that balances her high-stress world. Three years into their arrangement, a shift neither of them planned for upends the carefully crafted distance between them. What begins as a practical remedy for Jenn’s stress becomes the catalyst for a deeper, more vulnerable connection.

Jenn is a heroine shaped by abandonment, with her father’s departure having taught her to survive alone and never expect permanence from the people she cares about. She is disciplined, guarded, and fiercely independent, making her request for physical intimacy from Nick feel both audacious and deeply human. Nick, on the other hand, is the perfect laid-back counterpart. He is calm, grounded, and easygoing… until he is not. Behind his mellow exterior lies a quietly commanding man whose protective instincts and sensual intensity catch Jenn and the reader, unexpectedly and deliciously off guard.

As their physical relationship deepens, Jenn’s emotional armor begins to crack. The real tension of the story lies in her fear of losing control, not of her body, but of her heart. Nick, meanwhile, carries his own quiet longing. His willingness to give Jenn space, even when it costs him, becomes one of the most compelling aspects of his character. Unlike the traditionally tortured heroes of dark or mafia romance, Nick is the kind of alpha who needs no menace or criminality to command the page; his strength comes from certainty, steadiness, and desire expressed in its most intimate, honest form.

The chemistry between them is electric, especially when Nick’s desire breaks through his usual calm. The Friday-afternoon quickie scene alone is enough to cement him as one of Adams’ sexiest heroes; raunchy, possessive, and absolutely attuned to Jenn. Their progression towards happily ever after is mutual, sincere, and refreshingly adult; there is no unnecessary drama, just two people learning each other and learning themselves. If anything, I wished Nick had been fleshed out further beyond his role as the perfect partner, and an epilogue showing them bridging the gap with his family would have made the ending feel more complete.

Still, this is a lovely, low-angst romance with a deliciously commanding hero and a heroine whose guardedness softens in all the right ways. Jenn and Nick’s journey proves that marriages of convenience can offer some of the most rewarding emotional stories, especially when both characters are equally invested in turning convenience into devotion.

Recommended for: readers who enjoy low-angst, sexy marriages of convenience, commanding-but-kind heroes, and stories where emotional intimacy grows quietly but powerfully.

Final Verdict: A sensual, mature, quietly compelling romance with an unforgettable hero; Married by Contract delivers heat, tenderness, and a satisfying emotional bloom.

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