Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Kacy Cross | Why I Love Fake Marriages in Romance
Author Guest / March 22, 2019

Fake marriages are so fun to read (and write!). I love it when characters are caught off guard, and when they are forced to be in each other’s company on a continual basis, lots of unexpected things happen. Especially when they’re going places and doing things where they’re supposed to act like a couple. It’s easy for the lines to blur at that point. My characters always have huge barriers in place to ward off the opposite gender, but when it’s all fake, they can pretend without violating their own personal no-dating rules. Cue the fireworks. It’s even better when one of the characters has a secret crush on the other. So then they’re doubly pretending, desperately hoping the other doesn’t figure out that they’re not really faking it… Another aspect I love about fake marriages is the implied intimacy that goes along with being a permanent couple—and I don’t mean what happens in the bedroom! I’m talking about the real magic of being a couple. Sharing a sink while brushing your teeth. Making your spouse a cup of coffee in the morning. Wearing a ring that declares you married. All of these things having this underlying romance that can’t…