Inheritance Shenanigans

Message to the universe- send me an overly complex but very valuable inheritance!

This is a recent favorite microtrope, I think because it allows some of the financial security fantasy of billionaire romances without the billionaire. Plus inheritance shenanigans tend to involve some stupid clause that adds drama and new color to a tried and true trope in the hands of the right author. I love stupid clauses to claim an inheritance, and I love how endless the options are, so no two inheritance books are the same!

Cash by Jessica Peterson. Inheritance shenanigan: after the death of her largely estranged farmer, Mollie inherits his cattle ranch and property in a remote Texas town, but in order to claim it, she has to live and operate said ranch for a full year. Mollie’s a city girl (though is that because it’s her true nature, or because of her repressed daddy issues she’ll never fully be able to resolve now that he’s dead? HmmmmmMMM) and resents the shenanigan, but needs the capital for her burgeoning boot company, so she reluctantly agrees to give it a whirl.

Cash Rivers, the ranch’s foreman, might have Mollie beat for resentment, though. He was far from estranged from Mollie’s late father; in fact, after a family tragedy, Mollie’s father became something of a surrogate parent for Cash and his siblings [all hot and eligible cowboys… did I mention this is the first of a series?]. So he hates Mollie for a lot of reasons: for breaking her dad’s heart by staying away so long after her parents divorced and her mom whisked her to the city, for inheriting the property he thought he was entitled to as the defacto man in charge, for not knowing how to run a ranch, and for being so dang pretty he can’t focus. Wait. Scratch that last one.

I think you see where we’re going with this one, right? ‘Nuff said? It’s exactly what it says on the package, and sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for.

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. I recently reread this book because I absolutely tore through it when it first came out, and, reader, I loved it just as much. It’s probably my second favorite CL of all time, after Something Wilder, which is saying something, because it’s Christina Lauren!!! They pretty much ONLY write bangers!

Inheritance shenanigan: Liam “West” Weston only gets his inheritance from his grocery store royalty family if he gets married and remains married for 5 years for realsies. If he doesn’t [slight spoiler] pass a sniff test, though, ALL his siblings’ inheritances are forfeit. The problem? Before he knew any of these inheritance stipulations, he got married-of-convenienced in college to a random friend of his brother’s so they could apply for cheap family housing on campus, back when he’d been cut off from the family funds. So upon graduate, they just don’t get divorced yet, and he expects to go their separate ways for the remainder of his five years and then divorce and claim his cash later.

But mere MONTHS away from his deadline turns out to be his baby sister’s extravagant destination wedding, and he can no longer bluff why his much-storied hero doctor wife hasn’t shown up to family events since their marriage nearly five years before. So he goes to track her down, and finds out that the med student he married for cheap housing back in the day is a starving artist, high at 11am, and does not remember that they’re still married.

Anna Green was never cut out for doctoring, but she might not be cut out for painting either, not fast enough to pay for her father’s mounting medical expenses at least. So after a humiliating firing from her terrible job, she gives herself one day to mope, eat cereal, and smoke weed before she gets back on the grind. And that’s when her ex husband (or so she thinks) appears at her door, and tells her he’ll pay her a truly insane amount of money to pretend they’ve been married this whole time in more than just paper, and also that she’s a doctor, and also that they’re totally in love, while attending his sister’s wedding on a private island. What’s a girl to do but agree?

Of course, Liam’s family is rich, and thus, are insane, so this fake-not-fake marriage is going to take more than a few well-timed kisses and some white lies about Anna’s career.

What I loved most about this book is that the disgusting wealth on display isn’t seen as a bonus to Anna, nor even all that fun. It’s just disgusting. And it is the root of pretty much every problem within the family, and only a deeply broke artist can truly see through it all. This book doesn’t act like wealth isn’t useful, but it also doesn’t let you get caught up in the fantasy of how it’s gained being value-neutral. This is a tough line to walk for a book that also needs to be light and sexy and fun… but they manage it. This is the ultimate comfort read during times like these.

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen. Inheritance shenanigan: in order to claim her beloved late aunt’s beloved San Francisco row house (free housing in a crazy expensive city OR a windfall of cash if she sells… win win!), Evie has 6 months to accept a prepaid matchmaking tour trip to Việt Nam. And though she deeply mourns the loss of her aunt, this opportunity couldn’t come at a better time for Evie, since she just got fired from her job by her secret boyfriend (her department head at the college) and she hasn’t felt inspired to write poetry (her main job) since the publication of her first collection a while back. Plus, her Vietnamese father passed a long time back, and she was largely raised by her white mother, so she’s felt fairly disconnected from her culture and wouldn’t mind a chance to finally see where she’s from.

Meanwhile, in Việt Nam, Adam is a workaholic who used to be a finance bro but now is the CMO for his big sister’s new venture… a matchmaking tour company. His ad copy is lacking pizazz, so his sister insists he join the first-ever tour to get up close and personal with what she’s building. Even though he was brutally rejected upon proposing to his girlfriend semi-recently and informed she’d been cheating on him and he has NO interest in getting back out there. But it’s for work, and Adam loves work [conceptually if not specifically], so, fine.

And wouldn’t you know it, the two people who Aren’t There For Love… can’t help but fall. Even though they live an ocean -—and change-— apart. Even though Adam’s uptight and Evie’s pure poetic chaos. Even though, even though, even though…

This was a lovely, relaxing, dreamy read. Great chemistry and banter, breathtaking descriptions, and truly touching explorations of grief, legacy, culture, and expectations.

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥

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Next week, I’ll be recommending books where there’s a friendship plot nearly as important as the romantic one!

What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!

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Available now: my debut marriage of convenience romance Rehabbing the Billionaire! Buy your copy on Amazon, or snag it on Kindle Unlimited! Then, rate it on Goodreads to help more people discover it!