The Marriage Narrative

I enjoyed Claire Kann‘s first two adult novels, so I was excited for her newest release, The Marriage Narrative. Zinnia wants to get married, but instead of waiting to find The One, she decides something more like a business arrangement would work better for her desires. So she finds a man with the same goals as her: Jordan. But his family is filmed like the Kardashians, and he needs his wife to be okay with being filmed for the first year they’re together. Zinnia agrees, but she’s not quite prepared for how invasive and difficult this reality show life will be! Is this marriage of convenience worth it?

What I Liked:

• The unique setup. I haven’t read very many contemporary romances featuring a marriage of convenience, but this one certainly had an interesting premise. Zinnia makes it so formal, like a professional merger. I enjoyed seeing her interview potential partners, and Jordan ends up wanting the same things as her… kind of!
• Reality tv and lightly contrived storylines. I never watch reality tv, but Jordan’s family’s show, Zaffre Hours, seems similar to the Kardashians. Their real lives are documented basically 24/7, but each season requires some kind of narrative to frame the characters. For Jordan and Zinnia, they’re the newlyweds, but how does Zinnia fit into the family? It was interesting seeing how they came up with the lens through which to portray each person. But I’m with Zinnia: I’d personally hate to be followed around like that.
• A new look at marriage. For Zinnia and Jordan, marriage isn’t necessarily about love or affection. Instead, it’s about mutual support and trust, people with whom they can share their lives and finances but without the risk of feelings getting hurt. It may not be romantic, but I do like how they want to be in a true partnership with each other. And this is a romance novel, so maybe some feelings will come into it eventually…

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Not enough romantic build-up. I think too much time was spent on the Zaffre family members and storylines, and the result was not enough time seeing Zinnia and Jordan develop feelings for each other. Jordan’s romantic feelings were more evident, but with Zinnia, it was hard to see her truly getting closer to Jordan. I wanted more from these two. They seemed compatible but needed more romance.
• Some parts of the ending seemed off to me. One was kind of at odds with how Zinnia and Jordan felt about being filmed all the time. The other seemed to almost negate Zinnia’s original reason for wanting to get married in the first place.

Final Thoughts

The Marriage Narrative is a fun and unique angle on the marriage of convenience trope. It’s a slow burn romance with likable characters, even if I wanted a bit more from them. The three Claire Kann books I’ve read have been pretty different, and I’m excited to see what her next story will be.

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin Random House, Berkley, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Marriage Narrative here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Marriage Narrative by Claire Kann
Audience	Adult
Genre	Contemporary Romance
Setting	California
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	November 11, 2025
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

A love just for show grows into something more in this swoonworthy romance from the author of The Romantic Agenda.

Zinnia is an ambitious, successful businesswoman who is not about to wait around for her One True Love. She turns her dating profile into a marriage-merger proposal: a few strategic meetings, move in together, get married—all within thirty days. Her friends think it will never work… until she meets Jordan, a near-perfect applicant with a big secret.

Jordan’s family has spent the last decade starring in a massively popular reality show about their lives. He has finally agreed to join the cast, but production wants him to marry an actress (his ex) in a romantic storyline to boost viewership.

Convinced Zinnia is perfect for the role instead, Jordan proposes a mutually beneficial marriage agreement: she gets her business partner husband, and he gets to help his family on his terms. Together they face strict schedules, wild plot twists, and behind-the-scenes hostilities, all while acting like besotted newlyweds—an intense performance that evolves into a relationship they never expected.

As the line between reality and show blurs, Zinnia and Jordan must choose between a clean contract or a beautifully messy love story.