I’d seen the buzz about Lydia San Andres Harlequin debut on Twitter, and I immediately picked up Compromised into a Scandalous Marriage for its setting. Set in the Dominican Republic in the early 20^th century, this forced marriage tale is a tad formulaic, but in this author’s hands, it’s an engaging formula.

Paulina Despradel lives in San Pedro de Macoris, under the control of her older brother Antonio. Antonio watches Paulina like a hawk, giving her little opportunity to engage with anyone outside the family home. When Paulina meets their new neighbor, Sebastian Linares, she is immediately struck by his kindness and good looks.

After getting drunk one night, Antonio throws his sister out of the house into a storm. She seeks refuge at Sebastian’s home nearby. In the morning, Antonio shows up, eventually demanding the pair marry to protect Paulina’s reputation. It quickly becomes apparent that this was all a set-up by Antonio – but why?

From the beginning readers will figure out that Antonio is up to no good and of course, since this is a romance, the forced marriage will work out splendidly. However, the author does a lovely job of getting readers to that inevitable ending. Sebastian figures out pretty quickly that Antonio is not a good person, but it takes longer to determine whether Paulina was part of the plot or not. After all, Antonio is not as prosperous as the picture he presents to the town might suggest. The initial stages of the marriage, where Sebastian is determined to get an annulment and where he suspects Paulina of marrying him for his growing fortune, created a great deal of tension in the story.

Sebastian and Paulina make a good couple as well. Sebastian built up a business for himself first in Cuba, before returning to the Dominican Republic, which is his home. He is very hardworking, but also very loyal to those he works with. Because he spends so much time focusing on the burden of caring for those he feels responsible for, Paulina quickly figures out that he hasn’t built much of a life for himself. Throughout the story, we see Paulina showing her new husband to care for himself as well as others. Her character is at times a bit indistinct other than being clearly a good person, but I enjoyed seeing her and Sebastian build a relationship.

My main quibble with the story was that Antonio somehow seemed able to build up quite the evil, corrupt operation for himself despite having growing financial problems. Somehow he seemed to have the magistrate and every lawyer in town in his pocket, but it was never very clear what would draw any of these folks to be loyal to him. Even so, this was a pleasant read. If you like historicals set outside England, or you enjoy forced marriage plots, then you will likely enjoy this book.