Married with Benefits

“I’ll devour anything Ellie Palmer writes.” —Jessica Joyce, USA Today bestselling author of The Ex Vows

A trope-filled delight of a rom com about two strangers who enter into a marriage of convenience that becomes anything but convenient.

Lainey Davis can’t wait for the day she’ll be able to escape her tiny Wisconsin town. But she’s not even close to covering her health insurance premiums and pricey migraine medication, let alone saving up enough to start over some place new. That is, until Lainey receives some news that might upend her unlucky streak. Through the archaic legal doctrine of adverse possession, Lainey has inadvertently squatted her way into owning one of the most notorious houses in modern architectural history. 

But Lainey owns only the house. The surrounding property, a lakeside money pit the previous owner used as a front to deal illegal reptiles, has been willed to newcomer Elliot Hodges, a D.C. architect who wants to rent the place to fellow architecture lovers. Neither can rent or sell without reaching an agreement.

Desperate to rent out the only valuable house on the property, Elliot proposes an unconventional arrangement: marry him for health insurance and in exchange, she’ll allow him to rent the house as part of his resort until he’s saved enough to buy her out. It’s a win-win situation: Lainey will finally have a way out of her small town, and he’ll own the house designed by his architectural idol. But when the end date looms and their connection grows, Lainey’s no longer sure what’s more terrifying: leaving Elliot behind or letting him in.