trope
Mail Order Bride
A woman who agrees to marry a man she has never met, often through letters or an agency, and travels to his location to become his wife, typically in a historical frontier setting.
Why readers love it
Readers love the leap of faith, the risk of trusting a stranger with your whole future, and the slow burn of falling in love after the vows are already said.
Also called
Proxy bride
arranged marriage by mail
correspondence courtship
frontier wife
bride by contract
Want the full breakdown?
Explore the mail order bride trope from letters to wedding night and why strangers marrying is the genre s most enduring fantasy. Read the full guide.
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