If you are looking for something to read with a more unique concept, why not check out manga where the relationships start out as contract relationships?
In all three of the manga that I am recommending today, our couples first come together not because of their love for each other, but for their own personal gains.
I’m a big fan of this trope, as I really enjoy watching them slowly (or in some cases not-so-slowly) grow from people in a relationship for their own benefit, to people in a relationship because they actually like each other.
My shoujo manga recs
Kon’yakusha wa Dekiai no Furi
This is a series that involves two parties both looking to marry someone for their own personal gains. Our FL is looking for a rich husband in order to save her husband from bankruptcy… but she’s rather bad at romance. After making her way through all of the eligible rich men in her circle she thought all hope was lost. And it was, until she met the ML who accepted her proposal right away.
Our ML also needs to stay engaged to someone in order to stabilize his own political standing, and our FL is the perfect person to play the part. He’s still rather mysterious, so I’m sure there are a few other reasons he needs this relationship that we don’t know about…
Check out my full review of volume one here!
And Yet, You Are So Sweet
This is one of the first shoujo series that I read in Japanese! I began collecting it on my kindle around 2020, and I recently decided to add it to my physical shelf because I really enjoy the series.
Our FL falls in love rather quickly and without much reason. And when she falls, she falls hard. After confessing her feelings to, and getting subsequently rejected by, a guy who she’s never actually talked to, she’s rather devastated. She vents her problems to herself out loud at school one day, and is overheard by our ML. He suggests that she pretend to have a crush on him, only until her feelings for the other guy go away. This eventually leads to the two of them having a pretend / contractual relationship, so that both of them can get a taste of what being in a relationship feels like.
Check out the English version of volume one for yourself here!
Wolf Girl and Black Prince
Our FL, ever the liar, takes a picture of a handsome man while out in town and later claims he is her boyfriend to her group of friends. Unluckily for her, this man just so happens to be one of her classmates, and isn’t all that thrilled about the rumour. He is willing to play along, but only if she will pay the price: she has to do anything he requests of her. To be his dog, if you will.
In order for their relationship to continue, the condition that she entertain him by listening to his demands must be met!
Check out the English version of volume one for yourself here!
Maddies Manga 
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