Amita4ever's manga / #BBV :((75)

This is actually a pretty good story. Two people with painful backgrounds is a norm in this genre, and self-serving deception as a reason for starting the relationship is too, but they are handled differently here. It felt gentle and loving. What I found regretful was the author felt the need to include some gratuitus BBV (Bed Before Vows) action that really wasn't needed. It would have been a good, if not better, story without it, and RL statistics show that their marriage would likely be better too (statistically the marriages of those who wait are longer and more satisfying).

This story actually addresses a rather complex RL issue... domestic abuse. The ML is pretty arrogant and unforgiving until the heroine finally confides in him, admitting that both she and her mother were physically abused (and that for the sake of her brother, her mother is still there). Once he realizes that, he becomes her knight (although he could have handled the 'why didn't you tell me' part way better). I rather liked it, although I didn't like the BBV ( Bed Before Vows). It wasn't necessary for the plot, but provided the means to amp up the 'angst and despair all alone' angle through the loss of her child, but it also left me a little confused. Just how did her father know? That might have been among the details inevitably lost in adaptation.

I like the FL in this story. She was realistically strong, rational and independent. The ML, not as much, but you have to acknowledge his sense of honor is strong. In fact, this is one of the stories where the betrayal actually makes sense (despite the fact I think he jumped the gun - even his partner advised against it!). He's an investigator and they have to follow the evidence. I would have given it a 5 were it not for the unneeded BBV (Bed Before Vows). By unneeded I don't mean say it didn't serve a purpose in the story, but, rather. that - IMO - that purpose could have been served equally effectively in a way that didn't involve premarital sex. I was also disappointed we didn't have a one panel finish of them, on horseback, together with a wild Wyoming vista as their backdrop.

This story was complex, emotionally as well as plot. Not complex as in hard to understand, but as in the carefully revealed layers and the emotions that accompany them. It was a good story, although I was disappointed the leads decided to get physical. The story didn't require it. SPOILERS FOLLOW: I also agree with others that the brother was a total cad, but I can't blame the ML. Not only did he find his 'princesses' were the result of his brother's one-night affair, but the woman he's in love with is the other party in that indiscretion! She might have been drunk, but that doesn't change what she did. I'm not going to blame him for being blindsided by that and slipping back to his old normal while he processes it. He's feeling betrayed on multiple levels, so yes, he acts cruelly, but in the end, he realizes it, he recognizes the injustice, and he seeks forgivness. I didn't like the uneeded BBV (Bed Before Vows), but the rest of the story was really quite good.

I really appreciated the way the horses were drawn, at least the adult ones :D The story a little less so. He’s a playboy sheikh and he’s out to make good on the time he has before risking it all, so of course he’s lacking in restraint. Other thing that are lacking is family drama, other men and women, or other such drama. It’s pretty straight forward with the secret complication of his tumor providing the angst and worry.

I just couldn't get into this one. They got off on the wrong foot, in more ways than one starting with jumping in bed the first time they met, but seriously, what kind of magazines - other than tabloids who publish lies so aren't interested in facts - publishes articles about famous elgible bachalors without a decent picture and without at least trying to get a hold of the subject... for some juicy, personal facts if nothing else. Not impressed. And then the hero was just so contradictory and confusing. Granted he had a rotten childhood, and no confidence on top of that, but if you can show enough affection to make a gal fall in love with you, I don't think you can say, 'I don't know how to show love,'. You might be an amateur and need to build on your skills, but you've shown an inclination, but instead these guys, after being a guy a gal can fall in love with, suddenly say, 'I can't,' and quit what they were ALREADY doing. And in this one, our 'miraculous love recovery' is near instantaneous. I don't know. I just couldn't get into it.

This ML really sat ill with me. He had a chance... at first, all the misunderstandings were justifiable. His poor choice of words, her (justifiable) assumptions as to his meaning, her choice to leave, his frustration realizing he had missed 5 years of his child's life... all extreme, but understandable, and then he blew it. They have their heart to heart. He gets slapped with his own words and realizes just how cruel, callus, and responsible for her all her heartache he was/is being. He holds her regretfully, tenderly, as she melts down... and threatens her with a court battle! It was hard to like him after that, even when his side of the story started being revealed because he just doesn't stop. He just keeps steamrolling over her again and again. You might be afraid of being rejected, but I've never understood how that translates into being cold, arrogant, and domineering and expecting someone to be happy to stay with you. These stories always come down to 'thank goodness the heroine is so forgiving'. I much prefer the 'realizes his faults; sets out - even if awkwardly - to make changes' to 'steamroll, but it works out anyway', but what do I know.