gutea

have v mixed feelings about this. there was too much unnecessary politics & business bullshit that i skimmed over. i loved matt. i HATED the father & the daughter constantly pushing his shit personality under the rug. the father just sucked too much for me to enjoy the book. the whole step-grandma bullshit also just felt kinda misogynistic? like ofc she's the villain, and not the father who probably stressed out his daughter enough into having a miscarriage.

would've been a fun premise if the marquess wasn't such an asshole. like he consistently remained an asshole. absolutely 0 redeeming qualities. where was the grovel she deserved?

if we're going to make such unnecessarily mean heros, can we at least make them suffer before the end?

reread this because i wanted to read the next book in this series & was reminded of how much i didn't like the mmc douchebaggery. i always feel like u're gonna be an ass, at least have other charming qualities that are redeeming. man had NONE. and it didn't help that i was siCK of the fmc's whole bantery bs. like girl, we get it you're supposed to be witty, stop w the cringe remarks every 5 seconds though. idk if it's because the book is old & that's why it feels super dated, or was the cringe too much even back then? the whole creepy ass enforcers lusting after her is perfectly a-okay, but we're supposed to believe our mmc is a possessive guy (even though he shares his mate w his pals). kinky but unrealistic given his personality.

read a review here before reading and i was apprehensive whether the i'd like the book. but i really did. it was angsty & i did cry. honestly, i understood both the MC & the ML, and i especially could relate w millie, she was such a sweet character. most men (in fiction & otherwise) are anyway pretty bland to me, and though i didn't like fitz, i did understand that he was in love w an idea of what his life could have been. i feel like friendship before love is the sweetest thing to explore in books, and i appreciated how the author showed that. i was NOT a fan of all the sleeping around the guy did, but it seems pretty typical for the that historical period. even the ‘other woman' was not demonised which is pretty rare imo.

loved the heroine, 10/10. and surprisingly, really cute relationship with the hero's mom. vv adorable. the beginning especially was so solid. everything was believable & cute.

also liked the fact that the hero wasn't like the best at everything, or like the coolest dude in his entire lineage. refreshing.