3.84 AVERAGE

abiz222's profile picture

abiz222's review

4.75
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A really sweet romance about love and loss. The art and plot are both amazing and the development of the two main characters relationship is really sweet. 

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hero_complex_girl's profile picture

hero_complex_girl's review

4.0
emotional hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
sebbyroth's profile picture

sebbyroth's review

4.0
lighthearted sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
ellelainey's profile picture

ellelainey's review

5.0

This was a beautiful story, with some nice characterisation and world-building. It begins with a bang - Lord Rupert has a nightmare about being a child and picking flowers for his mother. But when he goes to present them to her, she's standing on the balcony of their home and throws herself to her death. Later, we learn that it's because she was in a loveless marriage and was desperate for her cold, unfeeling husband to love her. Ever since, Rupert has nightmares and insomnia from the memories.

In present day - where Rupert is an adult - he's suffering through a visit from his step-mother, who is trying to matchmake him to a young woman he can't stand. He knows that's only for his step-mother's advantage, and possibly the girl's, and he refuses to play the game.
At the same time, Noah has just arrived on the estate to take up the position of groundskeeper. He's only 19, but he's desperate to earn money, because his mother is sick and he needs to pay for her medicine. On his way to report for duty, a maid begs him to deliver the tea tray to Lord Rupert and his guests, because she's so busy. But when he does, Lord Rupert drops a bomb - he tells his guests that he and Noah are madly in love and that he can't possibly entertain courting anyone else.

What follows is a mash-up of some of my favourite tropes : grumpy/sunshine, marriage of convenience, fake dating, rich/poor and hurt/comfort. Noah is adorable, sweet, naive and innocent, while Lord Rupert is surly, distant and sharp-tongued at first, flirty later. Their chemistry grows nicely over time, ending in a soft affection. Not the intense attraction and sexy times of some other stories of this kind, but slowly and with warmth rather than heat. While they do end up with sexy times, it's all behind doors and off-page, which suits the characters and the storyline, letting the plot take centre stage.

I'm looking forward to Volume 2.
cientnumber02's profile picture

cientnumber02's review

4.5
emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
caketinz's profile picture

caketinz's review

3.5
dark hopeful
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Very pretty. Hadn't realised it was only 2 volumes long. Did actually enjoy the 2 characters relationship and seeing it develop even just within a single volume

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dulcyj's review

2.0
dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes