A review by lisibee815
His Reluctant Lady by Aydra Richards

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Well, it drew me in and I finished it but I still maintain that Westwood was an a-hole. He eventually turned around and Poppy was very good for him, but I had a hard time getting over how much I disliked him in the first half of the book. (If you want me to buy into a redemption arc maybe have him start redeeming himself *before* the halfway point, I was *this* close to a DNF.) Poppy was fantastic and strong, even when mired down in her insecurities. This book was a Bluesky/Booksky recommendation, I probably should have started with the first book in the series but I was okay with this as a standalone. It was written well enough that I'll likely read the next one because the premise of that one is intriguing, but the mmc seems like he's an a-hole too so we'll see how strong/believable his redemption is. New-to-me author and I did enjoy the book overall so let's give the next one a try.