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A review by bottleblondebookworm
The Devil's Bargain by Mihwa Lee
3.5
A later in life love story featuring an engineer FMC and a ruthless businessman MMC.
Caroline's husband dies and leaves half of his estate and business, of which he wouldn't have if not for Caroline's brain, to Caroline and his mistress. The SCANDAL!!! Caroline uses the fact that she's a woman to act as if she knows nothing of business while trying to keep things afloat and make a comfortable life for herself. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunatley, Devlin Elmstone wants her company and he'll stop at nothing to have it, including blackmail and seduction!
Caroline is a headstrong character and extremely smart. A woman in a male dominated field (and world), she's had to be clever to get where she is and she's not about to let Devlin take it from her. However, when it becomes apparent marriage is the only solution, she agrees, but refuses to make this more than a marriage on paper, even if her body is rebelling against that idea. Devlin is kind of obsessed with Caroline after he discovers she's more than an empty-headed widow and is dying to get into her bed, hence the blackmail and forced marriage. These two bicker and rage at each other but they really just want to tear the other's clothes off until, finally, they do!
I enjoyed this novella, and read it quickly, but I wished for more. I got tired of the back and forth between Caroline and Devlin and wished for more depth in their relationship. It's a novella, so this can be hard to achieve but it felt like they spent most of their time apart and a lot could have been solved by proper communication and acceptance of how they felt. I get that this would have lowered the tension, but there are other ways that could have been ramped up. Like for instance, the pesky mistress or the fact that Caroline was hiding her smarts for so long. Regardless, it was still enjoyable and I appreciate the later in life aspect of this romance as well as the fact that the MCs were working class (though upper working class) instead of aristocracy.
This was the first book I've read by Mihwa Lee, but I'll be looking for more!
I received a complimentary arc from the author. All opinions are my own.
Caroline's husband dies and leaves half of his estate and business, of which he wouldn't have if not for Caroline's brain, to Caroline and his mistress. The SCANDAL!!! Caroline uses the fact that she's a woman to act as if she knows nothing of business while trying to keep things afloat and make a comfortable life for herself. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunatley, Devlin Elmstone wants her company and he'll stop at nothing to have it, including blackmail and seduction!
Caroline is a headstrong character and extremely smart. A woman in a male dominated field (and world), she's had to be clever to get where she is and she's not about to let Devlin take it from her. However, when it becomes apparent marriage is the only solution, she agrees, but refuses to make this more than a marriage on paper, even if her body is rebelling against that idea. Devlin is kind of obsessed with Caroline after he discovers she's more than an empty-headed widow and is dying to get into her bed, hence the blackmail and forced marriage. These two bicker and rage at each other but they really just want to tear the other's clothes off until, finally, they do!
I enjoyed this novella, and read it quickly, but I wished for more. I got tired of the back and forth between Caroline and Devlin and wished for more depth in their relationship. It's a novella, so this can be hard to achieve but it felt like they spent most of their time apart and a lot could have been solved by proper communication and acceptance of how they felt. I get that this would have lowered the tension, but there are other ways that could have been ramped up. Like for instance, the pesky mistress or the fact that Caroline was hiding her smarts for so long. Regardless, it was still enjoyable and I appreciate the later in life aspect of this romance as well as the fact that the MCs were working class (though upper working class) instead of aristocracy.
This was the first book I've read by Mihwa Lee, but I'll be looking for more!
I received a complimentary arc from the author. All opinions are my own.