My rating: 7,5/10 It was alright. The ML's face looked a bit like a plank, but the art was ok otherwise. I liked that the FL didn't forget all about her trauma right away with their first kiss, it was more realistic. Her ex is abusive scum, he got what he deserved.
MARRIAGE, WILL, TRAUMA Before he died, the FL's father made arrangements with a wealthy businessman in order to save his company and get her a husband. Now she has to marry the former playboy, but she isn't ready for love due to her past trauma.
I don't like the ML. One moment he's a gentleman, and in the next he's a jerk forcing himself on her despite grasping her discomfort. I understand that he wants to win her over and make her happy, but his behavior is more self-centered, controlling and seeing her like a conquest. Maybe it's just me, but it's just the overall feel I got from him. I know he's genuine and loving towards her, but sometimes he's forceful too, which is, quite frankly, DISTASTEFUL because the FL has already been through that once. Yes, the intensity varies, but it's still not much different. And I cannot express enough how problematic it is considering the trauma of FL. The love she thinks she's experiencing might just be her conscious disguising the feeling of gratitude and indebtedness to feel like she owes him enough to return the favor by falling in love with him. There's possibilities of so many problematic angles here that I just don't want to deal with. Trauma is a very complex subject and has to be dealt very delicately, moreso in a romance novel, so making light of it by giving the message that a sexy appearance and kindness towards the victim is all it takes to get over it is so wrong! That's it, the feeling of wrongness in this story overwhelms all the positive things which are portrayed for the story's sake. I definitely won't read this again. This is not just stupid, but just lack of knowledge, research, creativity and sensitivity that this kind of concept needs.
This is so wrong in so many levels. The portrait of the FL as someone that need it to be rescued by the Male figures in her life is from the 40 of the last century. The father arranged a marriage without her consent just so she would not "end up alone" . Like marriage is the only happy ending for a person, specially if it is a woman. And do not make me start with the ML. This all think is freaking old and super full of sexism