Wow! Non-virgin woman - not shameful. Thank you, Miranda Lee, for presenting us with a female character that doesn't have the seal of approval from the Patriarchal Society of Romantic Fiction. So much of the "romantic" genre have men like "Max," although way larger, more virile, and just as aggressive and misogynistic, painted up as romantic, compelling, irresistable, etc., etc., until readers just assume that any great male has to have the tattoo "A**HOLE" or "DOUCHE" on his forehead. The idea that guys (as long as they are handsome, masculine, and rich) can boff anything and everything in skirts, and that makes them "manly," while women have to wait patiently and chastely at home until Mr. Rich Hugedong deigns to notice them is not just misogynistic, double standard, and morally disgusting; it is infantile to the max. Anyone who believes that hasn't graduated from when he first discovered that something other than urine came from his genitals.
This manga is telling us, "Grow up, you morons!"
Here he is: More money than Croesus, picture in all the magazines, obviously running one of the largest most profitable companies in the world. Then there was this girl, I was going to "bag" her tonight and boasted about it with my friends. She ran away that night, got arrested on a bogus charge, lost her career, and then was about to go to jail over some theft while she was working pro bono for a charity. NOW I can have my revenge for her "betrayal." I can compel her to be my mistress and publicly brand her as a slut forever. As I gloat over her pitiful helplessness, I can be content in what a magnificent specimen of male studliness I am. I can dream happily of her never getting a respectable job for the rest of her life as payment for embarrassing me by not letting me "bag" her in front of my tawdry friends. I am undoubtedly the absolute pinnacle of Homo Sapiens!
Did I leave anything out?
You summarized it beautifully
The great doctor makes an immediate assumption that she's a horrible person. He's proved wrong, brings her into his home. She nearly dies saving his beloved daughter. He REALLLLLLLY has to seduce her (a man's libido is sooooo insistent), yet needs to get rid of her when his daughter is in trouble for talking about her at school. Does this douche (who is supposed to be the greatest doctor of them all) have any f***ing idea what happens to a woman who has been crapped on all her life by those who should have taken care of her and loved her when he dumps on her like that? Wow, she forgives him like he is the saviour incarnate. Back in college, I always treated girls like they were something precious. Result: "You're like a brother to me." Learning point: I should have been a a**hole. Well, not really. Glad I wasn't. I lost out on a lot of what might have been called romance (wasn't really), but I think I'm happier being who I am; someone who loves and likes women, not just a bunch of walking, talking hormones. I can also look at myself in the mirror while shaving and think, "Gee, you're not really an a**hole!"
Oh my.. where hv you been in my life? I never have a brother. Would love to have one and bang him, with consent ofc
My sister and her friends that I've known for over 40 years are really a parcel of bimbos. I have this story to thank for my epiphany. As soon as their theses are finished and into peer review, they rush off to work as waitresses so they can act as poor trash bimbos looking for rich men to be sex toys for. Good help them if they aren't conventional hotties (they probably would have failed their dissertations then). Oh yes, they also have to find some way to shave at least 100 points off their IQ's. Then they must get pregnant by these prognathous rich a**holes, be despised by their moron aristo families, so they can be kicked to the curb. How in the blazes did sis and my friends manage to hide all of this debauchery from my innocent eyes? Could it possibly be that:
1. Women who get STEM PHD's actually have the brains to use protection?
2. These women also have something to do between publications in academic journals other than be seduced by neanderthals in Brooks Brothers suits?
3. Ths was the most mind-bogglingly stupid premise ever fielded by Harlequin?
I did like it. The ML did tease her somewhat, but seemed to quickly repent when he noticed it hurt her. He wasn't a testosterone filled a**hole, and when she was hurt, he was there and doing his best to support her. When Mister Priss did his Jekyll and Hyde act (can we say "incel?"), he acted just as he should, and basically shut him down from any future shenanigans. He liked her straight forward personality (so did I) and he also admired her fairly selfless courage. The plot, of course, was a trope (according to my English Lit Professor, there are only so many plots out there, so nearly everything written after Shakespeare is derivative), but I thought the author handled it fairly well. It was an enjoyable read, and the only character I wanted to break the bones of wasn't the ML, unlike so many Harlequin stories.
I liked her quite a lot. As to the ML:
1. He blackmailed a girl who had her luggage and passport stolen by threatening to report her to the Indonesian authorities, where she could be held ad infinitum in jail and possibly starved and raped there.
2. He spent most of their time together telling her how unattractive and useless she was.
3. He still let the other woman (Sylvie) lead him around by the nose while acting like a jealous pre-pubescent teenager every time anyone male spoke to his (fake) wife.
4. To sum up my opinion: He was a pretentious butthead, with as much right to the title of Gentleman as I do to the title of His Holiness the Pope.
Horrible realization: I'm getting too old for Josei. I'm identifying pretty well with Deborah until she's hit with the epiphany that she's in love with the ML; then she's from another dimension.
How. Why. What you doing, woman.
idk wht kind of idea you have for indonesia, but no white girl would be treated so poorly by the authorities. Other than tht i do agree w ur thoughts on the ML. Somehow he does seem like yout typical STEM major tho lmao
I haven't been to Indonesia since 1996, and I didn't have any conflict with the authorities in the short time I spent there. My opinion is probably coloured by reports of what happened to Michelle Leslie in 2005, and the fact that the Human Rights Watch said that it was far better to be in prison than in police custody in Indonesia. As to whether being white would matter for treatment by the authorities, I really hate that idea. I'm a caucasian male and I find it obscene that people who aren't are treated differently under the law. Main point is that he was a royal SOB for threatening her with law and incarceration (for something that was no fault of her own) if she didn't fall in with his stupid and cowardly plan. If he'd tried that on a male (assuming something other than pretending to be a wife), he would expect to have his teeth shoved down his throat. My poiint: He's a cowardly, misogynistic douche bag.
you, my dude, give me faith in humanity (＾◡＾)
Ansh999: Thank you for your reply. I'm a 63 year old cis-male feminist. I'm also a retired US Marine, whose wife of 37 years and whose sister are both former Marines. None of us play that patriarchal crap, nor am I pushed into any kind of "all males are scum" from living with three very intelligent women (my niece included). I'm a romantic who reads Jane Austin, Georgette Heyer, and Dorothy Sayers and love their works. I'm as about as incel as St. Francis of Assisi, and (as I've said before on various forums), I both love and like women.
I also hate and despise the idea that "white is right." My white parents taught me a great deal better than that. Both gone, I regard them as the greatest examples about how I should think and act toward everyone, regardless of colour or ethnicity. 22 years in the Marine Corps also gave me the incredible priviege of meeting many people of colour, including Terrance Jackson, Elzie Jefferson, Rodney Roberson, SSgt Ferrel, SgtMaj Hunter, Mathias Grey, and a real host of others, both male and female. I also met many people with Islamic, Asiatic, and Hispanic names and backgrounds. Many of them are what make the United States great. Some others make their own nations, Jordan, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Oman really great.
I feel so incredibly privileged to have met all of these people, and I want the United States to be the place that nurtures this kind of meeting. We aren't perfect, but the beliefs I was brought up with and also given by the U.S. Military (not just Marines, but Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard) have given me the beliefs I hold dear to this day.
You make points I had not even thought of while reading it. And I cannot disagree with you about any of them...
Humor... In a Harlequin story... Unheard of... What a departure from over the top, unrealistic drama, mind-numbingly stupid heroines, and raging bull male leads with testosterone spewing from their foreheads. I'll gladly read any of her works. Go Linda!!!
I'll always cheer for heroines feeding their nemesis the one thing they're allergic to (TWICE. Grinning devilishly).
Roger that. Casey rocks! You Go, Girl!!
She leaves the husband who was driving her into alcoholism, came home only to sleep, refused to let her have children, with a mother-in-law gaslighting her daily. Everyone in his company and social circle either believes that he abused her or that he's the greatest victim of all time (he seems to believe this as well). He never tried to meet with her after she leaves, so he has no idea what she's going through. After all, he's the biggest victim of them all. After they get tentatively back together (mainly through his machinations), he warns her about anything that could cause gossip and hurt his corporate reputation. When she starts her new catering service, he gets her her first job with his bfff (best female friend forever). The bfff (who has never met Renee before) immediately gives her the third degree about why she left uber-victim 7 years ago, and guilts her about his subsequent agony and loss of reputation.
At this point, any woman with an ounce of self-respect would have told bfff to blow it out her ass even though it would have meant pretty much the destruction of her new business, walked out, told uber-victim exactly why she couldn't fit into the twisted, wealthy "elite" that he existed in, and gone back to her catering service in Los Angeles. If she still desired a baby, either adopt one or get IVF through a reputable service that doesn't set up her ex to manipulate her.
You can't entirely blame the guy though. The FL NEVER said anything even when the mother-in-law was being a bitch, she kept quiet and even said that she was waiting for HIM to come and talk to her instead of making the initiative to speak up first. Both characters are idiots for not once using their words and just ran away from their problems like petulant children. Also she chose to stop working and stay at home waiting for him. She could have easily said "dude I'm gonna work kay thanks", but didn't and chose to turn to alcohol instead so... yeah she is just as much to blame.
Yes, I can.
1. She was insecure about her mother-in-law's lies but she didn't believe he'd cheat. What would he talk to him about then? Like "Could you pls discipline your mom while you're drowning in work because she keeps spouting lies even I don't believe"?
2. She quit her job because they were about to settle down and have kids. We don't know whether it was temporary or permanent, but it's a more convenient option. And that plan was prior to his job crisis. Heck, they had the third floor rerserved for it. Then all of a sudden, he did not want kids because he's busy. That original plan got shot down fast.
3. He's the main offender here. He neglected his wife. I mean, considering he's the busy one, deviating from the ideal married life, he should've been the one to talk with her first for reassurance before the divorce papers or first to contact the other for explanation after receiving the papers. But nooooooo. He didn't. Then, later on, he even showed enough strength emotionally to support that Gretchen through her problems but not the balls to own up to the wife he let go.
I believe the FL's only critical error was not being able to move on completely.
Well put!
My God, man, don't ask for her side! That shows weakness in a male. It's just like asking for directions in an area you've never been to before. Be angry; Be judgemental, Yell out the most unforgivable things your nasty mind can conceive of! That's True Male Strength! She'll forgive you because this is Harlequin.