Sweet Lies Layered Like a Mille Feuille
yall this is SO GOOD. so this is a contract marriage setup but manages to feel refreshing instead of cliche. they dont start from a place of love but the story does a great job of showing how they become closer over time. the sex scenes are crazy hot and also both contribute and express the relationship's development. so that the more in love they are the more passionate (and exciting) the sex becomes for both of them. The FL is a standout among TL heroines for me. She's a total otaku (for a cutesy otome style game). she's a little frumpy, weird and perfectly fine organizing her life around her fandom. talk about Relatable. not to mention her body is kinda soft and round instead of rail thin and her boobs arent gigantic but normal sized for a woman of her shape and weight? (thats important to me!). As for the ML he's beautiful but neither esp kind or esp unkind. He's wealthy but not a billionare ceo or anything, he's her superior at work but not directly in charge of her or her team. He likes to put on a Perfect persona at work but is actually alot more prickly at home. So yeah he can be obnoxious and pushy but this is a heroine who can put her foot down, talk back, draw clear boundaries and has like actual an actual interior life rather than a pitiful timid soul that the ML takes turns insulting, bullying and fucking. cause wow do i hate that. but he never calls her ugly and she always enjoys the sex rather than has to be constantly talked or forced into it (ugh). i think the highlight of the story for me so far and when i knew this wasnt just a good manga but a GREAT one is their fight around chpt 4 or so when he gets a bit too uh Excited during a blowjob and goes further with it than she had consented to. The result? she FLIPS out and reads him to FILTH. just absolutely folds him like laundry for his frankly rude behavior and he is only able to hit back with how much of a crazy otaku she is and has no passion for her job etc at which point she's like BOY BYE. just Amazing tbh. They do make up ofc (after they dont interact or meet at all for over a week or so) and the way they do is really imo satisfying (as is the ML freaking out when he comes to find Akana the FL not in her room thinking she left him but nah she was just missing him and sleeping in his bed....*sobs* adorable...anyway he apologizes up and down and its beautiful as is the makeup sex lol. afterwards we see him do more little things to show his consideration even tho at this point they are still in a "pretend" marriage. (he buys her a nintendo switch! like wow he hot, he buys her game stuff even tho he's not a gamer himself, he apologizes sincerely when he fucks up. actual marriage material if u ask me~). anyway only 1 chpt left and ill be sad to see this go. i would kill for more TL mangas like this. great art? check. hot sex scenes? check. compelling relationship u can rly root for? check. beautiful ML who isnt bland or a raging asshole? check. relatable and interesting FL? double check. story conflicts that make sense and are handled in a way that isnt ABSURD?? triple check yall. anyway for anyone who wants to read this, its actually cheaper to just buy a copy from a bookstore online for 6.99. either in ebook format or physical. on lezhin where i first found it, it costs 3 coins per chpt and each chpt is split in two. so it takes 30 coins in all. which isnt a ton but u can only buy coin packs in 20 (which is 4.99) or 40 (which is 9.99) so if ur on a tight budget and like having physical copies thats something to think about. i like this so much i might actually buy the physical copy too in the near future. we'll see! i dont know how it ends but i know its a happy ending so im sure i'll be pleased with the final 15 pages.
You Make It Too Easy
Rojiura Pussycat
this was so fuckin dumb istg. but whatever its ez to read and the guy was hot. (obv the grown guy and not the little boy could rly do without BLs that have some baby face ingenue bottom boy. tho at least this seems less common in yaoi manga these days but BL webtoons sure are picking up the slack. i guess south korean webtoon creators are where japanese ones were in like hte late 90s early 00s when it comes to BL...so basically we'll get more good stuff in another 10 years lol.) i REFUSE to tag this romance. idc if the creep falls in love with the teen boy by the end. idc!!!
I Wanna Feel You Inside -Seduced by a Sweet Devil
well i read it on renta over 2 months ago and still remember most of it and that is high praise cause most of these silly one volume BL mangas i forget what happens in them after 2 days. sometimes...2 hours. but not this one! its not deep or anything but its fun and sweet. i always enjoy fantasy elements in my silly smut too. anyway if u like anything with incubi, demons, magic, cute otherworldly beings, supernatural comedy hijinks etc then this is for u. also its another one of those mangas that has a nice mix of wholesome and spicy. (didnt love the art tho)
Yoru To Asa No Uta EC
gonna keep this brief and just say this is a definite improvement on the first volume of this series and is also Alot funnier as well. basically the tone is more Happy Kuso Life and less Color Recipe if ur wondering where on the Harada spectrum this story falls on. (altho there's merit to both their styles of work i find the ones that trend toward dark humor are more to my taste than the outright dark or horror esque stories. but then u have Yatamomo which is kind of both at the same time? idk)
Aru Otoko no Uta
this is a doujin so its NOT canon. but its a nice what if prequel to the main story of yoru to asa no uta which posits that the reason yakuza dude was so easy on yoru is cause he kinda has a big gay crush on him. (but since its a doujin we never see this confirmed in the main series ofc. but man...that woulda been a hot couple yo). ne way its short and funny and a quick read if u rly felt like u didnt get enough of yakuza big bro in the main story for whatever reason lol
Sesame Salt and Pudding
I'm not one for age gap romances with an older guy usually BUT when i do read them THIS is the kind of older guy im fine rooting for. they are a cute pair even if im like "sis i get it, he's foine and a good guy but....ur too young for dis. he looks good NOW sure but in 10 years you'll only be 30 and he'll be wrinkling up like shrink wrap". anyway im a bad person but this is a good manga and its worth a read
Yokoshima Moobstretch