Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Brothers(26)

It’s smut and unresolved with respect to the boyfriend knowing the truth and facing consequences. Kinda disappointing

Trigger warning: Incest between adopted brothers This story won’t be everyone’s cup of tea because of the incest element, but I loved it. Yuki finds out on his 18th birthday from his twin brothers (24yo) that he was adopted by his family when his mother died. The shock of that new information resulted in erectile difficulties. Suddenly, Yuki couldn’t get excited by his favourite porn or girly mags. Observing his change in behaviour, the brawny, macho Rai and smart, nurturing Mei decided to help their little brother with some hands on time in the bath. The rest of the story follows Yuki coming to terms with the kind of love that he has for his brothers and them trying to hold themselves back while Yuki figured his feelings. I liked all the MCs, they had a more caring relationship than you would expect in a taboo yaoi and I appreciated that Yuki came first (no pun intended lol). There were some awkward moments where you cringe for Yuki but they really enhanced his inner confusion and were funny too.

I enjoyed Rui and Minato’s story. These twins had been separated for 13 years when their parents divorced. Rui had spent those years missing the twin he shared a strong bond with. However, Minato forgot the existence of Rui, believing that his mom had died and focusing on his dad. So when they met again at age 15, Rui brought the desperate and deep bond he had kept alive over the years. But Minato was in shock and denial, rejecting the lies from a father he loved. The story follows the twins as Rui confesses his love. I liked how the story had one certain sibling and one who was clueless. I felt a little sorry for Rui and his desperate yearning, but it made sense that it would take time for Minato to look at Rui romantically. Very taboo, very intense. An interesting read.

I like this mangaka and this was another sweet group of short stories.

Trigger Warning: Incest (Brother x Brother) Beautiful art and a rather melancholy story but the ending was nice. The family of Ichi and Kenjiro has always been overshadowed by the illness of the boys mother and of Ichi himself. Being very insular, the bonds between the men were different, to say the least. Ichi had his first sexual arousal linked to his father and he thereafter had an attachment to his parent that was one of yearning but it never crossed into sexual. The father very much still seemed to adore the woman he married. Kenjiro had always loved his older brother, and as he grew older that deepened. The story is one of family and the taboo love that grew between Ichi and Kenjiro. The mangaka has a wonderful art style with faces and hair and eyes that were simply beautiful. The story was a little slow at times (not helped by double uploads of the same chapters) but it wasn’t a real detractor. Overall, I liked it.

This was a surprisingly sweet story centred around the Ernst family. The FL, Harley had regressed on the cusp of her marriage to when she had first been rescued from the streets to become the ward of the Duke of Ernst. Reliving the challenges of essentially replacing a daughter with her new adult perspective was enlightening but so much more so with her relationship with the 3 brothers who had tormented her the first time round. Now, as the reader follows along, we can see the pain and hurt in the family who struggle with the loss of a daughter or sister, and the complexities of grief as Harley uses her adult understanding to have a better relationship. I found the story to be very sweet. It was a mix of typical tropes like a villainess used to make the FL shine and show off things like her newly acquired poise and inner strength, and yet there was also something new with the bonds and burdens of family (especially a family of power and wealth). I liked the ML and the dynamic he has with the FL. Overall this was a slow paced but lovely story.