Amita4ever's manga / #3 star(173)

When the princess is looking for an appraiser to catalog centuries of artifacts, she tempts a reclusive specialist with an ancient volume that holds a legend from her kingdom. He agrees and the princess finds herself drawn to him inspite of his mysterious nature, and that mystery only deepens when her head of security finds a picture of the same man taken decades in the past. It was a rather simplistic plot, and both protagonists were strong and respectable. I was actually enjoying the tale and considering getting an official copy right up unto the last few pages. After trying to break his curse for centuries, he succeeds with something as anticlimactic as a press conference? I recognize it was the motive that made the difference, but couldn't the author come up with something a little more dramatic? This is a romance, after all. We are looking for hero's to sweep us off our feet. This just didn't quite do it for me.

It starts with BBV (Bed Before Vows), which is disappointing, but it takes a twist after that. It's a unique plot that has the heroine and hero reuniting to participate in a murder mystery that has an ulterior motive. We don't find out till nearly the end just how serious the hero is, and how he very deliberately wooed the heroine, ever respectful of her of feelings, until he'd opened her eyes and her heart. That part was enjoyable.

It’s cute. Both leads are strong, but have their vulnerabilities and all the characters around them are pushing them in the right direction. Sadly, BBV (Bed Before Vows) was a part of that direction when this story really didn’t need it. Other than that, the story was fun and enjoyable.