Amita4ever's manga / #One Shot(586)

2 people with different secrets and the angst involved in trying to decide when to tell the other because the closer they get, the guiltier they feel about keeping their secrets. That’s the extent of the drama here. Sadly, they do jump into bed before his secret is accidentally revealed, so things get even more emotionally complicated than they should have, but it’s a Harlequin so - of course - it gets worked out in the end.

I really appreciated the way the horses were drawn, at least the adult ones :D The story a little less so. He’s a playboy sheikh and he’s out to make good on the time he has before risking it all, so of course he’s lacking in restraint. Other thing that are lacking is family drama, other men and women, or other such drama. It’s pretty straight forward with the secret complication of his tumor providing the angst and worry.

The cousin got indicted, so why was the villa was still donated? She had worked so hard on it, to restore it and make it a home. I know it was supposed to 'prove his love', that he now loved her more than a building, but to me it almost felt like he was throwing away all the love she had initially poured into him through the villa. I would have rather had him OFFER to donate it -'I love you more than the villa, see, I've already signed the paperwork to donate it. Please come back to me. Wherever you are is my home now!' - 'Then our home is the villa, because I've come to love it too and I want to live there with you and our child.' - or he could have made a big deal about putting her name on the deed or commissioned a new painting or something. But as far as his personality... yeah, he was a jerk, but there was a logical learning curve considering. His last blowup was extreme, but even that was logical, and when she realized the danger, she stopped trying to defend herself. He didn't really drive her out. She left for his sake, and after she did, he felt he had to justify it to protect his heart, but even so, he kept looking. I felt like it was a reasonably good resolution, IMO. Best yet, no BBV (Bed Before Vows). It's sad this marriage healthy trait is prevalent only in forced and arranged marriage plots.

This ML really sat ill with me. He had a chance... at first, all the misunderstandings were justifiable. His poor choice of words, her (justifiable) assumptions as to his meaning, her choice to leave, his frustration realizing he had missed 5 years of his child's life... all extreme, but understandable, and then he blew it. They have their heart to heart. He gets slapped with his own words and realizes just how cruel, callus, and responsible for her all her heartache he was/is being. He holds her regretfully, tenderly, as she melts down... and threatens her with a court battle! It was hard to like him after that, even when his side of the story started being revealed because he just doesn't stop. He just keeps steamrolling over her again and again. You might be afraid of being rejected, but I've never understood how that translates into being cold, arrogant, and domineering and expecting someone to be happy to stay with you. These stories always come down to 'thank goodness the heroine is so forgiving'. I much prefer the 'realizes his faults; sets out - even if awkwardly - to make changes' to 'steamroll, but it works out anyway', but what do I know.

The FL is so gun shy it's excessive. Yes, she was betrayed, but taking it to the extreme that you can't even use common sense is just foolishness. You don't check references given, you don't trust a proven track record (the second day), you don't trust your own gut (she said the guy felt shady) and then wails, "Why me?" On top of that, she jumps in to bed two days after she meets him. There just wasn't a whole lot of logic to her thought process. But it was nice to see the guy doing the forgiving for a change.

ONE SHOT