Comadrin's manga / #strong female lead(48)

I liked it a lot. I have a liking for real Bohemians (not the narcissistic fake ones), the ones who are actual musicians, artists, writers, etc. This manga made me nostalgic for my student days at Berkeley back in the 1970's with poetry readings, street musicians, jam sessions, and just being passionate about nearly everything.

Dude was a complete butthead. His 18 year old newlywed bride is depressed at his going away for 3 years. He says "they fought," but it was more like him blowing up on her and yelling (pretty much unforgivable things) at her. Remember that he is the older and supposedly mature one in this relationship. She disappears and he doesn't look for her, just pouts until he leaves, hating her forever. He doesn't come back to England for five years. During all this time, he makes no effort to find her (a quick search online of news articles would find her name since she was in an accident and the doctor said that they had advertised trying to find out more about her). He is content to be butthurt and hold a grudge in typical Harlequin ML fashion. A normal person in love in this situation would be, like, worried perhaps when she disappeared. They might even think that possibly something happened to her. I guess he was just too manly to succumb to such wussy thoughts. Also, he might have to give up his grudge and think that perhaps he may have borne some responsibility in the matter. When he returns and finally meets her, he lashes out and stomps off. Ergo, he was a selfish, immature a**hole who was "all about meeee!" For me, a happy ending for this story would be that he returned to the Middle East, was kidnapped by ISIS, and turned into a "comfort person."

The girls definitely were the stars of this one.

I have to wonder how the children and grandchildren are such decent people when Daddy Dearest is a total POS. I loved the FL and her dog, and the kids were great, too.

I rather liked the FL, but found myself actively disliking the ML. It started when he made the remark, after not seeing her for eight years about "no clothes." Come on, Dude, that's more than a bit on the crude side, and pretty much says that you're only looking for sex. What really set me off was that he out and out betrayed her with him taking pictures of her paintings and showing them to his friend. What happened to "a secret between us?" That pretty much sounded like a promise of confidentiality to me. Not only was what he did a breach of trust, it puts him in the class of the "I know what's best for you" type of person. No wonder his college aged sister is sick and tired of his interference. His type of person has always driven me insane, and I try to avoid them like the plague.

Wow. The ML wasn't a complete and utter scumbag. Instead of a token apology, it was as though he was actually tormented by his guilt. His sister really rocked too!

Dude had some baggage, but didn't use it as an excuse to be a psychopathic a**hole. I also liked the fact that he looked after his employees and his clients without trying for a Santa Clause image, preferring to be a little distant from everyone. It's a rare trait, and I noticed in my time in the military that people with that trait made the best commanders.

She rocked, but he spent the first half of the story as pretty much of a lost puppy. I'm glad that he turned around. The dude who accosted her in the Parisian cafe needed to have his jaw broken. The jealous hoe who tried to hurt the FL in her anger against the ML is filth.

I liked the FL: she was innocent, yet the very opposite of stupid. Papa and the ML, however, were a pair of ignorant, supercilious saps.

Amazing! The FL wasn't a horndog with seduction on his mind 24 and 7. He was certainly heterosexual, but concerned with how she felt, not just with his blue b@$$s, like most Harlequin MLs.