Lost me at page 50
I DETEST when books use a second language and offer no translation even though Amazon has "translate" as an option in its app and none of the foreign words used are recognized by any of the translation apps available online. Couple my disgust at having a book riddled with words that have no meaning to me, with the flick of a switch, about-face change in emotional response during the initial scene and I was nearly instantly turned off.
The death knell in this plot for me was how after the female gets triggered and tries to fight back when trapped and manhandled by the male lead - her inner monologue alluding to something like a sexual assault from her past- milliseconds later she's suddenly unbearably turned on made me livid. When a person is that viscerally triggered to the degree they feel the need to struggle and fight back, their fear response doesn't just go away instantly, they don't suddenly just get over being triggered and get turned on the next second like their trauma response didn't slam through their body, mind, and emotions. For the author to make it seem like a trigger to past trauma can be that inconsequential, or fickle, is sickening and offensive.
Besides, that initial meeting was all over the place. To put it mildly, the female lead was not very impressive, and her vacillating responses immediately reminded me more of a coed on spring break at Ft Lauderdale in her mentality and inability to get herself under control, than a top-notch polyglot attorney. Consequently, the author lost me at page 50. I prefer my female leads to be less ditzy, slutty, libido driven fan-girl, and certainly less reactionary, in favor of more intelligent, self-respecting, self-controlled, at least levelheaded if not sagacious.