Rosemary > Recent Status Updates

Y’all, sex after being seasick for 24 hours (vomiting until it’s only bile) is weird and unbelievable. Eww.

Why did we skip over the proposal? Isn’t that important?

I have to say this. I hate cruelty in books and women with no agency. Christi Caldwell knows how to write characters that I hate. Lately, the man is always cruel and the woman is TSTL whose mind blanks and cant speak or react to anything because cruel man is hot. Sigh. I hate those things, yet, her writing pulls me in and I don't want to stop reading it, so I can see what happens next. I don't know how she does it.

If you have ever lost control of your mind and body because a man is handsome, raise your hand.
I truly hate that women are written this way. Who has experienced this in real life? If you have, let me know. I have not. Ever.

This is no longer lighthearted and fun. The tone of these has changed and the ladies aren’t really that wanton. This is very disappointing. I may quit the series. The first one was so good, but they are progressively getting worse and worse.

We know the stats that 1 in 6 women have been raped or sexually assaulted. We know these women. When I read, I read to escape the real world. I want to be entertained. The FMC in this book was raped by a family member, then abused by a boyfriend. I don’t want to work through this trauma with her. I’m considering DNFing this book. I read in other reviews that the MMC was useless.

Why would skip the first sex scene? It’s closed door and we’re just told it happened. The first one is always important. I keep making a cringe face while reading.

I’m really not enjoying this plot/storyline at all. The FMC is a doormat martyr who is not likable or rational. I’m skimming at this point.

It is so disturbing to me to think about having sex with someone who doesn't want to have sex with you. The person just lays there. That is just gross to me. It makes me feel disgust. I know men do it all the time. I don't get it. It must be like masterbating but using a person as an object. and they fall in love later. wtf

I know I need to DNF this. I'm at 20% and this is horrible. I'm so puzzled as to why women write and women read stories about other women being abused continuously in a book. Why women want to read about women with no choices. Women who martyr themselves for their family. She is going to sell herself to an utter asshole to pay a debt. I want to cry for her. Who enjoys this? I hate y'all.

So far I’m irritated. There was all yelling and no showing. I’m 25 pages in and they are having sex. They stop to change positions and start having a conversation about her childhood. What? I wouldn’t want to reminisce about my father and upbringing right then.

our author describes the MMC standing there like "a statue or a centaur, granite hard and equally unmovable" What? That doesn't even make sense. Centaurs move around. A lot.

Just fyi to the author, tripe stew/soup is not fish.

Why are we festishizing "innocence" and virginity in 2025? She's literally like "what's happening to my body?" "Why am I wet?" I do remember being a virgin. I don't remember losing control and my mind like I was under hypnosis. Sigh.

So far the MMC is a villain. He basically bought a wife so he could use her as a sex doll until she got pregnant. Then he would go back to prostitutes. He doesn’t see her as a person at all. He’s actually surprised when she has thoughts or feelings. I smell a body betrays me. He will give her orgasms & that will be enough to fall in love. I hate this so far. I’m tempted to DNF.

DNF at 60% too much non consent. I hated this.

Either the stories are good or they are so irritating I have to DNF the story. I skipped the story where the couple married and then the husband leaves for years. I knew that would make me mad. I DNF’d the story where the FMC was supposed to be smart, but she misunderstood the MMC constantly, but no one else.DNF’d story with misunderstanding & lies. I also hate cruel parents with no comeuppance

The couple meet, make an agreement for them to have a fake engagement and then we skip ahead two months. That cheats us out of them getting to know each other and navigating social events together. It’s the growing pains that make it interesting and we skipped over it. I feel like that’s lazy and cheap.

I’m considering DNFing this book. It’s like reading events in real time. Our MMC definitely abused a servant in front of lots of people and almost got her fired. They haven’t seen each other in a year. I may be finished with this author. It just keeps getting worse.

I DNF'd this the first time at 18% because they took too long standing outside, literally freezing and bickering. I decided to try it again. I'm at 24% and they are still bickering. So far the FMC has been hateful and difficult for no real reason. If I had a hard day and sometime stopped to help me, I would be grateful, not hateful and insulting.

They have found their siblings. The arguments were dumb and they acquiesced too quickly. The couple literally had no reason to elope and hide the wedding. If they had a wedding and let the others get to know each other, it would have made sense. The couple went to a lot of trouble and effort just to not hear an opinion of grumpy siblings.

Just want to note that no high born educated man would say “you did good”.

Oh no! So far the FMC is TSTL. Doing things that are life and death serious, without discussing it with the person who will be affected. Also, withholding information is lying. Ew.

The writing is good as always. I don't enjoy reading about cruelty. I read to escape the horror of the world. I just don't believe that the Duke's son couldn't have enough power to find someone. His father is sick and he is going to be the Duke. He could fire anyone keeping secrets and ruin their reputations. Duke's are above the law and he could literally threaten them with violence if they did not comply.

Some of this is really good. Some of this is repetitive. It’s okay if we don’t know who the murderer is, but we need to know the FMC’s secret. It’s okay if the other characters don’t, but it’s annoying me at this point that we’ve talked about a secret the main character has and we don’t know it yet, more than halfway through the book

Leech's writing is so good. It's so nice to read good writing. There is so much mediocre and bad out there. It makes me appreciate Emma V. Leech all the more. She has written some of my most favorite books ever. I am enjoying this so far.

This is the type of book where the parents are assholes. The MMC is also an asshole, BUT he’s so hot the FMC loses her mind.
If you’ve fallen in love with an asshole because he’s hot, please comment below.

It's getting better. I do prefer one trauma and one villain per book though.