Z. > Recent Status Updates

Also this whole argument abt how to be an aristocrat is to be caged, unlike "normal men"...but failing to realize how "normal men" are caged in ways that aristocrats aren't due to their truly immense & disgusting privilege - writing a Regency romance abt aristocrats while also trying to be progressive is just a contradiction in terms so long as authors are unwilling write much less likeable characters & happy endings

Ok sorry but how does eating meat engender no moral qualms while fishing does...how is it bad to catch a fish then kill & eat it but fine to catch a fish & throw it back ie intentionally injure another living being purely for entertainment? Obv there are people irl who happily eat factory farm products but think hunting is bad so, realistic. But still. Fictional characters, pls think your convictions through a bit

I don't think this book is really interested in addressing it but uhhh very curious about how this guy reconciles his vehement anti-drug stance with being an alcohol dealer

'Nikos liked his entertainment to be like his affairs; frenetic and forgettable.' God I love this stuff

'It was termed a penknife only in the loosest sense; on sight anyone would recognise it for the deadly fighting instrument it truly was. Children loved it when he showed it to them. Their basic human nature had not yet been knocked out of them by the insane political correctness infecting the rest of the Western world.' I can't believe the woke left is preventing children from stabbing each other omg

'His mother had been unfortunate in that she’d already loved his father when they had married, and it was that love which had ultimately destroyed her, long before the car crash that had taken both his parents’ lives.' Yayyy the classic parent-destroying car crash - I hope there's data somewhere breaking down the frequency of fatal Harlequin Presents car accidents

'All the same, she couldn’t drag her eyes away as he scraped the cut-throat razor down his cheek. In its own way it had an eroticism to it, transporting her to a bygone time when men had been men.' So delightful, I'm fascinated by this. Just slice open your face like a real man.

'Nel had lent her a latchkey and he took it from her to open the street door and then put it back into her hand' - I still think this kind of thing is one of the most bizarre conventions of older romance - just let her open her own door?!

I'm basically reading this book out of stubbornness so it's a bit unfair to complain, but: making the Mexican American character who has an anglo dad, never speaks Spanish to his family or friends, & never speaks Spanish in any other context - start speaking Spanish during sex - is A Choice. (I am curious about the accuracy of the Spanish itself, I know enough to read literal meanings but idk connotations very well)

'When I look over at [MY SISTER], she’s standing with her mouth open and a dazed look in her eyes. “You guys should give a masterclass on how to kiss because my God.”' Like...is this a surprise twincest book?

giving the overly invested female friend role to one of the main characters' sister does give this book a certain je ne sais quoi. not a good je ne sais quoi though

I understand what the author is going for but this like "he's a total top bc of Mexican machismo" thing is not well-executed...and the way this guy is described like wow he's tan and has black hair and exotic blue eyes (omg a Mexican-American with blue eyes??? how did that happen what a mystery?) - lol okay.

'“The conversation with my father earlier wasn’t enough for you to realize I don’t consider myself like the rest of them regardless of my bank account balance?” he fires at me.' Oh no...I was here for irresponsible driving, not sensitive rich people apologism

"Trust me, the team won’t let me race again until I’m cleared by a whole bunch of doctors.” that sounds reasonable until you remember that motogp drs are the guys who will agree a rider is sufficiently recovered from breaking their collarbone or w/e if they can do one pushup...lol it remains to be seen whether this book is set in a very different world or Xander is just clueless/deliberately misleading in saying this

"There is nothing bridal about Lisette. She is designed by nature for the Other Woman. It is the little Loraine who will make the perfect bride. She has all the qualities.” Yesss I love it when she brings back Other Women to cause problems for even more heroines...I hope Peroni gets a look in as well

'"And as she didn't leave any will and I am the only real relation - well, as Gerald says, one can't go against the law." (...) He and Susan were entirely within their rights - their legal rights. Susan was the sole blood relation of Aunt Evelyn. Valerie had only been her beloved adopted daughter for the last twelve years.'

Finally, a romance novel that truly highlights the importance of creating a will

"the titleholder and heirs of the Windermere estate were to abduct, seduce and consummate their relationship in the forest on the east of the estate before they legally wed. (...) Richard had been sired in that manner, born four months after the wedding, as had his father and every earl before him for six generations." Actual lol igss this was already established in the series but it truly came out of the blue for me

In fairness maybe this takes place after priests were actually required for a valid marriage...but people were still marrying without them anyway...I can acknowledge that my nitpicking is pointless and driven by skepticism about this book in general

Literally why are they looking for a priest so they can married? You can marry whenever wherever that's one of the fun things about medieval europe!!

'You look like a child with your hair back like that,' he murmured huskily. 'A sweet, desirable child. Your skin is like a child's too, so soft, so white—you're beautiful.' Damn, throwing up a little bit

'He put a finger under her chin. 'Trust me, little one,' he said softly.' Frankly any man who behaves like this toward his gf deserves to be framed and imprisoned for smuggling heroin as part of her secret revenge scheme, whether or not he's actually responsible for the thing she wants revenge for

"He knew without vanity that he was a better, more attractive, more sensually appealing man than his younger, less dynamic brother." I love lines like this - I love the idea of this guy just sitting around thinking 'of course I am more sensually appealing than poor Leon' - great stuff

It's obviously beside the point but I'm so curious about how this probate would have worked in England in 1940...so many romance novels use improbable/sensational wills as a plot device yet so few provide in-depth details of the probate process :(

"He changed gear, turned the steering wheel with one of those smooth fingertip flourishes that said the man controlled the car and not the other way around." Literally so much sexual tension between this man and his vehicle, it's crazy

"He turned the key in the ignition and brought the car alive on a low, growling roar. (...) The man, the car—it was like being bombarded by testosterone from every possible source (...) She could see his own tension in the way his long fingers gripped the squat gear stick"...of course this rent-a-tycoon wants to fuck his sports car. The really interesting twist is that the car is also a dude.

The romance isn't *that* bad as HP goes but like..."You lean on him! You barely exist when he isn’t near you"...heterosexuality is horror

"She didn’t even have a best friend any more. Trina belonged to Frew now, just, she supposed heavily, as she belonged to Leon." These two sentences contain more romantic tension than all of the main characters' interactions with each other

The real escapist fantasy this book caters to isn't about an exotic hot guy showing up in your ordinary life, it's about imagining that a woman would be into the absolute corniest lines you could possibly come up with

Also glad I don't have to hang out with people who say "nope" and pop the p

So glad I don't have the kind of job contemporary romance characters work at, where your coworkers are constantly bantering about how you need to get laid