schomj's review
3.0
I picked this up because of a promotional deal (or something, I can't remember) and didn't realize until I started reading it that I'm not actually a fan of this author duo.
Fortunately, while it retains the element that makes me not a fan -- the hero having some pre-determined idea about how no woman can ever handle his true self or whatever, to the point where it seems like he has never paid the slightest attention to the woman he's supposedly in love with -- it mostly didn't bother me in here. I think because Katsu was an interesting enough person to overcome Evan's assheadedness.
The thing is, the major thing that was so weird to me throughout the book, is that not only was the heroine's name Katsu, but Evan used -kun as an affectionate honorific when talking with her. (Sometimes spelled -kan.) Katsu is usually a guy's name and -kun is usually used when speaking to guys (-ko for girls) so... The combination of those things made me a little unsure whether the authors had done that intentionally to somehow reference her military father or if they were just making stuff up after watching some anime. The book also seemed unsure whether to describe her as a "Japanese doll" or "not like a Japanese woman" because she has boobs .... seriously weird. She's also half-white (I assume; her father's ethnicity isn't referenced but he has blue eyes and people seem to write white as the unmarked default.) I don't know, man. I support offering more stories about non-white characters, but this wouldn't be something I'd recommend to someone looking for interracial romance. The whole thing borders on Asian fetish fantasy a little too often.
Oh, yeah, and I almost forgot -- the sex. (How I almost forgot given it's 70% of the story, I don't know.) The bdsm stuff is pretty exclusively domination and submission with a little light spanking and very mild bondage.
Fortunately, while it retains the element that makes me not a fan -- the hero having some pre-determined idea about how no woman can ever handle his true self or whatever, to the point where it seems like he has never paid the slightest attention to the woman he's supposedly in love with -- it mostly didn't bother me in here. I think because Katsu was an interesting enough person to overcome Evan's assheadedness.
The thing is, the major thing that was so weird to me throughout the book, is that not only was the heroine's name Katsu, but Evan used -kun as an affectionate honorific when talking with her. (Sometimes spelled -kan.) Katsu is usually a guy's name and -kun is usually used when speaking to guys (-ko for girls) so... The combination of those things made me a little unsure whether the authors had done that intentionally to somehow reference her military father or if they were just making stuff up after watching some anime. The book also seemed unsure whether to describe her as a "Japanese doll" or "not like a Japanese woman" because she has boobs .... seriously weird. She's also half-white (I assume; her father's ethnicity isn't referenced but he has blue eyes and people seem to write white as the unmarked default.) I don't know, man. I support offering more stories about non-white characters, but this wouldn't be something I'd recommend to someone looking for interracial romance. The whole thing borders on Asian fetish fantasy a little too often.
Oh, yeah, and I almost forgot -- the sex. (How I almost forgot given it's 70% of the story, I don't know.) The bdsm stuff is pretty exclusively domination and submission with a little light spanking and very mild bondage.
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