u/FoxenInTheHenhice

I was curious about books in which the MC mourning the death of a loved one plays a role in how the new marriage develops (or stunts). Perhaps the person is resentful because they just wanted to mourn their previous spouse but got sent to marry someone else and are not happy.

Books that I have read with MCs marrying while still on mourning:

{A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy} - the FMC just lost her brother and the MMC lost his wife >!and son!< a year before so neither want to marry right now.

{An Infamous Marriage by Susanna Fraser} - the FMC was widowed shortly after her marriage and her husband had wanted her to re-marry the MMC so he could be assured she would be stable. Neither MC is happy about this.

{Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt} - both MCs are in mourning; the MMC lost his beloved wife the previous year and the FMC just lost the man she was going to marry. As she is pregnant, her brother blackmails the MMC to marry her to save her reputation.

{A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp} - the FMC lost her father two weeks before she agreed to a quick marriage of convenience with the 'dying' MMC. She is wearing mourning colours throughout the book and the MMC wryly tells her not to wear black for him.

{A Bride for a Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath} - the FMC's father has barely been dead a week before her half-brother shows up for the first time, takes her to an isolated inn on the hillside and tells her he plans to marry her to the surly owner. Between this and homelessness while in debt, she decides the former is better.

{My Darling Mr Darling by Aydra Richards} - the teenaged FMC's father died and had put his last request that she marry his young protégé who helped his business grow. Neither are happy to marry so young and suddenly without having met each other but she suffers much worse and the MMC spends years searching for her to make amends.

{A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant} - the MCs do not marry in this book but are married before the events of the next one. As the plot starts a week after the FMC's husband died and the aim was for her to get pregnant soon enough to pass the baby off as his, >!presumably the two married soon after the end of the book so they could pass off their baby as being conceived in THEIR wedlock.!<

{Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer} - the FMC's husband had died some months before the book starts and she is practical enough to know that she needs another pair of hands at the farm because she is pregnant with her third baby. The MMC sees her newspaper ad about her looking for a husband. She is not grieving the loss of her husband; she misses him but seems to have come to terms with his death.

I have posted a few times before about the most unique, unsavoury or regretted first meetings between MCs but how about ones that were just plain humiliating for one or both of them? At least one MMC should be embarrassed and say so.

Examples:

{Bargaining for the Barrister by Anneka R. Walker} - he accidentally hits the FMC's stomach when suddenly woken up, falls into her arms because his feet are asleep, gets his cuff button painfully stuck in her hair and then falls back onto the bench which topples over. So he is on his back with his feet up in front of the FMC and his matchmaking mother.

{Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh} - she accidentally drips her lemonade in the eyes of an icy, dignified duke by mistake and he thinks she is a clumsy staff member.

{A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe} - he is drunk, riding a horse inside his flat in a hotel as part of his birthday party and tumbles off it at the FMC's feet because he dozed off. To add insult to the injury, he does not even recall the bargain he made with her the previous night and is embarrassed that he agreed to pose as her terrible fiancé.

{The Unlovely Bride by Alice Coldbreath} - the heavily veiled FMC bursts into the MMC's quarters about three seconds after he finished using the chamber pot and pulled his clothes on. It is more mortifying for her since he himself is shameless and annoyed.

I feel like Nichole Van's MCs often have their first meeting in embarrassing situations so I could think of multiple there:

{Suffering the Scot by Nichole Van} - the geologist FMC was stuck deep in a river because she got fascinated by some of the rocks there and the MMC and his friend show up, both looking as Scottish as can be. Her strict family would never let her live this down and she is embarrassed to have to be helped up by two strange men while soaking wet and muddy and having been caught loudly swearing.

{Romancing the Rake by Nichole Van} - the MMC spots her watching him at a ball from behind the curtains covering a ballroom alcove and sneaks up behind to cheekily greet her. She is embarrassed to be caught because she was observing him for her findings about rakus lasciviosus. Then she sniffs him.

{Loving a Lady by Nichole Van} - the FMC's carriage gets opened up and in dives the shirtless, bloodied rookie victor of the prizefighting match. Cue frozen eye contact. The MMC had been trying to hide from the mob about to beat him because they had bet against him. She gives him her shawl to wear. They also overhear one of her suitors insulting her.

{Making the Marquess by Nichole Van} - the FMC's sister's labour starts while they were on a carriage ride through the country and the MMC was the only physician nearby not drunk at the time so he rushed over. The expecting woman has doubts about his ability... given that he showed up looking like Louis XIV complete with the wig and rouge. He refuses to drink so he had to do all the drinking game forfeits.

{A Heart Sufficient by Nichole Van} - the MMC is standing by himself in a duke's garden when the FMC sneaks up behind him, puts her hands over his eyes and playfully trills 'Guess who?' He is not amused and demands she move away from him. She is mortified and complies instantly; she had mistaken him for her childhood friend >!who was the MMC's half-nephew!<. She said her brothers teased her about this for months.

Give your favourite awkward meet-cutes!

An MC gets jealous because they think the other MC likes or admires someone romantically. Now, the 'someone' may actually be a close relative they like platonically, someone not attracted to them, a pet, a fictional character etc. So the MC had been stewing in jealousy about this 'rival' and might be a little embarrassed when they find out the truth.

What comes to mind:

{Miss Beresford and the Beast by Mimi Matthews} - the MMC's incompetent valet finds the FMC's letter when they arrive trying to figure out her identity and he genuinely believes the FMC was engaged to a 'Mr Aloysius' and going to meet another man. Until the MMC actually reads the letter himself, he believes him. >!Mr Aloysius is her cat and the 'assignation with the person she likes best' was her joking way of saying she was going to read and sketch in peace and quiet on her own.!<

{A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp} - the FMC had been engaged 11 years ago to the MMC's cousin and he made her break up with him because the man needed to marry for money because of financial problems. Presently, the MMC is extremely unwell and the two marry for practical reasons so his wealth does not go to his relatives. Although his cousin is happily married, the MMC still believes his wife carries a torch for him and is spending time with him in secret. >!She IS going to his home a lot but it is because she loves to coo over his baby daughter with his wife and mother.!<

{The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret} - the MMC's first impression of the FMC was that she is a title-chasing social climber. It does not help when he finds her notebook and sees what he assumes are her ratings of proposals she has received by men. >!Those were ratings of proposals she had observed, and even accidentally interrupted, between other couples and noted them down as material for a book she and her friends were working on.!<

{A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare} - the MMC is jealous that the FMC has been corresponding with an intellectual man and tells her the man likely is an old fellow who would want to flirt with her. >!She tells him she had signed her letters under a male pseudonym so the man would not even know she is a woman. In any case, he really is an intellectual and progessive-minded charming handsome gentleman and the MMC is rather discomfited by that.!<

I would preferably like it if the jealous misunderstanding gets resolved early on and in a mature manner.

For this request, I wanted something in which the marriage was arranged and took place but the MCs are open to (and would like) it becoming a love marriage with time. They may make an effort to spend time with the other and give them what they like or just talk about various subjects together. They do not have to be of similar personalities or temperaments but being able to compromise and be agreeable would certainly help. I doubt a 'my way or the highway' mindset would make matters better. A lot of arranged marriage books have one or the other MC gritting their teeth and dragging their feet through the ceremony. Given that arranged marriages have historically been (and, in a good number of places, continue to be) the norm, I wanted to read about characters who maturely sit down and decide how to navigate their lives together even if they feel awkward right now.

The book I thought of as an example is {His Disinclined Bride by Jennie Goutet} which is exactly what I am looking for. The FMC is not happy to be essentially sold to a husband by her brother for his business purposes and the MMC just wanted the money to gain some financial independence from his parents. Both are on the more reserved and shy side and very awkward with the other to start with but slowly become more comfortable and want to be on better terms. At one point, the FMC lies about their marriage being one of love to save face in front of others; the MMC also covers her lie and later tells her privately that he hopes theirs can eventually become a love marriage.

The MC sees the other MC as unsuitable for their beloved younger sibling or cousin or even close friend. They do everything to put down that MC and convince their close on that the MC is not worth it. So when MC1 falls for the same person they had made arguments against, that is going to lead to awkwardness and 'I told you so'.

Some books with this:

{Wedded Bliss by Celeste Bradley} - he actually deceives the FMC into marrying him, thinking he is protecting his brother.

{Dancing on Coals by Ellen O'Connell} - the MMC is disgusted at the thought of his brother wanting to marry the 'white woman'.

{A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp} - the MMC had convinced the FMC to break up with his cousin >!and half-brother!< before the events of this book because he needed to marry a woman with a big dowry.

{A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath} - the FMC had been discouraging her cousin before the events of the book. And {An Ill-Made Match by Alice Coldbreath} also has a cousin example.

{Adjacent But Only Just by Nichole Van} did not have the MMC discourage but he made his displeasure clear to his brother that he did not know or bother to know the FMC

I have forgotten but I recall the FMC in {A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare} also trying to get him away from her sister by promising him money.

Even {Pride and Prejudice} has a case with him falling for the woman whose family was so objectionable he discouraged his best friend from marrying her sister.

It can be to their horror that they, who valued themselves as independent and scorned emotional weakness, got used to gentle physical touch or being taken care of. And they want more of it.

{Trusting Miss Trentham by Emily Larkin} - he even realises that she treats him like she is his nursemaid and he likes it. This includes her giving him sleeping medicine, holding his hand and reading him Greek literature to sleep.

{A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp} - he notes his new affinity for being coddled because he likes her head massages which she would give him when he was unwell or in pain.

{The Marquess Wins a Wife by Aydra Richards} - he jokes she could shoot him again if it meant she would take care of him, nurse him to feel better and massage his head. She is not amused.

{The Lord I Left by Scarlett Peckham} - right at the end, his secret fantasy is revealed to be >!wanting someone who cherishes him for who he is. This includes massaging his body and rubbing his feet and just generally making him feel desirable. !<

{Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer} - the MMC craves to be held and have his head rubbed and hair stroked because he never got that type of gentle touch as a child.

{A Much Maligned Miss by Alice Coldbreath} - not as overt but the FMC notes that he seems to like being cooed over and told he is a good boy.

Bonus: A hilarious example is in {Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas} with the MMC recovering >!from a gunshot wound and accompanying fever!< but becoming the worst patient imaginable and continually calling his wife to his room with a bell. The FMC is much more emotionally intelligent and realises this is his way of getting her to hover over him and give him attention and physical touch because he is too proud to ask otherwise.

Apparently I quite like this relationship dynamic.

Edit: Cosseted, not cosetted

Some books I have read have MMCs who are focused on getting their revenge on another. In these cases, getting revenge both strongly motivates their behaviour and puts their relationship at risk.

In {Trusting Miss Trentham by Emily Larkin}, the MMC is so fixated on avenging his dead comrades that he approaches the unmarried FMC for her help even though it could ruin her reputation. >!She finds out that he is suicidal and getting revenge is the last thing he wishes to do before ending it. She is horrified and crushed.!<

In {Suffering the Scot by Nichole Van}, the MMC finds the identity of at least one person who had destroyed so many lives in his past. He is determined to have the person justly punished while the FMC wants him to forgive. >!Given who the traitor was, he really has to make a difficult choice.!<

The MMC of {The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt} is absolutely going to have his duel to avenge his brother, no matter whose lives will be ruined. The FMC cannot bear seeing this bloodthirsty version of him and it affects how much she trusts their marriage.

{Lady Gallant by Suzanne Robinson} has the MMC also repeatedly trying to get revenge on his childhood abductor and tormentor. He does not stop his search for him despite his wife scolding him.

In {The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran}, the MMC has a very justifiable desire for revenge and he does not want his wife around to see that.

What else can you think of?

Some books with FMCs who get mistaken for (and treated as) social climbers that I know are:

{A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy} - the MMC realises soon enough that he took the slander against her as true and tries to protect her interests from then on.

{Wedded Bliss by Celeste Bradley} - the MMC's brother tricks the FMC into signing a marriage certificate with him instead because he suspects she is after his brother ducal's title and money only.

{The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret} - the MMC's first impression of the FMC accidentally bumping and falling into his arms is that it was a trap to ensnare him and he is disdainful towards her for a while. No, she genuinely was not looking where she was going.

{The Fall That Kills by Peri Elizabeth Scott} - the MCs were betrothed since they were children but had never met. The MMC dislikes the idea of being forced into a marriage that he is looking for anything to prove the FMC is scheming for his title. The poor woman is just following her father's orders.

{Wed by Proxy by Alice Coldbreath} - the MMC was given a choice to marry and surrender all his property to a Southern woman he had never met or be executed after the war. So he does not have a good opinion of his wife in the four years since as they have never met.

{The Governess and the Rogue by Mimi Matthews} - while I do not recall exactly what the MMC's older brother said, I believe he wanted to be sure that the near-stranger he has just decided to marry is not after him because he is the son of an earl.

It would be good if genuine apologies and making of amends follow for the preconceived notions the MCs had. I cannot think of any at the moment where the MMC is mistaken as the fortune hunter (but who knows, maybe the upcoming Alice Coldbreath Karadok book might mention it from the previous book).

The titled and rich MCs (especially the MMCs) in HR really do have it easier in a way with their money to throw about, their multiple household staff members, their well-known name and connections. It's that title and money that has given them so much preferential treatment so when they smugly look down on less well-off people interested in them as being gold-digging social climbers or fortune hunters, it feels hypocritical. Not to say they do not exist but when you tar everyone with the same brush...

Some MCs wish their first meetings had been better or that they had been kinder to the other before or even that they could have got together earlier in their lives. But for other MCs, realistically, they could not have worked out earlier in their life. This could be because of age differences, the time when needed personality growth took place, external obstacles, other relationships or that the other needed to grow up to a more mature person.

Recently, I read this in {A Lass Beloved by Nichole Van} when the MMC asks if she would have noticed him had he had the courage to approach her over a decade ago. Both wish they could have been this close then but concede that they would have made 'a sorry pair' or had 'a tremendous amount of growing up to do' back then.

{A Foolish Flirtation by Alice Coldbreath} also talks about what they could have done in the past but then muse that the MMC's son would not have been born so they could not entirely regret it.

Although the MMC in {Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas} says he had been waiting for her, the FMC reminds him that she was a shy wallflower at balls who he never would have paid attention to. He admits she is right and bemoans his stupidity in that.

And the MMC in {The Scandal of the Season by Aydra Richards} even says that he wishes he could say he wanted to go back in time so he could court her when he first met her but shamefacedly says he is not a good person so he would likely not have looked at her twice unless she was a pawn in his scheme.

I was wondering what you feel about this. I like when MCs wish they could have got together earlier but think about it and realise that the current version of them would not like the past version of the other MC or that they were not ready to accept the MC as they were. ​Are there cases in which the MCs would have been absolutely miserable if they married earlier in their lives? And others for which they got together at the right time despite their wishes for it to have been years ago?

Signs:

Seeing the MMC helpless and hurt brings out their nurturing side, a lot of their relationship may have her looking after him and feel disappointed when that aspect changes. The nursing is early in the relationship and that is how the tender feelings developed and come in. Some MMCs also feel more likable when they are too ill to be mean or behave badly.

Examples:

{Trusting Miss Trentham by Emily Larkin} - the clearest example I have read. Seeing the MMC wake up in tears after his PTSD-induced nightmares and looking so lost and helpless gets her nurturing tendencies in full swing. She also bosses him to eat more food, drink sleep medications, reads him to sleep and holds him till he drifts off.

{A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp} - she guiltily calls herself 'wanton' for enjoying rubbing her husband's chest while he has a fever. She is a doctor's daughter so she is used to looking after the ill and the MMC (who is told he is dying) even mockingly says she found someone to play nursemaid to again.

{Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale} - playing 'nursemaid' comes up and she thinks he does not need her anymore once he sees an improvement (but not a cure) in his speech production and comprehension after his stroke. That thought saddens her - not that he is better but that she likely has no role in his life otherwise.

{The Woes of Wooing a Wife in 12 Days by Mihwa Lee} - she starts off hating having to provide 'intimate care' to her estranged husband but then feels disappointed that she does not have to tend to him anymore. It was actually the only intimacy they had shared up till this point.

While it is not in {Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas}, this aspect of the MCs' relationship is in the previous book and how the FMC meets him. She is gentle and sweet and he demands her presence while he is recuperating. He even asks her cousin later if she was 'playing Florence Nightingale' in hopes of getting a marriage proposal.

{The Marquess Wins a Wife by Aydra Richards} - I realised it may be the opposite - he is actually very obnoxious and she probably wants to strangle him because he throws tantrums - but she still looks after him and even chooses to forgo her own food for him. She has a habit of picking up 'strays', according to another but the feelings develop after he is recovered and deliberately working off his debt to the family.

I also did not include {Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas} because that is much later in their relationship and her feelings for him had already developed. It probably had a reverse effect with HIM falling badly in love with her; this is for the nursing party to fall for the patient.

There is a contemporary romance book I like which starts off with what is usually the ending of a Hallmark film. The city girl FMC is alone in a small town for Christmas, breaks up on call with her boyfriend of many years because she feels he prioritises his work all the time instead of making the effort to pick her up, falls for a rugged local man who teaches her the meaning of Christmas and gives up her soulless career for meaningful job in rejuvenating the town's newspaper. So the beginning of the book is her giving up her previous life to marry the man who seems like he will love and cherish her.

Five years later, the magic has all but worn off. The couple can barely stand each other, have gone for marriage counselling, have been struggling financially, she has few friends, her IVF procedures were unsuccessful and she has nothing meaningful to do because the newspaper shut down when everything went digital. And they are divorcing. She heartily regrets giving up her whole life for a man who promised he wanted to share his life with her... but it became clear later on that neither could adjust in each other's very different worlds and expectations after the honeymoon period was over. She leaves for her hometown and that is where the plot actually starts from.

Obviously, it will be different if in an HR book but are there any plotlines like this? A false start, reality seeps in and then the MC has to pick up their broken pieces to start over. I imagine that if someone wrote a sequel to many HR books with incompatible couples, this is how they might even start. I know there are books in which the MC marries someone at the beginning but they are widowed by the next chapter and they meet the other MC later so I suppose that could count. Second chances might also fit.

EDIT: I do not know if I can mention it in the comments but the book is A World Without You by Caitlin Moss.

It is not always a popular dynamic to get back with an ex who broke off the betrothal but I was curious because of a book that has it but the reviews were negative regarding the MMC which I can understand - specifically, {It Happened in the Highlands by May McGoldrick}. The FMC had been jilted in the past by the MMC who went on to marry someone else in the meantime.

What I wanted to to try: a couple may have been betrothed but something happened and one jilted the other or broke it off. The FMC would be more affected and HR books would generally have her find someone else who is better but are there any in which she restarts the romance with the ex years later? For this to work, the ex would have had to have matured or become a person worthy of putting her trust in him again. Or the MMC was rejected by a woman years ago and now tries again to court her, for whatever reason.

The MCs would really not have been good for each other in the past so the mature present versions of them would actually make sense together. I thought of books in which the MCs wish they had met each other earlier in their life but then also contend that they would not have liked the people they were then.

I apologise for how long this ended up being but I have not written a Gush/Rave Review post before since I usually gush in the form of recommending a book multiple times. I just read this and it gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling which I thought others may be looking for (but please note the TWs at the bottom).

{A Lass Beloved by Nichole Van} just came out and it is the second book in her {The Earls of Cairnfell} series and focuses on the overlooked middle child of the aristocratic Kinseys (Matthias) and a widowed former diamond of the first water debutante who is incognito as a housekeeper at his estate (Cecily).

Matthias: He was born with a stump in place of a right forearm and has been made to feel his whole life that he is a 'demon spawn' who should have been abandoned at birth, even by his own mother, and that women would be appalled to marry him. He grew up extremely shy, reclusive and diffident but had a skill with helping horses overcome hurt from past abusive owners. Horses will not judge him unlike people around whom he makes himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. His social awkwardness around others has frustrated his tyrannical older brother under whose thumb he is finally taking steps to be out from. If you remember him from the previous book, you will know how difficult that is.

Cecily: She was a sweet, naive woman who was fending off marriage offers from right to left until she accepted what seemed like a good match. What followed was years of an abusive marriage, long-lasting trauma and a terror of her husband's predatory cousin and she fled when she got the chance to take employment while her uncle kept her appraised of the situation back home. Having lived in disguise as a Scottish housekeeper for two years has been a relief but she lives in fear of the abusive men somehow finding her.

Both MCs are in their 30s and have seen the ugliest versions of people but are still furious about the abuse and cruelty the other has experienced, hoping to help them heal from it. The analogy of wounded animals gets brought up often; the MMC sees the FMC's trauma responses through that lens that he recognises in his animals and the FMC feels he is already bracing for pain and hurt whenever he goes out alone to meet a crowd of people, trying to hide away like a small animal in front of predators. Meanwhile, the FMC is staggered that this handsome, kind, compassionate gentleman - she even says a couple of times that no man could possibly be this good - does not have women crowding to marry him. Due to Admiral Nelson being an admired figure, strangers at balls or gatherings initially assume the MMC lost his arm in glorious battle and their expressions turn UGLY when they are informed he was born like it. The time period was not kind to birth defects which the people fear will be hereditary.

I do not like employee-employer relationships due to the obvious power imbalance and I was glad that 1) that was discussed a lot how precarious her reputation is, 2) the MMC revealed he knew her identity so they could talk as social equals and 3) he already wrote her a glowing recommendation in case she decided to walk out right then if him knowing the truth made her uncomfortable.

The book is absolutely adorable with regards to how the two start getting along and help the other build up their confidence. Some of my favourite moments:

• The lists of goals to achieve by the MCs which may seem so silly to others but take a lot of courage and motivation after you have lived so long having been suppressed and terrified.
• Because the MMC cannot eat foods intended for two-handed people without a footman cutting them into pieces for him, the FMC tactfully asks him about his favourite dishes so she can make the menu something he can eat easily.
• The MMC has never done more than hold a non-relative woman's gloved hand so the FMC asks if she can see his arm stump - (how scandalous! 😂) - then she shakes his forearm in a playful greeting with him kissing her hand like that.
• One of his goals is to learn how to converse with strangers since the only topics he can speak about are today's weather and tomorrow's expected weather. The two practise the art of conversation while on horseback
• The FMC rides a side-saddle horse for the first time in years. The other staff members come to watch, expecting some laughs, and are left stunned at her excellent skills.
• Dance practice lessons with stepped-on feet, other klutziness >!and hugging acclimatisation for MCs who are touch-starved and touch-averse!<
• Representation matters even in HR context. The MMC reads Admiral Nelson's autobiography and relates to what the man felt about losing his arm and adjusting his life accordingly. He also wryly wishes that the admiral had talked about what is the correct way for a man to place his arm stump when dancing with a woman - does she hold the stump or pretend-hold the air above?
• Rawkin the butler/'father of the castle'. I really appreciated him and how he manages things without being judgmental.
• An antagonist gets dealt with in a suitable way. >!He is literally thrown out of the MMC's house after taunting the man about his arm stump and supposed cognitive disability and the butler even opens the door for the master. And the duke actually is slightly likable in this book compared to the awful creature he had been in the previous one because he agrees to help subdue the antagonist!<
• The fact that >!Matthias verbally stands up to his big brother and tells him no. That is a huge deal and I cannot stress on how much.!<
• The ending. >!I could see it coming after he initially rescinded his urgent marriage offer because he realised that it would not help her trauma and lack of autonomy if she just married again to avoid an enemy. So he helped her get home without any risk of her reputation being impacted so she could heal, find her old self again, be happy... and then CHOOSE to marry him as a first choice and not a hurried option.!<

Nichole Van's books are closed-door and the relationship building and development have largely always been good, in my opinion. I could see why the characters liked each other and think they really needed each other. If I had a complaint, it would be that I wish one of the supporting characters from the previous book, Lady Mariah, had a bigger role because she and the FMC even came out in the same season >!and both have experienced betrayal from the men they loved which continues to impact them. This could have been a great friendship if she appeared before the epilogue. Maybe in the next book will we see you get your HEA, Mariah.!<

Trigger warnings: Past physical and psychological abuse, triggered trauma responses, historical in-context ableism, >!brief mention of miscarriages due to physical violence!<

The MC may be so emotionally overwhelmed that it comes out as even gibbering or they later feel embarrassed about how they shamessly threw out their feelings. It can also be for undignified proposals if the element of love comes in them.

I've recommended it quite often recently and the FMC in {A Mometary Marriage by Candace Camp} even uses the word 'graceless' about how the MMC goes about it.>!He angrily admits that OF COURSE he had lied when he said he did not love her before and throws a few small ceramic figurines against a wall in the emotionally-charged confrontation. He is ashamed for making an idiot of himself again in front of her but she is luckily understanding and even flattered about this.!<

The proposal in {Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase} is also hilariously undignified. It is not often that an MC encapsulates their feelings as >!'Marry me, drat you!'!<

And the FMC's siblings in {A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant} call it >!the poorest proposal they have heard.!< The FMC does not care and holds a lot of sway over her siblings despite being the youngest.

It can also be that the MC chose a terrible time to reveal their feelings, if not just having a poor choice of words.

For those MCs that remind you of a big cat because of any feline characteristics, why is that?

The FMC in {Romancing the Rake by Nichole Van} rescues stray cats and the only thing that helps her get her spirit and old spark back after a tough marriage is a basket of kittens. At a couple of points (including their first meeting), she throws aside personal space and sniffs the MMC. It makes more sense in context. She also nuzzles the MMC in affection and tells him to pretend she is a cat bunting him.

The MMC in {A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy} is rather leonine. Even if you take the fact that he was scarred by a jaguar in a jungle years ago, he has a predatory prowling manner and even goes on his haunches to (playfully) chase after the FMC. The FMC suggests a big lion mask for him to wear at an upcoming masquerade party as well. And there was this dialogue between the FMC Thea and her friend Arabella when they are wary of him:

A: 'And don't go near Lord Luxborough. He might think you are a mouse and pounce.'

T: 'He might rub against me and purr.'

A: ...

T: 'That didn't come out quite as I intended.'

Any other growling, hissing, lazing, purring, affection-demanding, playing with their prey, drawing away from physical affection or beseeching with their cuteness MCs? I see many who get compared to an overeager dog trailing after the MC for scraps of affection so I wanted to see the cat-like MCs.

I thought of {A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath} because the MMC had burned his bridges with his fight promoter a year before in a fit of temper but being in prison humbled him. Being married recently also made him more personable and the man is surprised but willing to give him another shot because he now has to be more level-headed and mature to support his wife.

Another example is when the MMC's brother in {A Momentary Marriage} told the FMC that her marrying him had 'softened his edges' and made him more approachable.

I would say that this was also the case with the MMC in {Slightly Married by Mary Balogh} because he started smiling, laughing and genuinely enjoying himself with his hobbies and playing with the foster-children. Others notice how much warmer he seems and are eager for their relationship to continue.

A hilarious example of this was in {The Woes of Wooing a Wife in 12 Days by Mihwa Lee} is the MMC's valet wailing at the doctor that his master has gone mushy and started doing cheesy things like writing poetry to his wife and smelling the pillow her head was on. It is definitely an improvement from how he was previously: he is in full besotted worshipful mode towards the FMC at this point.

For example, the MMC of {The Arrangement by Mary Balogh} enjoys playing the violin but everyone sees him as being quite bad at it. He mockingly says that geniuses are never appreciated in their own lifetime but he is aware of his limitations. He keeps trying and he enjoys it which is what is important.

On the other hand, the FMC in {The Favourite by Alice Coldbreath} is not passionate about or interested in artistic endeavours like poetry. The MMC even says that her recitation is atrocious and she practically murders the verses which offends her... but he adds that he would rather listen to her terrible recitation than anyone else's.

It does not have to be Assurancetourix/Cacofonix the Bard levels of horrible but I just felt like reading about MCs being bad at certain things. Makes them feel more realistic, especially if they are made out to appear flawless and smug otherwise.

It should be comedic or funny moments, rather than sad or upsetting (e.g. someone getting yelled at or abused for their poor ability).

EDIT: I suppose I should have added the Recommendation flair instead.

Some MMCs really do not think twice about the ring they give their soon-to-be-wife but others work hard to get the most meaningful one they can find. Or it does not have to be meaningful but their FMC loves it all the same.

I recently read {Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long} so I have to mention the >!heart-shaped diamond ring!< because it is really the only thing that would have been appropriate for her. Such a lovely one.

A few Aydra Richards books have romantic ring-giving moments such as the meaningful precious stone in {My Deceitful Duchess} and in {The Marquess Wins a Wife} with him giving her a flower of pearls ring >!that had been her mother's ring and she thought she would never see it again.!< {His Forgotten Bride} also has a sweet moment >!since he had forgotten a ring when they eagerly married years ago and ensures he does it right at the of the book.!<

I also love the ring-shopping in {Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell} because it makes their marriage and commitment clear to everyone and the FMC adores the pretty ring so much.

And I could not leave out {Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase} because of the MMC's reaction to the DEAREST ring. The one he chooses is much more suitable for the fiery FMC and he acts nonchalant but is anxious for her approval.

The ring does not have to be extravagant or expensive for it to be a sweet moment. The MCs in {Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer} do not have money to spare so they marry with a store-bought toy ring and he wants to give her a better one when they can afford it.

And it can also have some inside jokes between the couple like in {A Most Forgettable Girl by Alice Coldbreath} in which the ring they marry with was given by the Queen's lady-in-waiting but the MMC later has one made for his new wife >!with an inscribed reference to a lewd poem they had both listened to. The original ring's inscription also inspires the MCs to think up what would be the MMC's breakthrough hit as a composer!<

If not for very specific circumstances and fate, there are MCs whose paths would have been very unlikely to have crossed. This may be because they are from different social classes, hometowns, cultures, age groups or have no mutual friends or family connections. So if the MCs are both from aristocratic families or the same area or have shared interests or relatives involved with each other, they may have crossed paths before.

For example, the MCs of {The Marquess Wins a Wife by Aydra Richards} had no reason at all to even know the other's existence if not for the FMC's sister becoming pregnant and the FMC abducting the man who she believed was the father to their humble abode. Without their paths crossing, he was heading close to completely dissolution and her family was likely going to end up in a hopelessly impoverished state once their father came back to steal the things.

And the MCs in {Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer} only met due to so many contrivances: he was out of prison after 5 years and kept getting dropped from jobs once the employers found out, he found a months-old repeated newspaper ad the widowed FMC had put in for a husband and was desperate for food and shelter so he decided to see if she will take him.

What other books have MCs with very little reason to know of or have met the other?

I feel like the enemies-to-lovers dynamics get often written as 'MCs banter and bicker but have been attracted since the start' when there should be actual genuine enmity or reasons for hostility. So when I see books that are clearly going on an enemies-to-lovers relationship but one MCs has been (grudgingly) attracted since the start and I wonder why they find the other alluring or unforgettable despite an unfavourable first interaction, it stretches the credibility a little bit.

An example of where I felt the genuine dislike was there was in {Frail by Susanna Ives}, even if the dislike was misplaced. Another was in {One Burning Heart by Elizabeth Kingston} in which the married MCs cannot stand each other at the start of the book and start slowly developing a genuine affection and respect for the other even while acknowledging the others' flaws. It is actually quite endearing like a belated honeymoon period following the two now having their first mutual puppy love for the other after 6 years of a miserable and distant marriage.

I was curious if you all like to have the MCs secretly or openly attracted to the other when the author tells us they dislike the other. Not to say that dislike and attraction cannot coexist but I want there to be a reason for the attraction, even if it is entirely physical. If the MCs are supposed to be 'enemies' but actually crushing on the other, that defeats the purpose of them needing to grow and meet each other halfway (because the other person already likes them as they are 😂). I would like to see books in which they genuinely dislike each other (and have a good reason for it) but learn to appreciate the other and notice what else they are or can do so we can actually see the attraction spark and develop alongside the characters. I want to fall in love with the MCs (platonically) right as they are falling for the other.