u/FoxenInTheHenhice

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.

There is something hilarious (and presumptuous) when the FMC's reputation is threatened and the MMC heroically whips out a marriage licence at an intense moment like a deus ex machina. Her life will be ruined and she will have to give up everything unless someone marries her today? Say no more, the MMC already got that covered.

Some books that have this (and spoilers, unfortunately, due to the nature of the request):

{Trusting Miss Trentham by Emily Larkin} - >!the FMC actually has TWO marriage licences made for her. Her half-brother demands the MMC marry her to save her reputation and the MMC is annoyed because he was just getting ready to propose to her when the man burst in. He says he will marry her but with HIS marriage licence that he had gone out to get.!<

{Anything But A Gentleman by Elisa Braden} - my memory is hazy about this but I am quite certain the MMC does this.

{A Much Maligned Miss by Alice Coldbreath} - >!the MMC got one right after he asks her to be his mistress. He tells her he had been thinking of them as a married couple for a long time and she turns him down a couple of times when he proposes that they should marry.!<

{A Momentary Marriage by Candace Camp} - >!the MMC is unwell and told he is not going to live so he approaches the FMC to marry him for mutual benefits. Since she is close to being kicked out of her home after her father's death left her with debts, he has no doubt she will accept and came the next day with the licence.!<

A little different is {His Favourite Mistake by Aydra Richards} because >!it was his friend who got it for him on his behalf and it was quite a struggle. And the FMC believed they were already married because of the faux marriage ceremony and certificate the MMC had set up so this destroyed their relationship!<

Bonus if he is carrying it in his pocket at that very moment. Also, are there any books where the FMC refuses to marry him with it?

I want recs for books with funny (but not frustrating) misunderstandings involving the MCs, preferably ones that either do not go on for too long or that get resolved in the first half.

For example, the MMC in {The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret} finds the FMC's journal and reads what he assumes are proposals she has received in a day and her ratings on how well the men did and their effort as far as romance went. It does not help his prejudice that she is a social climber. She was just noting down proposals she had overheard or accidentally interrupted as material for a book she was writing with her friends.

And the FMC in {A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy} assumes the reason her 'husband' - who was attacked by a jaguar and has visible scars - has not been showing any romantic interest in her is because the big cat mauled his 'orchids'. He is affronted and assures her that his 'orchids' are perfectly fine. For context, he is a botanist and had recently spoken to her about the sensitivity of orchids as well as which part of the male anatomy the flower was also named after.

Then there is the case of the missing donkey in {A Lady of Conscience by Mimi Matthews} which really helps the MCs become more comfortable and laugh around the other when they previously seemed to just have a more surface-level crush.

For ones that involve other characters misunderstanding the MCs, {Do You Want To Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare} takes the cake because of the first chapter. The 8-year-old son of the party host loudly declares the MMC to be a murderer and continue to do so throughout the book. The MMC had caught the FMC after she tripped and the boy had been alerted by loud noises which he assumed were of violence. He is a little young to be given the peaches and aubergines talk...

I do not particularly like scenes in contemporary media in which someone has to race after a train or bus or even rush to the airport to catch somebody before they leave. But I was curious how many books have an MC do that with a carriage or train or even before a ship departs because they have to apologise to the other MC for sending them away or just got an epiphany about what they really want and feel. The goal is to catch the other before they are gone for good, perhaps to convince them to stay or to stop them from making a mistake or even to yell 'I love you!' at them before the leave.

Bonus if the travelling MC barely had time to process that they were leaving before the other MC is pulling a grand romantic gesture to race up to them on their horse (or carriage). Double bonus if the MC braved terrible weather for it.

I know it happens more often but very few examples are coming to my mind.

{On Bended Knee by Celeste Bradley} - the FMC rushes after him and his family on a horse-drawn carriage and catches up to them quite soon. His family is quite impressed.

{How to Steal a Scoundrel's Heart by Vivienne Lorret} - the FMC's carriage is temporarily stuck on the road while it is raining and a herd of sheep blocked the way. The MMC surreptitiously arrives right behind them in his carriage after having seen her place was empty and gives all the carriage occupants a fright when he opens it.

{Ruined by Rumour by Alyssa Everett} - it really is a 'missed them by that much' moment and it made me laugh. The FMC travels on carriage to the city to catch up to her husband... who already left for the country house where he thought she would be. And then HE has to saddle up again to go BACK to the city.

{The Beast Takes a Bride by Julie Anne Long} - the MMC is travelling by ship and his wife races out to catch him before he leaves because he is going to another continent for years. >!I wonder if he really planned to go or was waiting for her to claim him because he was so happy to see her but it seems he was trying to motivate her to make a very quick decision about wanting him to stay. What if she overslept and saw his letter late? !<

The MC has to be travelling or on the road/sea when they reunite with the other, NOT be forced to travel as an abduction or kidnapping because then this would be a rescue attempt.

What I mean is that one MC offers or proposes marriage to the other for reasons that do not have to do with love, money, title, family, reputation, safety, protection etc. The reasons for wanting to marry the other may be ridiculous and even insulting but not go into revenge or blackmail marriages. One of the MCs should be instigating it as well so grudgingly marrying someone's widow or sister as part of a last request or your lonely mutual half-sibling arranging it to have his family near him does not count.

For instance, {The Duke and the Wallflower by Jessie Cleaver} has the MMC choose the FMC because she is unattractive and, thus, unlikely to make him fall in love with her.

{Love Practically by Nichole Van} has the almost 40-year-old MC offer a marriage of convenience to the same-aged FMC because he is lonely and wants companionship. After an argument, he unconsciously lets out that he wanted someone who would not leave him like all his household does... her heart sinks when she realises he wanted someone to make his life and home convenient almost like a housekeeper and she was tied to him in marriage so she could not leave.

The FMC of {The Unlovely Bride by Alice Coldbreath} specifically asks the MMC to marry her BECAUSE he is a brute who would not care for her and any woman married to him would 'lead a dog's life'. Thus, she knows he will not marry her out of pity - since she has lost a lot of her former beauty after the pox - but just for the dowry and leave her to live a separate life.

Although it later turns out he had other feelings on the matter, the MMC in {A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath} proposes to the FMC who he had disliked - after breaking off his engagement to her cousin - because he did not want to waste the banns and the priest who would be waiting in vain for a married couple the next day. The two women had the same name. He also claims he needs to prove to his family that he had reasons for not meeting them right after he got out of prison (i. e. that he was courting and getting married).

And while the intention was not to actually marry, the FMC of {A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe} has her reasons for getting engaged to a stranger. As the blurb says, she 'seeks a mate so abhorrent, so completely unacceptable, that her father will reject the match—leaving her free to marry the artist she desires.' Very charming to be the recipient of THAT proposal.

What else can you think of?​

Edit: I put some parts in bold because I felt people might recommend those type of plot lines 😂 The reasons for marrying should be less than flattering to the other MC (e.g. they think the other MC is too stupid, unattractive, boring, uninterested to cause issues).

I thought of {Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare}. The MCs are aged around 20 and 32 at the start of the book and he is a marquess with multiple estates and needs a competent, organised wife to reign as mistress of them. The FMC is... not that. It is a point of contention brought up at least once that he cannot marry someone as scatter-brained and disorganised as her and he is so dismayed when he sees her messy room, thinking it was burgled. In fact, I felt he actually showed a really unsavoury side to him >!when he set fire to her clothes and engineered it so she would have no choice but to marry him!<. She never becomes more organised or fit to manage estates so I wanted to see if that would get acknowledged or pose any problems in the future or if she would grow into the role since she is very quick on the uptake.

What other couples do you feel did not resolve their conflicts and genuine grievances during the main text?

With many books I had read, I liked them overall but they had one problem that I could not get past which was that the MCs seem to fall for each other quite soon. I could count on one hand how many times they had spoken or interacted with each other (and at least one occasion was when the FMC was not in her conscious senses due to recovering from injury or delirium) yet the narration was telling me that the characters had developed a strong tendre for the other or were jealous if another was in their presence.

If the initial relationship building was not strong or believable, I fear that impacts how I feel about the rest of the relationship because the author may have told us the two like each other but does not show it. And if we are told the two like each other, then follows scenes of the two affirming their love and affection with love scenes... but why do you both love each other? You spoke perhaps twice and knew each other for 3 days before getting jealous of other people meeting the MC. 3 days ago, you claimed not to even like the other. If this is supposed to be enemies to lovers, that is even less likely because you would think the enmity would last longer. I had started reading a book in which the MMC deliberately sought out the FMC because she was considered unattractive yet he is already finding her pretty - as in, her appearance, not her personality - from their first conversation. It would take a lot of sincere conversation and charm for it to be believable.

Show me the relationship! Show people talking and sharing things and being likeable to the other and making them shed their biases and prejudices. Paragraphs about the MMC being missed by only the other MC or the FMC being the only woman to make them feel territorial are not believable otherwise.

As a recommendation request, I would like books in which the MCs spend an adequate amount of time talking and interacting with the other without mention of being attracted to the other. At least that can be counted on two hands. I want the feelings and attraction to come afterwards. Are there any that are not about enemies to lovers? Perhaps the MCs generally do not care about or are neutral towards the other, then they can become platonic friends and so on.

I do not even know why I decided to get recs for this but here we are 😂 Does this dynamic exist in many books? I would imagine this would cause a lot of fights amongst MCs if both are inflexible and rigid in their ways. Think of The Odd Couple but as an HR couple.

At the top of my head, {A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy} has the prim and proper FMC who fills all the vases with beautiful flower arrangements and the workaholic, slovenly MMC who needs a haircut, shave and ironed clothes and lolls around the house in his banyan and underclothes.

I think the MMC in {Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt} is also quite a slob in the previous books. Guests have to think twice about entering his room because of the stuff piled up untidily and he is just as casual about his own unclean clothing and hair. The FMC is a lot more decorous and ladylike.

For some reason, the MMC in {The Unlovely Bride by Alice Coldbreath} is the Karadok groom that comes to my mind when I think of slobs. Maybe it is because our introduction to him is him waking up and relieving his bladder in a chamber pot just before the FMC barges into his room and gets wryly told that she just missed the show. 😂 And both of them have to later attend to the call of nature together in a field; she is mortified to be doing that at his feet and he tells her it would take a lot more than that to put him off her. Honestly, I would imagine most of these medieval knights must smell off-putting after hours jousting and riding to different tournaments, even if they are mentioned as bathing.

For a comparatively messy FMC, there is {Do You Want To Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare} in which the organised and strict MMC is initially dismayed at the idea of actually having to marry this young woman (who is over a decade younger) who has all her clothes and undergarments strewn about her room and is not responsible enought to manage his 5 estates.

I know there are some very physically repellant MCs in books who do not care about their personal hygiene and live in pigsty-type environments but I am also a little on the prim and prissy side when it comes to my MC preferences so I wonder how much I can stomach that...

Some may already have a ruined reputation through no fault of their own (so this is about them embracing 'ruination' on their terms).

For added hilarity, the MMC may be the one worried about preserving the woman's respectability more than her (e.g. already preparing a marriage licence or reaching out for help to sway public opinion).

Examples I could recall:

{A Proper Scoundrel by Esther Hatch} - it is so people will stop pressuring her to marry them since she is a young railway line owner/manager. She goes to a man known for ruining reputations >!(but not the women themselves)!< and shows up in the rain to his home at night. He is definitely surprised.

{The Earl in my Bed by Stacy Reid} - the FMC is desperate to have her husband divorce her and knows he will not endure any scandals or stain to his family reputation. She even initially arranges to have an assignation with a stranger >!and the MMC finds out. She leaves before the man arrives since she cannot go through with it and runs into her husband.!<

{The Scandal of the Season by Aydra Richards} - her pristine reputation was already ruined thanks to the MMC forcing her to be his 'mistress' (or rather, his houseguest) as revenge against her father. While he starts getting conscience pangs, she actually starts revelling in her newfound freedom and independence and starts dressing scandalously at public events. >!Her reputation is saved thanks to the deus ex machina via the duchess whose influence turns the ton's opinion any way she wants, though.!<

{A Much Maligned Miss by Alice Coldbreath} - the FMC's mother has maligned her so badly for years to everyone that running away with the MMC and then agreeing to be his 'mistress' is something she agrees to without much hesitation. He keeps asking her to marry him but she thinks he is just being honourable (since he had previously said he would only marry for money) and gently tells him she is content with what he has given her. He is most certainly not content.

{A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare} - it is not her main aim to ruin her reputation but what she planned to do (i.e. go to a symposium to present her fossil findings with the MMC being paid to escort her) would leave her with no good reputation to speak of. She even leaves a letter about eloping with him and the others doubt it is truthful.

{Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell} - her reputation is practically dead since she was found and 'married' to the 'half-breed' MMC so she decides to embrace it by going to town, demanding a proper marriage certificate with witnesses from the 'yellow-bellied' pastor and getting matching rings, overall showing a united front and ensuring that everyone sees she is happy.

Then, {Touched by a Traitor by Mihwa Lee} has a good (and incredibly bold) example but the character is not an MC. Still think it is worth a mention.

What else can you think of?

This is my first time posting an Unpopular Opinion/Hot Take so bear with me, everyone! It feels weird because I usually try to focus on the good even when discussing the bad.

I had read {To Shoot a Sinner by Lydia Margett} some time ago. The FMC's useless brother challenged the MMC to a duel while being in his cups. And then he was unconscious during the time he should have been at the duel so his friend woke up the FMC and, well, she gets shot while in disguise as her brother. Her brother, who is an earl in name only since he is utterly feckless and his father died, thinks the MMC called off the duel and the FMC does not correct him. So his smugness (while not finding out about his sister's actions and pain) was incredibly irritating.

After finishing the book, I realised I found the brother so unpleasant because he was essentially a plot device for the MCs to meet, for the FMC to accept the MMC's proposition and what put her life in danger. He really did no useful thing in the book and she even verbally disowned him. He got the family into debts with his spending and debauchery, his sister worked to earn money and the MMC paid off the debts... only for the brother to accrue new ones. And then he had the gall to demand she marry the villainous baron he owed money to. >!It is uncertain whether he betrayed his sister's location to the villain or if the man intercepted his letter but the FMC seems to think it is the former and goes to confront him. Then she finds him nearly dead due to opium addiction and suddenly all his behaviour is forgotten and she nurses him herself for days until the MMC gets him a nurse. Thank goodness the MMC at least notes that the brother had ruined his family and, even if he recovered, he would live with that shame. But we do not get to see him live with it because his last appearance is while he is still unconscious and he never appears again, not even getting mentioned at the MCs' wedding.!< I like seeing characters' relationship with others and was disappointed that this one was left as it was because I wanted to see him actually see and react to how his behaviour had affected his close ones in the book.

In short, I was waiting for the character to show some depth and growth and give us a reason to want him to get better but he basically reminded me of the phrase 'just eat Gilligan' because everything would have improved without his presence 😂 I know it was a debut book but it felt incomplete at parts and it felt strange how another couple and the woman's family get brought up like a notorious inside joke in the series.

Can you think of other such characters like this? They may move the plot along but make you wish they had something to root for if they keep showing up so often; they feel more like a plot device rather than a fully-developed character.