Wonderful story with wonderful characters. Tiffany is one of my fav FL ever, she's pure and sweet, yet fierce and courageous, her face when she tells Rafiq she wants nothing to do with him after he first proposes to her is epic, dayum. She also has a backbone (and keeps it!) and NEVER lets the guy boss her around, if only to be a good role-model for her kid. Gotta respect a lady who stands up for herself. Rafiq is no slouch either, he's endearingly arrogant while trying to win over his lady, but is very sincere in wanting to make their marriage work. He's also very supportive of Tif and always encourages her whenever her insecurities get the better of her. They both become better, stronger, happier people just by being together, and they both contribute equally to their relationship, which makes them a perfect couple. True love at its finest and a HEA well deserved.

Well damn, this got a lot more sweet and emotional than I expected from the premise. The "game" isn't what it seems and the truth will definitely surprise you, in a good way, and is definitely not just an excuse for a cute girl to bang a bunch of hot guys, there's actual, legitimately well-developed plot here. All the MCs were given a good bit of character development (except maybe Ryu), and I grew very fond of all of them (again, except Ryu). The HEA was definitely well earned and almost made me tear up. WARNING though, there's two scenes of non-con: one of almost r*pe and another scene of actual r*pe (that, to me, felt both worse and better than the former, somehow), so if you're sensitive to this content then beware! Apart from those two scenes, the rest of the story is more light-hearted and genuinely enjoyable to read. The smut is also drawn pretty well and suitably sexy.

Pretty enjoyable, I like how all the stories take place in the same world, with characters who all know each other. The first couple is adorable and sweet, they're both so completely devoted to each other it's too cute. The second couple are best friends of the first, they're pure comedy gold and Kenta is the most lovable pervert ever. These two couples get much more attention and development than the last one, who're pretty weak and uninteresting by comparison. The girl is annoyingly bitchy and her attempts to steal Taiyoh away from Momoka make her very unlikeable. The guy has all the personality of a rock, so I don't feel too attached to him. But as I said, the main focus is definitely the first two couples who are delightful. I just wish the smut scenes were a little more... interesting? They're short, bland and feel very lacking in every way. But the characters more than make up for it.

I've never been so disappointed in a book before. This had so much promise and started so well, Darcy was cool, unemotional and had the sense to realise Renzo couldn't give her what she needed and the self-respect to leave him before he inevitably hurt her. But after the holiday in Italy everything goes downhill. Darcy gives into Renzo and becomes his kept woman, he gives her a diamond necklace which her friend steals, he accuses her of having seduced him in order to steal his fortune (despite her being a virgin when they met, despite her emotional distance during their relationship, despite her repeatedly trying to break up with him long before the theft, despite all evidence to the contrary!) and dumps her. The last straw is after she finds out she's pregnant she gives in to Renzo's horrible blackmailing and marries him to "protect the baby". At this point she abandons all dignity and self-respect she had, to fall into all the worst Hq tropes. Plus the translation's just terrible.

If you're half as much of a crybaby as I am you'll be bawling your eyes out at Sophie's misery. She's one of the most unfortunate Hq FC ever, she goes through an enormous amount of pain and suffering, through no fault of her own, and spends most of the story crying (for very good reason). By the end, I was so emotionally drained I didn't even care that the MC doesn't deserve such a precious, broken angel, I just wanted Sophie to be happy, so the HEA was incredibly cathartic for me. As for Ettore, he's got all your typical Hq MC flaws, but to his credit he's not a playboy and won't date anyone but Sophie, even after their breakup, and he's not a jerk by nature, he's just hurt and very clumsy with his words (and a massive idiot). There's also his arranged, unwanted, fianc辿e whose sole purpose is to be evil incarnate instead of a realistic person, and so that everyone can blame everything wrong on her instead of Ettore. If you're in the mood for a tearjerker, look no further.

The first couple was so cute and adorable, pure RelationshipGoals right there, they both try so hard for each other and are so loving and devoted it makes my heart smile. The second couple wasn't so heart-warming. The girl is Hazumi's badass, no-nonsense co-worker but the guy is so infuriatingly flaky and irresponsible that there's no chance he'd ever be able to put in the work required for a relationship to work (let alone the super-long-distance one he's forced on the girl). Worse still, his mere presence destroys the girl's personality and renders her the pathetic opposite of everything I loved about her. But the last couple is the worst! Girl's hung up on a man who told her to wait for him (ofc he marries someone else) while the guy is too cowardly to tell her the truth about said deadbeat and pursue her himself. Poor girl really has to do all the work herself and drive the plot and their relationship all on her own. Only the first couple are worth reading, but they ARE wonderful.

Short and sweet, there's not a whole lot of plot or character development (heck, the chief isn't even given a name, he's just the Chief), but what is there is enough for the story's purposes and it works. It has a good amount of smut and the sex scenes are done well. It's a hot premise that's executed well, and at least Sato is likeable and believable enough.

An incredibly refreshing and realistic take on many clich辿s, definitely a story with more modern tastes. What I loved most was how there was never an obvious answer or solution, unlike most HQs, here the problems feel so real and difficult and I wondered along with Donovan just what would be the best path to take. Donovan was raised since birth to believe that he had to beat others and win, so it's no wonder that he's so competitive and career focused. He's also worked hard all his life to become CEO, it's a position he deserves and he shouldn't have to give it up to prove that love is more important than ambition. He's also never been a family man. Despite this he still clearly loves Cassidy and constantly worries about her, agonising over how to make her happy, trying to protect her as best he can when every option (tell her about the will or keep it a secret) would hurt her. These two imperfect human beings are truly devoted to each other, even when apart, they BOTH deserve a HEA.

I've read a lot of bad HQs but this one's downright insulting! Kassia comes off as a hardworking, driven career woman in the preview, but as soon she and Lyon talk once the truth is revealed she turns into a spineless, insipid, stuttering, smitten schoolgirl, instantly going gaga over a man who unfairly treated her abhorrently and who she'd only talked to a handful of times very briefly. She's so pathetic it's cringeworthy. Similarly, Lyon starts as a harsh (but fair) boss who's dedicated to his company, but after the reveal he jumps between ice cool smooth talker and insane jealous boyfriend, who seduces her effortlessly and kicks her to the curb when they grow too close, but still loses it completely whenever her colleague (who genuinely cares about her and puts her first, who Kassia even admits always makes her smile) gets too close to her. And his reasons for doing so are complete bs. Disgusting, irredeemable piece of trash. Don't waste your time and money on this drivel!

It was ok for the price, not something I'll ever reread in the future but I'm still glad I read it. It somehow managed to feel both incredibly rushed, yet overly drawn out at the same time; there was a lot of plot-important stuff happening, but it all felt so small and pointless that I was wishing something more interesting would happen (and it eventually did, but only in the last part!). The characters sometimes do things that make no sense when you think about it, whose only purpose was to add drama to the story and try to pander to the reader, which I hate. I also really hate how this ends on a cliffhanger and we never see the leads interacting in the present. After everything that's happened to them I want to see their HEA! The only reason I'm giving this such a high score is because Rune is adorable and precious.