Not gonna lie: I'm a fan of Wakana's work. There's not a one of her female characters who comes across as a doormat. They may be a mass of conflicting emotions and a bit insecure, but it's pretty clear she likes her female characters - even the ones who act as antagonists. As to this collection of stories, they offer two different perspectives of girls who are navigating first love while trying to maintain their relationships with friends and family. Many of her female characters lean toward curvy, and you can see her distinct style emerging. Compared to more recent work (Yuuki and Nao - get it in Verticomix, the rent is indefinite and the color makes everything luxe), her art is a bit rough, especially for the male characters. Overall, a fun collection that really looks at things in terms that real young women should be able to identify. Not much racy action, but you can't have everything.

There's nothing really new here, but it's still very sweet. The story shows the female lead (Mao: quiet, modest, proper, capabl) and her twin (Rio: gregarious, fiesty, emotional) and sets up the date swap. We go with Mao and her lover through a few bumps in the road, but they're both the composed type so it's never too rocky. The story visits with Rio in her own romance, which is a bit more turbulent but still ends up in a happy place. The art is good, and both sisters are easily differentiated (and gorgeous) even when Mao takes her glasses off. A few quibbles: Mao looks far sexier in her glasses, but she and her partner are kind of bland and the story started to drag about 2/3 of the way through. If there'd been more of the Rio storyline, it would've made a great snappy contrast. It's a good story, but could've skipped ch 7-10 and been a good read with a much better pace.

In some ways, the relationship of the two leads here is a reverse of the previous work (Sexless with You), and is set in the same universe with the male lead a big part of the previous storyline. Here though, the leads use sex to avoid actually connecting to others. Starting as FWB, the relationship quickly turns to something that hits them in their weak spots. They grow by becoming open and honest with themselves and each other, allowing an emotional union. There is a bonus short at the end, which shows both couples and gives a nice coda to the stories. The art is good, though a tad rough in spots. Both leads very physical, with the female lead unapologetically lusty in her appetites. This makes gives the loves scenes more frequent and steamy than in Sexless. Still, the focus is on they characters and that makes this story a winner.

Adult characters who behave like adults?! Yes, please! Here we have a couple whose long term relationship has grown stale due to their failure to be honest and communicate with each other. A third party gets entangled in this mess, and feelings of guilt and regret start to eat away at the main character. There are none of the usual hijinks going on where the main character deals with the tough issues by acting like a stoic martyr in a sitcom, though. The way she resolves her issues is by confronting them head on and opening up to her partner. The story is great, and the main couple feels real. The art is quite nice, with distinctive expressive faces. If you're looking for lots of tawdry romps, this has a few scenes of that nature, but most of the focus is on the growth of the main characters and how they become stronger by connecting physically, emotionally, and honestly.

I'm currently 6 episodes in, and I'm not impressed with any sense of realistic behavior going on here. I find it very difficult to believe the female lead can be an adult film producer and yet be so naive/timid about sex. Seriously. It started fine, with a bit of sauciness and steam, but the female main went down the rabbit hole most women go in these stories: insecure, prudish, constantly apologetic, and skill-less. I liked her at first, but as soon as the male lead came on board, he's always right and has all the skills/biz connections. Sure, he has poor communication and empathy skills, but it's not like she shines there either. The art is average, though Verticomix makes it look better. At his point, I'm only continuing because I'm OCD and unreasonably optimistic, and the episodes are cheap.

To be clear, "make love" is misleading here. There story is much more about obsession and humiliation, with a convoluted story arc that really makes no sense. The characters have no real consistency or personality, so it's hard to care about them. The artwork is fine, but not particularly memorable. The story is devoid of heat, unless you count the hot tears of shame I got for paying $ to read this.

Despite a title that made my imagination run wild, I found this story to be rather tepid. The art is average, and the story has very little tension. The characters are bland, so their relationships don't have any heat to them and by the end, I just did not care what happened to them. Given the rushed and contrived ending, it's probably better that I'd lost any expectations. I'm giving this an extra star because I liked the bathing pool. Not the bathing pool scenes, mind you, just the bathing pool - I could fantasize about that for hours. Otherwise...I didn't realize it was possible to write a love triangle on a deserted island story and make it boring. It is. The more you know!

All that and with a side of steamed steam! The story ticks a lot of boxes: Love Triangle? Check. Childhood friends? Check. Dominant male lead? Check. Younger boyfriend? Check. Office environment? Check. Good story? Check. Good art? Check. Female lead with personality and some backbone? Check. Public/exhibitionist action? Check. Steam? Oh, so many checks! The main characters are all adults and treat each other with respect, though there are some moments that blur the line of strictly consensual activity, none of the action is degrading. There are hot moments aplenty, with a good variety of moves. The action goes well beyond the standard smut scenes, so things don't feel stale or repetitive, and the variety makes the steamiest scenes even hotter. If you like your read to make you squirmy in a good way, this is a great choice!

There's nothing particularly new here, it's all about characters who are dense, oblivious, or status conscious who are so fearful of rejection that they'd rather hide and deny their feelings that admit them to their beloved. There's a familial thread that connects the stories, but there isn't a ton of interaction between the siblings, so it's largely irrelevant. While sweet, the stories are very rushed and follow the same pattern, with the drama being resolved and ending in a romp that is relatively chaste. It's about warmth and love, not heat, so if you're looking for something that going to make you hot and bothered, this may not be the collection for you. All that being said, I'm adding an extra star for the use of local dialect, the two bad boys who are fun, the description of one character as a crushed peppermint (it was a great image), and the absolutely stunning work on some of the female characters.

Meh. It's a poor take on Pygmalion (My Fair Lady, etc). Older, cultured man reshapes an ignorant, uncultured young woman into a sophisticated and skilled young woman. In this case, he also strips her of her confidence and personality, until she's a doormat riddled with insecurities. The art is kind of average, but it is better than how it looks in the sample. She's just uglied up to show how she's uncultured and can't do makeup, though it does beg questions about why a homeless girl has/bothers with makeup. It's not the worst, but the personality turn for the main character is disheartening, and I'd in no way describe the story as rhapsodic. Honestly, I'd've preferred a story about the cat.