celinenyx
Written on Nov 23, 2020
About to lose her ancestral home, Adelia forces rich entrepeneur Simeon into a marriage of convenience. At first, they cannot stand each other - their deception standing in the way of trust. Slowly, they discover they are more alike than they thought.
Although the story starts off somewhat oddly, the core of the story is about two very traumatised people flourishing in a safe and comforting environment. The treatment of trauma wasn't perfect (a 200 page romance is unlikely to dig too deep), there were plenty of gems of how healing it is to be in a loving relationship with someone you can trust. Both Adelia and Simeon were abused as children, and the topic was handled quite sensitively, acknowledging the horror of it never quite leaving you, but also providing a hopeful vision of not being defined by the past, and being able to break cycles of abuse.
The heroine is a virgin and the first time they have sex her "pure innocence" is remarked upon. Luckily this was only very brief - and despite the hymen apparently sitting somewhere deep in her vagina - the sex scene included enthusiastic consent, which I appreciated.
I had some minor quabbles with the writing, which is somewhat rough around the edges occasionally. The two characters and their journey together, however, was engrossing enough for me to overlook the minor faults.
---
Content warning: domestic abuse, physical abuse of child, (mention of) sexual abuse of child, sexual harrassment, (pretty vivid description of) suicide, death of parent, kidnapping of child