A solid and sweet slowburn between two mature adults.

MC - demure, reserved woman who recently divorced her cheating husband. Many descriptions of her being gentle and demure and blushing but does have character. Insecure but not wishy washy when it comes to romance and boundaries. Likeable enough.

ML - CEO and mildly domineering. A bit pushy but more in the lines of teasing in bed than anything egregious. Treats MC well and has some big CEO family death match going on in the BG.

Romance - steady progression from physical attraction to... more>> emotional dependence. ML is more aware of his feelings but because of family death match is reserved with confessing but begins to be more vulnerable with MC as the relationship progresses. MC is more rigid but clearly in love type. Takes a while to get there but post- get together is also equally invested.

No explicit only fade to black but enjoyable for both parties. None of the dubious MC being in pain that some novels have. MC even initiates more post-offical get together.

ML is MC's big boss but he doesn't interfere too much with her work in comparison to similar dynamics.

Cons- the leadup to their get together has my one of my least favourite romance trope. No spoilers but thankfully the angst is mild and it's followed by some fun face slapping. Second ML (not ex) is MVP.

Big focus on biological children even though adoption is valid but this is fiction and it always ties up loose 'infertility' ends so YMMV.

All in all a mature, sort of healing type romance. <<less

It’s a 4.5

Nothing very deep but the slow romance was so sweet and fluffy. It’s a mature one where the male lead ensnared the broken hearted FL slowly. The title is very accurate. Loved the story and the pace of it

This is a frustrating but OK read

1. I don't understand the setting. Is it the 80's whereby globalisation clashed with Chinese conservatism? Or is it purely fictional with this one "city" (not village) that sticks to feudal & patriarchal views?
2. I can't understand the mum. Who would willingly choose to be imprisonned and controlled by such views, in an era that advocates for women? The Xu clan never supported them; if anything, they s**ked blood from her children. Wtf would she want to remain connected to them?
3. There is no real growth from MC. ML leads her by the nose, start to finish. She still defines her worth and womanhood using fertility. She only becomes sexually liberated.
4. I needed more suffering on the part of ml's s*um grandma and cousins

The sweet parts

• ML and MC are sweet. Black bellied guy x naive innocent mc
• Her bestie and her family are beautiful souls
• Her employee, gf and dog
• Her disabled brother, his wife and her family

There were true pockets of goodness in romance department. I just needed more woman empowerment, growth, strength, from MC that wasn't dependent on ml.

Honestly compared to other two books this one is harder to finished imo bc it gets a bit boring and I also skimmed a lot but after they got together it was still enjoyable and I really really love the ML. He’s probably my favorite from the 3 so far. The FL is not that likeable but also not hateful amidst all the blushing and timidity she still got character so she was not a bad FL. Overalls it’s fluff with tiny amount of drama and still an enjoyable read