to sir without love

By Kori Hisakawa and Airumu. Released in Japan as “Haikei Mishiranu Danna-sama, Rikonshite Itadakimasu” by Media Works Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Carley Radford.

I had not realized when reading and writing the review of the first book that it’s literally half a book – the books were released in Japan as Part 1 and Part 2, and that’s what we’re getting here as well. As such, it’s not really a surprise that the book concentrates more on the political climate going on around our main couple, which is not only getting dangerous but also might implicate them personally. This is not nearly as lethal as The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman, but I was thinking of that series while reading this, and believe fans of one might like the other. Byletta is a young woman trying to run her own life and have as much freedom as possible, despite this being a world where noble wives are expected to look pretty and give birth. Arnald is someone who finds he’s fallen in love, and simply does not have the communications toolkit to deal with it. Basically, they need to talk but don’t.

Byletta, frankly, has a bit too much on her plate at the moment. She has to rush back to the flood control project because outbreaks of violence are breaking out and the nobles who own the hot springs hotels nearby claim the project is taking their water. The city where she lives is under constant threat of a military coup, with destruction, bombs, and many injuries, and the supposed person behind this coup is said to be her husband. And then there’s her own marriage, as she still struggles to understand Arnald, who usually seems cool and uncaring but occasionally shows a more comforting side. Worst of all, he’s still insisting on acting like her husband in bed at night, and it turns out that, after the horrible first time she had, he’s actually an amazing lover. Is she going to be able to get her divorce after all?

Arnald’s mindset is comparatively easy to understand, and once he realizes what he’s doing wrong, very easy to change. Byletta is a much harder nut to crack, frankly. She’s haunted by the fact that everyone sees her mother in her, she’s desperate to be her own woman, be that by learning to use a sword or start a revolutionary fashion industry, all because she does not want to be trapped by marriage. It’s astonishing how many times she refers to herself as Arnald’s whore or prostitute throughout this book – and it’s using the terms because she means them to be derogatory, she has to think of herself as that, because otherwise she would have to accept that she really is falling in love with Arnald, and in her eyes, that means giving up. She’s a fantastic character, and I appreciate that Arnald realizes the only way to keep the one he loves is to essentially give her everything she asks for. All the freedom she wants, just stay married to him. It’s sweet.

This volume ends definitively, as we see a flashforward to them living a happy life with their two children. Nevertheless, there are seven more books in Japan. We’ll see if we get more, but if we do, I’m happy to read it, even though I suspect it won’t just be post-marital fluff.

By Kori Hisakawa and Airumu. Released in Japan as “Haikei Mishiranu Danna-sama, Rikonshite Itadakimasu” by Media Works Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Carley Radford.

This sure went places. Judging by the cover art and title, I was expecting a certain type of book, and I definitely got it, but it went to some odd and spiky areas. Speaking of which, I will put in a brief content warning that this book has what might be framed as a “reluctant” first time, and there is also discussion of an (off-screen) rape of a man by another woman. There is also an abusive husband and father, though he is very quickly “reformed”, by which I mean he gets the crap beaten out of him. We see, throughout the book, the rumors swirling around our main character that she is a loose cannon, and also a loose woman. She shrugs off the rumors because they suit her purposes, but once they no longer do that they become the toxic nastiness they’ve always been. And, as always, our two leads don’t talk to each other at all, so have to guess what the other is thinking, and it always goes badly.

Byletta Holland is horrified to find that her parents have engaged her to some soldier. After an Academy life where she gained a horrible reputation, all she wants is to start her own business and make a name for herself. However, as a noble’s daughter, she has to marry, and she’s now headed off to the Swagwan estate, where she will marry Arnald, the eldest son. She arrives… to find that war has gone badly, so Arnald went off to the front, leaving a message that his wife can do what she wants. Realizing that this could work in her favor, she accepts the marriage and decides to stay… and quickly finds that her father in law is a drunken lout who beats his second wife and menaces his 6-year-old daughter and the servants. Something will have to be done.

Byletta is the main reason to read this book. She’s smart, does not suffer fools gladly, and can beat her father in law so badly in a sword fight that he actually sobers up and stops hitting his family. (This is probably unrealistic, but given the alternative I handwaved it. He remains a jerk, though.) In the eight years between her wedding and her husband returning home, she does start a highly successful business, she has connections all over the city, and she is ready to be divorced. Sadly, her husband is one of those “what are these things called emotions” types, and when he hears the rumors about her, he assumes she’s sleeping with half the town. After their first night together, he realizes he was wrong, and starts to actually observe his wife more closely… and realizes that she’s his ideal woman. Unfortunately, these two don’t talk to each other, and it’s frustrating. They also have enemies, who set up the cliffhanger of this book. It’s definitely on the “potboiler” end of the spectrum.

This is nine volumes and counting in Japan, and it appears it will have a lot more drama in the future. If you like the genre, and don’t mind a bit more non-con than these books usually get into, this is a very good read.