Maxi starts to learn magic in order to feel more useful, but Riftan doesn't react the way she expects. He probably doesn't want her to feel like she has to prove her worth/usefulness, but from her perspective his negative reaction to her learning magic is like being told, yet again, that she's worthless.

Yeesh, but I want these two to sit down and really talk and listen to each other. They may have an extremely active and enthusiastic sex life, but they don't spend nearly enough time just...together. If I could jump into the story, I'd arrange for some dates/regularly scheduled alone time, no sex allowed (Riftan would hate me, but it'd be for his own good in the long run). At least Maxi is starting to realize some of the issues on her end - the more attached to Riftan she becomes, the more she worries about him seeing all of her flaws and growing tired of her.

Ugh, Maxi is going to worry herself to pieces over Princess Agnes. And I'm honestly surprised that Riftan didn't act more jealous of Ruth - I figured the blowup there would be huge. ( )

Several years ago, Lady Maximillian (Maxi) Croyso was married to Sir Riftan Calypse, who stuck around just long enough to sleep with her and then went off to war. Now he's back and considerably more famous, and Maxi is sure that, now that he has better marriage options, he's going to ask for a divorce. Except that he doesn't. Instead, he whisks her away to his home, anxious to please her and yet at the same time convinced that she probably looks down on him - he's completely unaware that she's spent her whole life being mistreated and abused by her father, who hates her stutter and sees her as worthless.

I'm enjoying watching Maxi gradually blossom in an environment where she isn't stomped on all the time, but this series definitely has aspects that make it not for everyone. There is a lot of sex, and quite a bit of it (the first scene in particular, oof) reads at least partly like rape. Readers know Maxi's thoughts and that she's attracted to Riftan and starts to enjoy the sex even as it deeply embarrasses her, but from Riftan's perspective, there are times when Maxi says "stop" and he doesn't. So...yeah.

Honestly, I liked Ruth more than Riftan. Hurray for him stepping in and keeping Maxi from accidentally bankrupting Riftan (I had so much secondhand anxiety during the start of the remodeling). But I'm looking forward to Riftan eventually finding out how Maxi's father treated her. His response will be satisfying, I'm sure. ( )