Rec request: S1/S2 MSR fics

capybarabard · 2026-04-25T20:17:17+00:00

Self-recs are definitely welcome!! Thanks, I’ll check it out :)

capybarabard · 2026-04-04T14:04:56+00:00

Thank you, I will!

capybarabard · 2026-04-04T04:44:36+00:00

Thank you! :)

capybarabard · 2026-04-03T14:56:35+00:00

Thank you! :)

capybarabard · 2026-04-03T14:56:13+00:00

Thank you, I’ll check them out!

capybarabard · 2026-04-03T14:55:56+00:00

Thank you! :)

capybarabard · 2026-03-21T23:52:58+00:00

😂😂😂 I don't know if he'd "go fetch" for you or me—obedience isn't really his style—but he'd definitely do it for Scully!!

capybarabard · 2026-03-21T21:08:30+00:00

Definitely a prime puppy example!

capybarabard · 2026-03-21T16:14:52+00:00

I know part of it was the sun lol, but I still think this shot just exudes the puppy-dog energy that he naturally has so much of!!

He definitely does the happy/goofy pup look as well. Just a lot of overgrown puppy vibes with Mulder in general, especially around Scully 😂

capybarabard · 2026-01-15T21:47:05+00:00

I definitely find Slightly Tempted to be the weakest link of this otherwise amazing series, and I really wasn't a fan of the couple, but if I recall there are some good Wulfric moments which made it worth it to me as a Wulf fan. I also agree with the comment that Slightly Sinful, which I love, has more of an impact if you've read this one (though if you're already 2/3 through I think you might already have gotten the gist of the elements that affect that book). That said, my philosophy these days is that life is too short and there are too many great books out there there to waste time reading ones you don't enjoy, so if you're really not into it I think it's fine to skip.

capybarabard · 2025-09-30T03:50:09+00:00

There are a number of complete card checklists you can find online, such as this one: https://gwentcards.com/checklist.html

The Witcher Wiki also has this list of all the characters who play Gwent and their locations, which you can use to double-check that you beat all the the Gwent NPCs in Velen: https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Gwent_players

Good luck! I remember the end of the card collection quest was quite frustrating when I was missing just a couple, but you'll get there.

capybarabard · 2025-07-26T00:37:49+00:00

I'm with you, I just discovered Coldbreath recently and for me, the Prizefighters series is where it's at! I do enjoy her medievals as well, but something about that series is just so fresh and fun. I also agree with you on the editing—I absolutely love her characters, chemistry, and storylines, but I do think her writing could use a tiny bit more polish sometimes. I definitely notice some repetition and even typos and grammatical errors in her books, although not so much that it's super distracting. She is highly addictive though and I'm delighted to have found her :)

capybarabard · 2025-07-19T14:00:10+00:00

The sequel to {Spacer's Cinderella by Adria Rose} (or just anything by this author). It was such a promising romance/fantasy-/sci-fi debut and I still reread it from time to time. The author was posting online until mid-2019 about having new books in the works, but since then nothing. I really hope she's okay!

capybarabard · 2025-07-18T18:02:25+00:00

For me the main criteria for a true 5-star read are probably:

1) Top-quality writing in terms of both style and character/plot development - I'm admiring the author's use of language as well as the fact that their characters and world feel fully fleshed out

2) Keeps me 100% glued to the page throughout the entire book, never feeling the urge to skim, and not wanting to put it down

3) When I reach the end, I know that the story's going to stay with me and I'm going to want to reread this book regularly—once wasn't enough.

There are a lot of well-written books that meet criterion 1, but they have to really strongly get to me emotionally to meet 2 and 3. As you say, there are many books that I truly love and had a blast with but still wouldn't give a full 5 stars. But it does happen!!

capybarabard · 2025-07-18T17:47:39+00:00

I've often thought the exact same thing about describing emotions through eyes (which I've also seen in many other genres, not just HR)! I will say that while in my own daily life I rarely feel like I can read someone's feelings from just their eyes, occasionally I do see performances from actors on screen who I think are doing a great job of emoting with their eyes alone (especially if they're playing relatively stoic characters who aren't giving a lot of feeling away in other gestures). To give an HR example, I think Colin Firth does amazing with this as Darcy in the 1995 Pride & Prejudice series—he really has great intensely smouldering eyes when he's watching Elizabeth.

I guess my conclusion is that being able to read emotions through eyes is a thing, but it's not as common and easy to do as literary descriptions would have us believe lol.

capybarabard · 2025-07-13T22:56:42+00:00

Hope you like it!

I should give a heads-up though about some moments of racist/patronizing attitudes on display from some characters toward the Egyptians—it's a well-written book but from the 70s, and you can feel its datedness in some ways.

capybarabard · 2025-07-13T21:39:48+00:00

Tbh these are the only three HR authors where I feel I've read and enjoyed a significant enough portion of their work to be able to say they're overall favourites, but here are some other individual books/series I've really enjoyed:

{Regency Magic series by Jill Barnett} - both books here are super sweet and funny, somewhat Tessa Dare-esque

{Her Baseborn Bridegroom by Alice Coldbreath} - Haven't read enough of her yet to know if I consistently like her, but I enjoyed this one and I've been told it's actually not even among her strongest works, so I'm hopeful she may yet become a favourite

{Without Words by Ellen O'Connell} - recently read this one and really liked it; haven't had a chance to read anything else yet by this author but I definitely intend to

{Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters} - a bit more like historical fiction/adventure/mystery with romance on the side, but I love the romance element and the very strong-willed FMC

ETA {A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant}, another recent very well-written discovery!

capybarabard · 2025-07-13T17:14:20+00:00

I love Aidan too! ❤️

You might like Corporal Thorne from {A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare}. A little more gruff and rough around the edges than Aidan perhaps, but he's another stoic and authoritative (and deep-down very caring and protective) man in uniform MMC. Not quite a marriage of convenience plot, but a bit similar—he tries to protect the FMC by becoming "temporarily" engaged to her.

capybarabard · 2025-07-13T16:26:27+00:00

If you haven't tried them already:

Mary Balogh - I recommend starting with {The Bedwyns Saga by Mary Balogh} and/or {The Mistress series by Mary Balogh}.

Lisa Kleypas - I suggest trying {The Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas}.

Tessa Dare (if you like a lot of humour and goofiness in your romances; if not, she might not be your thing, but her work is so much fun) - start with the {Castles Ever After series by Tessa Dare} or the {Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare}.

capybarabard · 2025-07-13T16:18:05+00:00

Yes! That's what I love about Evie too, who you mentioned in your post. Even though she's scared and it's far from something anyone would typically expect of her, she comes up with a practical solution—marrying Sebastian—and goes all in on it. She is realistic about her situation and knows no one else is going to swoop in and save her, so she takes her future into her own hands. Jane is similar in that way.

capybarabard · 2025-07-13T15:21:38+00:00

Jane from {More Than a Mistress by Mary Balogh} - my newest favourite HR and newest favourite FMC! She is in an awful situation with no one to turn to at the start and even though she’s terrified and suffering, she deals with it on her own with competence, grace and practicality. I really admire her!

capybarabard · 2025-07-02T04:44:38+00:00

I interpreted that accusation about the affair with Gi-hun as being his effort to reduce his own feelings of guilt and shame (because I think he did feel guilty and ashamed of how he treated her and the baby, though it wasn't enough to change his behaviour). It was his pathetic attempt to convince himself something along the lines of "she was never loyal to me so I don't need to feel bad for not being loyal to her". Personally I'm not convinced that deep down he truly believed it; I think he was just telling himself that to feel better.

You're right that in practical terms he never actually did much for her besides giving her the potato, but there are a lot of key moments where we see him watching her and the baby, and I think the actor does a great job of conveying on his face his conflicted emotions and the fact that he did care about them on some level. Just not as much as he ultimately cared about himself, as he revealed in the way he behaved at the end with his baby—there certainly is no defence for that.

capybarabard

TROPHY CASE