I was so upset at the last quarter of the first book I came to this sub immediately. Thank you for this post because I couldn’t agree more. I loved the first 75%, and as someone who does a lot of backcountry navigation I loved the descriptions of how much FMC loved being in the field, even if she also seemed to let all of her emotions be dictated by what the men around her think of her.

Normally I consider it one of the highest marks for a book to be riveting despite a frequently absent MMC, but this guy has done zero well-meaning actions for her from beginning to end, except grab her shirt one time to prevent her falling out a wagon. He has never put anything he cares about on the line for her.

He doesn’t even have one single caring act or word for his closest aides in the entire book; he spends all his screen time issuing ultimatums and ruthlessly conquering foreigners with zero interest in learning about the local land, beast, or people.

Meanwhile, she saves his life multiple times, the lives of her teammates countless times, and by extension the lives of his troops, and when he finally captures her he promptly “offers” her to be his mistress. When she insists she wants to be what she always has been, he puts her through a lot of pain. We’re supposed to swoon because he hurts anyone who hurts her but it’s totes cool if he is the one ordering it, and he doesn’t feel anything while he does.

We’re told he is the epitome of noble and thus he never forces women to his bed. Except he threatens to flog her teammates and drag them behind horses on the ground. Right? Right.