Machi is tired of her parents' constant efforts to match her up with a successful man and half jokingly says she should marry someone they'd hate just to spite them. Her friend Hana surprises her when she suggests that the two of them get married. The news so shocks Machi's parents that they do indeed back off, at least temporarily. The special partnership certificate requires that they both live in Shibuya, so Hana moves in with Machi, which also helps them maintain the marriage charade.

Machi can't help but wonder if Hana is actually serious about all of this, though. Back in high school, Hana confessed her love for her, and Machi turned her down. They've continued to be friends, but what if Hana hopes their fake marriage will become a real one? As Machi starts to ponder her and Hana's relationship, she also takes a long, hard look at her life.

This was okay. I wanted something light and non-explicit, and that's what I got. I kind of wished it had a bit more substance to it, though. Machi seemed to just work, eat, and sleep, which fit her characterization, but I would have thought Hana would have had a more visible social life beyond the one meet-up with her ex.

Hana was the energetic and positive one, while Machi spent a large chunk of the volume looking tired and depressed. I was glad when Machi started evaluating her life and deliberately became a more active participant in it. I cheered her on when she became more assertive at work, and the part where she told her mother off for the first time was great. She was standing up for Hana, yes, but also for herself.

I had some issues with the romance aspect, mostly due to the fact that Hana and Machi's expectations for what their marriage would be like once it went from being fake to real didn't seem to match up (although the special partnership certificate was real, so honestly they were married for real from the start, but whatever). Machi seemed perfectly fine with the way things were - living together, spending time together, making meals for each other, and just generally supporting each other, no sex required. 

There's no problem with that, and I actually would have been on board with it, if it hadn't been so obvious that Hana expected their relationship to eventually include sex. She made it clear that she was willing to wait and take things slow, but it never seemed to enter her mind that it might never happen, or that it might happen but that Machi might not be as into it as she was. There were no moments when Machi realized she found Hana sexually attractive, and all physical affection, except for a few head pats and a hug, were initiated by Hana. But they did eventually kiss and Machi enjoyed it, so maybe I was concerned for no reason.

Overall, this was nice, but it could have used a second volume. Or a full volume devoted to this story and these characters. It's common for one-shots to include one or more additional stories, and this one was no exception. The last quarter or so was devoted to an unrelated short called "Anaerobic Love."

If you were flipping through the volume, you'd likely think it was a flashback to Machi and Hana's high school days, because the character designs are so similar, but the story actually stars Oshimi and Mutsumi. Mutsumi is the school's track star, while Oshimi used to be in track but hurt herself and now dedicates herself to studying. Mutsumi seems cold towards Oshimi, and yet she frequently has Oshimi give her massages after practice. Oshimi, for her part, eventually realizes that her interest in Mutsumi may actually be love.

I liked this story a good deal less than the main one, and the times when Oshimi deliberately hurt Mutsumi while massaging her made me uncomfortable. I'd really have preferred it if this story had been scrapped and the main one fleshed out a bit more.

Extras:

A color illustration, a 2-page author afterword in manga form, and four pages worth of extra scenes relating to the main story.

Rating Note:

I debated between 3 and 3.5 stars. It wasn't the most memorable thing ever, and I doubt I'll ever want to reread it, but I did really enjoy Machi's personal growth, so I went with 3.5.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Azusa and Rise learn that they're going to need to do a little more than just exchange neckties in order to be accepted as a real couple by the girls at their horrible school. They will also need to participate in a mock marriage, a ceremony known as the Fiançailles. Just ignore the fact that this was never mentioned in the first volume.

Rise wants nothing to do with the ceremony, especially since it will involve kissing Azusa in front of the whole school. Azusa, however, really wants the continued protection of a fake girlfriend, although he keeps telling himself that one of the main reasons he wants to participate in the Fiançailles is to finally end the other students' bullying of Rise.

Two other characters get involved: a girl named Noriko Fuwa and Akamaru, a popular but aloof guy from S-class. Noriko is determined to make Azusa her own. Akamaru, meanwhile, seems to want to protect Rise. He had previously warned her to keep her distance from Azusa, and now he goes after Azusa for continuously upsetting her, making her cry, and making her even more of a bullying target.

Anyone who accidentally skipped the first volume would likely assume this was a relatively normal, if annoying and slightly risque, romance series. A couple potential love triangles are introduced, and, if I remember right, not a single character mentions the fate that Azusa is trying to avoid.

If you did skip the first volume, or if it's been a while since you read it, allow me to remind you: at this particular school, girls vastly outnumber the boys and see this as an excuse to hunt them down and rape them. If a boy is lucky enough to find himself a girlfriend who can protect him, or if he can find a part to play (school idol, unapproachable sex god, etc.) that the girls think is acceptable and that he's willing to perform, he's safe. Otherwise, he's at the mercy of any girl who can catch him. All of the school's teachers are either too dense or too non-confrontational to be of any help.

And that's why this series is still garbage, even though this second volume scales the worst aspects way back. It was also easy to see that Yuzuki had no clue how to handle the characters or write this world. The male students' parents were generally as rich and influential as the female students' parents. Why wasn't that a factor in how they were treated? Heck, one of the teachers was too afraid of Akamaru's father to tell Akamaru that he was going to have to attend an after-school tutoring session.

In the first volume, Rise was a ball of barely suppressed rage and disdain. In this volume, that mostly disappeared, and she became a more generic delicate flower of a heroine, prone to beautiful tears. And while it was clear that Azusa was still supposed to be her primary love interest, Akamaru was at least a hundred times better than him. Where Azusa was childish, easily distracted, and prone to yelling at Rise when she didn't do what he wanted, Akamaru was protective of Rise and mature enough to see when his interference might make things worse for her rather than better. Granted, readers still don't know his motivation (if he even has one - I'm doubtful that the author has any kind of plan), but I certainly liked him more.

Although this volume did have far fewer on-page rape attempts, it still wasn't sexual assault-free. In a kissing scene that made me shudder with revulsion, Azusa forced his tongue into Rise's mouth in order to prove that they were a "real" couple (only true couples French kiss, or something like that - yeah, like I'm going to believe Munechika never French kisses any of the girls he has sex with). He got his tongue bitten, but that's beside the point. Also, the rapist lesbian returned: the school's student body president gave several female students to her as punishment for throwing raw eggs at Rise. This was supposed to be funny.

So yeah, this was slightly better than the first volume, but still crap.

Extras:

Several author's notes, a few humorous drawings, four pages of translator's notes, and a four-page untranslated preview of volume 3.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Fake Marriage with the CEO (A Billionair...

Fake Marriage With The CEO by Amanda Horton is a fairly quick read, a great choice for those with limited time for reading.  Ms Horton has delivered a well-written book.  The characters are awesome and lovable.  Miranda and Wolfe's story is fast-paced and loaded with drama, suspense, humor and sizzle.   I enjoyed reading Fake Marriage With the CEO and would happily read more from Amanda Horton in the future.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.