thataddylady

[thataddylady]

[thataddylady]

Uuugh, I love how mischievous they both are.

Xiao Qi & Awu + playfulness

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writing cover letters

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found this today

Please use these terms correctly. Not doing so will deeply harm the people who actually have experienced trauma, gaslighting, triggers, and people who have NPD.

[thataddylady]

As a history nerd, this gives me too much joy lol

I hate that SEPTember OCTOber NOVember and DECember aren’t the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months.

[thataddylady]

ARC REVIEW: Miss Thornfield's Daring Bargain by Addy Du Lac

4/5. Releases 3/20/25.

—brother's best friend

—historical romance that isn't all about standard issue caucasians

—nooooooooooo don't grow up and turn into a sexy person my honor can't take it

—marriage of convenience

Heat Index: 6.5/10

The Basics:

Ada was supposed to have a fun season; unfortunately, her brother Richard just had to go missing, and now she needs his friend Basil's help to find him and save her future. But like, the easiest way to do this is obviously to marry Basil. They can always get an annulment once they've completed the mission? Right? Right? Riiiiiight?

The Review:

If there's one word I can use to describe Addy Du Lac's approach to historicals, it's "charming". She writes with a light hand in a manner that mixes the modern and the classic.

Which, speaking of, this is obviously going to get comparisons to Bridgerton because it's a diverse historical romance (Ada and Richard are of Chinese descent on their mother's side; but they're not alone, and Du Lac has tended towards diversity in her historicals so far, which is lovely). But Miss Thornfield's Daring Bargain is more rooted in reality, which means Ada does racism, and the world in which she lives isn't the postracial utopia that is Netflix's Bridgerton. As a disclaimer, I'm a white woman, and I can't speak as to how well Ada and Richard work as representation; nor can I speak much as to how race is handled in this book in general. I can say that it seemed well done to me, and I find Du Lac's approach to diversity in historical romances preferable to what Bridgerton does. It's never super heavy, but it does feel more... aware? A midpoint between harsh reality and "nothing wrong ever happens anymore it's fine don't worry about it".

Like, don't get me wrong. This is a fun, frothy book. And it know what the reader wants. When Basil gets all hot and bothered on waking up to Ada being just A Little Too Close? Delightful. His general dismay at her not being a skinny little girl anymore? Hell yeah. That's what we're here for. I don't know if they necessarily like... desperately needed to get married to find Richard? But to be real, the fact that they were like "Seems legit, I'm sure an annulment will be easy" made it more fun for me.

But Basil, bro—if you're gonna get this thing annulled, you kinda need to NOT bang her. Just a note. I know it's challenging.

If there's one thing I can say, it's that Basil and Ada are both genuinely kind people whose relationship progresses fairly quickly, in part because they are nice people. Really, why shouldn't they be together? They're nice and they're hot. Let's do this. Du Lac writes lovely people in a lovely way, and I do enjoy it; but I'd kind of like to see her writing people who are a bit harder to enjoy in the future. Not constantly, write your heartsong, but as a treat?

Like I said, Ada and Richard aren't the only people of color in this novel, and I look forward to seeing the stories of Ada's friends, also biracial women, down the road. This was a fun setup for what looks like a romp of a series, and I'm very interested to see what comes next.

The Sex:

While it takes a bit for Basil and Ada to fully give in, when they do—well, Du Lac writes a good sex scene. It's nothing super over the top, but the connection between Basil and Ada is palpable, and I was very "good for Her" TM about it.

Conclusion:

Any historical romance fans looking for something on the lighter side will definitely like this. And frankly, I'm always happy to see historical authors who branch away from the usual cast of white characters. While this is very classic in some ways, it branches out in others, and I had a good time!

Thanks to Addy Du Lac, Dragonblade, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[thataddylady]

“But if you forget to reblog Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity.”

[thataddylady]

Good to know...

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I don’t know how anyone can hate on this beautiful man.

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Soft Dom behavior...

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May I Love You? - Jae Yeon | When the Phone Rings OST

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Reblog if it’s ok for people to give you $599.99

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The pettiness is just 👌😂

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Enemy (2013) dir. Denis Villeneuve

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This exactly.

Yo, correct me if I am wrong please, but didn't Hitler rise to power because he promised to fix the German economy and people really liked that so they looked past everything else he was doing??? Like exactly what's happening in America right now???

So many people said they voted for Trump, put a truly evil person in power, because he said he'd fix the economy, and a little voice in my head is going, "Isn't that what happened with fucking Hitler??"

But I've seen no one point that out so maybe I'm miss remembering???????

[thataddylady]

Geeez... this dude is really coming for everyone's throat with these photos.