Craving in His Blood by Zoey Draven

Okay, so here is another shining example of an MMC who is wishy-washy about his feelings for the FMC who is pretty great. The only reason this was slightly more palatable to me than the previous book I read by the same author (albeit in a different series) is that the MMC is bringing a castle to the table, an entire area of which he rules, and the FMC can’t even use a sword, which is obviously a deficit. She is very handy, however, and therefore could really save him a lot of money in repairs around the castle. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me but at a certain point in the story it was like he wouldn’t leave her alone, but he was also like “I gotta marry this other lady,” but then again also just would not leave her be.

I remember this one part in Game of Thrones (not the best romance writing, to be sure), but it’s when Robb realizes he’s in love with Talisa. She’s telling him about the moment she realized she wanted to become a physician and he’s just watching her so attentively like nothing else exists in the world but her and you can almost see the moment he makes the decision. Because he’s supposed to marry the Frey girl because he needs that bridge that her family’s got, and Talisa knows he needs that bridge and they’re not even talking about the bridge and then he stands up and he says “I don’t want to marry the frey girl,” and Talisa looks flustered but he’s moving toward her and then she says “but you need that bridge” as though that’s an end to it but then she looks him dead in the eye and says “I hope it’s a very beautiful bridge.” And then it’s all OVER. They fall on each other and that’s IT. That’s how you do indecisive MMC, that’s how you do “I love you, but I have to marry someone else,” you give us a payoff like that and it makes it worth it. This is all I’m asking for.