This is the second volume of a very light and fluffy romance between Masamune and Natsuki. It was a while since I read the first volume and I was racking my brains at first for memories of who these characters were and what had happened previously, so that wasn’t a great sign as to how engaging the first book was. But the plot here is gentle and cute enough that I was able to bop along, and I didn’t feel like re-reading the first one. I think this falls under the category of cotton candy sort of books, sweet and enjoyable in the moment and then once done they melt right out of your mind.
The basic plot (if I remember correctly) is that Masamune is a busy salaryman who doesn’t really cook and just eats a lot of convenience store meals and then Natsuki is some sort of house cleaner who then starts cooking for him and they fall in love. This second volume tracks their relationship now that they’re boyfriends. It has the standard trip to a hot spring/amusement park, deciding to move in together, and some very light angst as to whether Natsuki’s parents will accept them as a gay couple. Given that Masamune works for Natsuki’s dad, I would have thought there would have been even more tension (and HR issues), but while Masamume is worried, he never seems concerned that he’s going to get fired or blackballed from his industry or anything. I enjoyed the character of Natsuki’s mom and the brief exploration of the tension between her busy job and raising a child. The art here was cute and had some funny exaggerated moments that I liked.
A cheerful treat but not anything groundbreaking, basically. This is also a 13+ book so the most we see here is some kissing and a fade-to-black sexual encounter (honestly a bit much for a 13 year old in my book, but I’m becoming old before my time, maybe).
