花街の用心棒 花は凛と後宮を守り

This book was incredibly average. The writing wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible either. The plot made no sense, but it was still entertaining enough to go ahead. In terms of setting, it’s almost exactly the same as 薬屋のひとりごと but the main character is a bodyguard instead of a medical expert. And that’s my main gripe with the story. The main character is supposedly incredibly strong (the “use a sword as long as her height one handed” type) and does indeed make short work of assassins, swordsmen, and the like, but whenever the love “interest” (she is not interested; why is that trope a thing) grabs her wrist and forces her into a hug, she can’t get away? I understand that she can’t really smash his face in (although…), but still, she ought to be strong enough to do something about the situation?

Overall, it was fine as a kind of quick forgettable read, but you probably need to be starved for the genre to pick up this series. (I got it myself because it was heavily discounted and, well, I do like the genre).