By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Kekkon” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

Those who have been waiting patiently will be happy to hear that we do get the wedding of Marielle and Simeon in this book. That said, if you’re expecting a book filled with wedding prep and relaxation, think again – even with Marielle trying her best not to get involved in any incidents, she still gets abducted two days before her wedding. Which should not be a surprise – readers of this series are here for the detective thriller part of it just as much as the romantic back and forth, and so not only want Marielle in a wedding dress saying “I do”, but also Marielle escaping her captors in a boat and headed down a very fast river with no real strength to row her way out of it. That said, worry not, romance fans, as there are some delightful moments of that here as well, as the Duke who has been a thorn in their side for some time decides to make a last-minute effort to break them up… mostly as he’s bored.

With two days to go until the wedding, all Marielle and Simeon have to do is pick up the wedding rings, their “wedding eyeglasses”, and enjoy a nice afternoon at the fantasy equivalent of the local Marks and Spencer. Unfortunately various things happen, and for once they’re not really Marielle’s fault. She’s mistaken for someone else and her handbag is stolen, then she ends up involved in a jeweler’s efforts to try to stop the theft of a super-expensive ring… that is being made for the Duke. Then she’s kidnapped. In the second half of the book, after both the expensive ring AND her wedding rings are lost in the river, she and Simeon are forced to play a game as captives of the Duke and his wife… and if they lose, they have to call the wedding off. Even if, by then, the wedding is less than 18 hours away.

I admit it, I was rather surprised, when the wedding rings ended up in the drink halfway through the book, that we did not get them back by some weird coincidence at the end. That said, it does lead to a very sweet and very in character replacement. Marielle and Simeon are in fine form here, with her being the usual mix of level-headed straightforwardness and fangirlish squeeing and Simeon being… well, look, there’s a spoiler I won’t reveal here, but let’s just say it’s the highlight of the entire book and also leaves Simeon feeling as if he’s shamed himself forever. You will laugh a lot. There are also some old favorites who show up here… I’d say it’s a spoiler as well, but come on, of course Lutin is going to try to get in the way of everything again. We even get a nice epilogue from his po9int of view, showing a bit of the genuine feelings he has for Marielle… and how he has no plans of giving up just because they’re married.

Theoretically they should finally be able to consummate their marriage now (and Marielle, though naive, certainly seems eager to do so), but I’ve a suspicion that they may have to wait a bit. Till then, please enjoy another in a series of amusing romantic thrillers starring a young woman who claims to be plain and unassuming but is anything but.

By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Saiai” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

There have been a lot of J-Novel Heart series by now, of various shades and types, and one thing that Marielle Clarac has over the rest of them is that it’s easily the biggest in terms of page length. These are all chunky books, a good 50 or so pages longer than the average light novel, and filled with lots of plot complications and twists. It’s nice to see the reader getting some bang for their buck. Especially as, as with previous installments of the series, we have to alternate between Marielle’s crime solving persona and Marielle being a complete flibbertigibbet, going on about romantic and BL-laced tropes while also sometimes missing the obvious. But that’s why we’re here, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Last time I said the wedding seemed imminent, and it still is (the next volume is called “The Wedding of…”), but first we have to deal with a bit of a crisis that might put a wrench in things. It’s hard to marry when your fiance is under arrest.

To Marielle’s horror, Simeon has been taken into custody for allegedly selling state secrets, and while it’s fairly obvious he isn’t doing that, she is ordered not to interfere in the investigation. As you can imagine, she does not obey this order at ALL, twisting around various vows and promises she makes with an increasingly frustrated Prince to try to see who is framing her beloved. Is it the childhood friend who seems to have a troubled past? Is it the gorgeous woman who wears pants and seems to be very friendly with Simeon indeed? (And does this mean that Simeon has had other women before Marielle?) Is it the gorgeous blond who looks like he stepped out of Rose of Versailles, who Marielle keeps getting saved by at odd moments? Is it Simeon’s puppy-like brother? (OK, it’s probably not.) Or is it the angry Naval commander with a vicious hatred of Simeon? The answer… is not TOO surprising, but well handled.

Now that Marielle and Simeon are a couple, and know of each other’s feelings, but are NOT married yet, there’s a lot of tension between them. Part of this is simply that they are really lusting after each other, and there are several almost kisses here, along with Simeon trying to exercise great restraint in not pushing Marielle up onto his desk and having his way with her. Balancing this is Marielle’s poor self-image, which continues to balance with her extroverted confidence – she’s accepted her plain looks, and so doesn’t get upset when they are pointed out. (Simeon does, as his brother finds out in a painful way.) This leads to some doubt and jealousy when she meets Rose, who also could have stepped out of the pages of Rose of Versailles. Among this is the usual thriller stuff, including a visit to a brother far shadier than the one Marielle usually sneaks into, and another wonderful conversation with Marielle’s nemesis Lady Aurelia, who will be best friends with her by Book 5 at the rate they’re going.

So another fun entry in the series, provided you can tolerate the heroine basically doing whatever the heck she wants with no regards to the consequences.

By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Saiai” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

I enjoyed the first Marielle Clarac series while noting a couple of flaws, and I’m pleased to say that this second book at least does a good job fixing one of them. (The “BL tease but no more” aspect is, I fear, not going away anytime soon.) But the mystery/thriller aspect of the book works even better than the first, keeping us guessing as to the motivations of the antagonist (who is not really a villain) and switching immediately to the thriller aspect the moment things are revealed. There’s also a good helping of elements of the first book I greatly enjoyed: Marielle and her tendency to see everything in terms of romantic ‘shipping’ tropes, who gets to simultaneously be very clever and good at reading people and also capable of the most shockingly dumb moves when trying to chase after a lead. She’s not quite an amateur detective, but it’s on the verge of that genre. And the relationship between her and her fiancee Simeon is fantastic.

It’s wintertime, so all the garden parties are inside. More importantly, the Crown Prince (Simeon’s best friend) is being forced to step up his attempts to find a bride now that Simeon and Marielle are engaged. Marielle recommends, in possibly the best scene in the book, the girl who had been bullying her in the past, because she’s clearly not concealing any hidden side and would stop doing it if her husband demanded it. The prince, however, falls for Michelle, a shy and withdrawn young woman who would rather be anywhere but at this party but who reluctantly opens up to the prince anyway. The Prince invites Simeon and Marielle to Michelle’s estate to basically be on his side, and they discover that the family seems to treat her with contempt, or at least treats her as a pawn rather than a daughter. What secrets does Michelle hold? And why is Lutin here and pretending (IS he pretending) to be an Earl?

Marielle and Simeon may have admitted their love to each other in the last book, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not still filled with doubts and misgivings. Marielle has a tendency to describe herself as plain and dull so often that it would come across as self-loathing if she weren’t so confident – it’s practicality turned inward and twisted, and I’m glad Simeon tries to get her to see that she can in fact be attractive. Marielle also has a tendency to get herself into trouble, and while I doubt that’s going away she does at least understand how much it’s panicki8ng him when she does this. The last third of the book has a number of excellent chase scenes, and shows that the author is just as good at action as they are at mystery and romance. As for Michelle’s secret, it’s relatively obvious (Marielle guesses it), but also not quite as obvious (Marielle is stunned), and is handled slightly better than I expected.

It’s suggested that the wedding might be in the next book, though given the subtitle for the third volume is The Temptation of Marielle Clarac that may not happen. But I’m definitely going to be reading more in any case. These are a fun addition to the J-Novel Heart line, and will interest any romance readers, even those not interested in Japanese light novels.