Another entry into June's angsty novelette series, this time the setting is surprisingly different, being mostly in England (more specifically London) than in Japan.

In this story bored aristocrat, Edmund, is being forced to marry in order to ensure his inheritance doesn't go to his cousin. Determined to defy his parent's dying wishes in any way possible he heads off to find the prostitute he gave the family's heirloom engagement ring to. Instead he finds Japanese exchange student, Satsuki, working in a seedy little pub. Immediately taken by the bishie young man, Edmund proposes a contract where Satsuki poses as his fiancée and then breaks it off. Satsuki is very wary of this plan, being your typical reluctant uke, but needs the money so he can continue to live and study theater in England. Much cross-dressing ensues and suddenly what started out as an act becomes much more than either Edward or Satsuki expected.

From my understanding of the yaoi storyline (which I'm still rather new at reading), this one is pretty standard. The seme/uke roles are well defined and it was very predictable. For some reason I really liked the Prince, even though he had a tiny part and was not really much more than a prop. I was left hoping that he found his own love. The translation seemed okay, better than a few that I've read. My major disappointment was the ending which was abrupt and non-enlightening. I mean, I got the gist of it, but it kind of left you hanging.

The little artwork there was looked very pretty. I especially liked the depictions of Satsuki and the style of drawing reminded me strongly of Ryo Saenagi's work who is one of my faves.

I still consider myself pretty much a newbie at this genre although I'm certainly learning my own likes and dislikes. This novelette had some good points, like the artwork and the fact it didn't lean toward the overly graphic, and some bad points, like the inclusion of what I guess is a standard yaoi scene (if you're familiar with the genre you know what I mean) and the ending, and so my overall opinion is pretty midline. It is certainly not anything I'd recommend unless you're familiar with the yaoi genre and know what you're getting in to. ( )

Satsuki is a young Japanese guy who searches to gain his life in London. He always wanted to be an actor, but when he is refused by the most important actor school in Japan, he decided to try his fortune in London; there is maybe a bit of misplaced proud in it, since probably Satsuki doesn't want to face the fact that him, the one who always had the main character role in the high school plays, was rejected and instead his best friend, the one who always looked upon to Satsuki was accepted.

In London Satsuki is not doing very well; he is lonely and has very little money, and he is too proud to ask help to his family. So when a young nobleman, Edward, asks him to cross-dress and to play the role of his fiancee, Satsuki accepts. It's not only the money, it's also the fascination with the high society in which Edward lives. Edward needs to marry in order to not losing his inheritance, and marrying Satsuki, he is sure that he will have no problem to invoid the marriage.

Edward is not a bad guy, maybe a little spoiled, but all in all he is only lonenly, as lonely as Satsuki. In Satsuki maybe Edward finds more a friend than other. And when it's time to express his feelings, he is too open, and this clashes with Satsuki's culture.

First of all the plot... it's not very convincing. How can Edward and Satsuki marry without problem? Doesn't Satsuki need a birth certificate, where obviously it's stated that he is a man? True, in England same sex union are legal, I believe, but this is not what Edward's parents' will states.

Second the relationship between Edward and Satsuki: it could be a very good example of Pretty Woman's tale, there is also the scene where Edward takes Satsuki out to shopping in the best fashion boutique... but how the relationship evolves between the two it's without a strong basis, it's all too obvious and the author doesn't give us much reason to believe in it... the only sex scene is almost a rape! Actually if not for the rape scene, this book would be a good example of young adult novel, and with an young adult target too.

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I'll admit happily that my preconceptions for this novel were proven wrong. Because this novel included cross-dressing, I expected the main character to be weepy or girly, but he was neither of those two. The characters and the plot were engaging and this was a great afternoon read!

Satsuki is rejected by his choice of acting school in Japan so he decides to study abroad in England. He doesn't want to trouble anyone so he works to pay for his own tuition and living expenses.

Count Edward is very rich but he's being pressured to marry in order to keep his position. But he doesn't want to marry just anyone. To avoid having to make a decision right away, he cooks up a plan to "hire" a temporary bride. But where's he going to find a woman who's willing to stand in as his wife and give up that position after the job is done?

After a mix-up with a ring, Edward ends up asking Satsuki to use his extremely good looks and his acting skills to pose as Edward's wife. Satsuki sees this as an opportunity to make more money, so after a brief hesitation, he agrees to Edward's proposal.

I'll start off by saying the translation for this book (done by Translations by Design) was wonderful. I could hardly tell that I was reading translated text. There were still a few typos but no glaring errors so they didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Satsuki is a great protagonist. It's easy to empathize with him. He's been rejected by his dream school in Japan, and every day he regrets fighting with his best friend more and more. But he doesn't let that stop him and goes out to find new opportunities for himself rather than waiting for them to drop in his lap.

Edward's a fun character too. He may look uncaring or irresponsible becuase he throws money left and right, but he's actually pretty intelligent. He cares for Satsuki and grows a mean jealous streak every time he thinks Satsuki might be falling for someone else.

A Promise of Romance is very sweet and fits perfectly into the romance genre because it actually is a romance. Satsuki and Edward don't fall in love at first sight. They grow used to each other and develop affections for each other which grow into love. This novel's also complete with a scheming cousins bent on winning Edward for herself, drink spilling action, and a sarcastic butler.

The set-up for the book is very clever. Each section is named after a Shakespeare play that fits the tone of the chapter. I thought that was fun.

**Spoiler for this next paragraph.**

With this novel, it was very entertaining and almost everything worked for me. The thing that didn't, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is the sex. Up until the point they have sex (the first time's actually rape), Satsuki and Edward don't even think about doing it. They think about how they love the other person, they think about how soft the other person's lips are. It's all very innocent and sweet. A middle schooler or high schooler could have read it. Then Akitsu busts out the sexy action and I just thought, wow, that doesn't fit the story at all. I think A Promise of Romance would've been just fine without the sex, but then again, a lot of readers love explicit scenes so it's just my opinion.

**End spoiler.**

Overall, A Promise of Romance is great and well put together. I think the Shakespeare titles worked nicely and Tooko Miyagi's art complemented the sweet tone of the book very well. Perfect for a light read! ( )

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