BL Library - Eve’s Faves

Manga Review | Therapy Game by Meguru Hinohara

Title: Therapy Game

This is the sequel series for Secret XXX, and it’s highly recommended that you read that title first before coming to this one.

Minato is out for revenge. While out at a gay drag bar, Minato was comforted by a drunken and heartbroken Shizuma. Shizuma, though in tears after being cheated on and dumped, felt compelled to comfort Minato, who was sad that his brother was finding love and moving on in life without him. Charmed by the sweet young man, Minato decided to take care of him, leading to them having a steamy night in bed. The next morning, Shizuma calls out for his ex, only to have Minato respond. The sweet and loving Shizuma is suddenly standoffish and embarrassed, admitting he remembers nothing about their night together.

Feeling bamboozled, Minato is furious and embarrassed. He had been vulnerable with Shizuma, only to be forgotten entirely. His initial goal is to scare Shizuma off. But Shizuma wants to take responsibility for anything he did to Minato, which presents a much more satisfying opportunity for revenge. Minato fully intends to take Shizuma up on his offer of taking responsibility, and over time, he wants to drown him in love and affection, wrap him around his little finger, only to break his heart.

What Minato doesn’t anticipate is Shizuma stealing his heart in the process.

Title: Secret XXX

Author(s): Meguru Hinohara

Artist(s): Meguru Hinohara

Shohei loves rabbits. He adores them. Growing up in a family of exotic vets and zookeepers, he’s been surrounded by a variety of interesting animals, but none can beat rabbits in his heart. Unfortunately, when he finally got the chance to get a pet rabbit in his childhood, he discovered he was deathly allergic to them. Heartbroken, he grew up longing for them all the same. Once he finally reached college, he happened upon a rabbit shop, Trois Lapin. For days, he spent his time after class watching all of the bunnies from the outside window until he was approached by an employee named Mito, who asked if he’d like to come in and see them up close.

Shohei was more than happy to take him up on that offer, even though he went home feeling sick afterward. After being invited inside once, Shohei can’t help volunteering as often as he can to be near all of the sweet little bunnies. However, as he spends more time in the shop, working alongside Mito, he finds that there is more than just the rabbits that he loves within the shop. If it ever got out that he was allergic to rabbits, he knows that Mito and his grandmother, the owner, would never allow him to continue working there. So, Shohei keeps his allergy a secret at the risk of his health.

But can he grow closer to Mito when he can’t get close to his rabbits?

Title: Hotaru Dies Tomorrow

Author(s): Fuyu Saikawa

Artist(s): Fuyu Saikawa

Saneatsu is in love, but not with a real person. He’s in love with the main character of his favorite novel, the somber and hypersexual Hotaru – a cat-eyed beauty with dusty pink hair. Every partner he’s ever had has never been able to compare to her, resulting in Saneatsu being dumped over and over again. He’s lonely, but he longs for Hotaru and no one else. To his surprise, he runs into a young man with cat eyes and dusty pink hair. He kisses the man before he can control himself and asks him out.

The man, to Saneatsu’s surprise, agrees, and the two start an intensely sexual relationship – exactly what Saneatsu would expect from being with his beloved Hotaru. This Hotaru’s name is Nao, and his entire personality, likes and dislikes, reactions, and commentary all align with his beloved Hotaru. This is everything Saneatsu could have ever wanted in a relationship. But is Hotaru really the one Saneatsu wants to be in a relationship with?

Title: A Dominating Prince and His Naughty Habits

Author(s): Owal

Artist(s): Owal

Kadri was once an abandoned child in the Gulf state where he lives but was adopted by Grandma Jedda. Grandma Jedda raised Kadri as her own, teaching him all of her recipes and cooking techniques, and as a result, he started helping her run her restaurant. Now, he spends his evenings making his famous biryani while commanding the kitchen, living life to the fullest. However, his idyllic life goes a little off course when a wealthy man and relative to the king named Fati comes by. Fati wants to buy the restaurant so he can redevelop the area.

While it would mean plenty of money for Grandma Jedda and Kadri, they aren’t willing to give up their precious restaurant. Since money doesn’t seem to be enough to sway Kadri, Fati recommends another method of negotiation: sex. Kadri, a virgin, is stunned but is willing to do anything to keep his grandmother’s restaurant open. So, he meets the wealthy Fati and intends to take him up on his offer. But when Kadri tries to take the lead, Fati laughs in his face.

Fati had no intention of being the bottom.

But for a sweet virgin like Kadri, the great Fati makes an exception.

Title: Bye Bye

Author(s): SORIM, Wildcat

Artist(s): Kang Pu Con / Kangpucon

Seoyu is standing on the edge of a bridge. This bridge was where his happy life ended years before, when he survived a plunge in the river below, while his parents and brother did not. Ever since, he’s lived with survivor’s guilt, doing the bare minimum to get through day after day. Now that he’s the same age his brother was when he died, Seoyu sees no point in continuing on in life. Just as he’s about to climb over the guardrail, a car comes flying up, crashing into it.

Seoyu rushes over to help the driver, only to find a perfectly fine young man. As it turns out, he wasn’t supposed to drive the car yet. Fearing his brother’s reaction, he begs Seoyu to help him lie and get out of any trouble in exchange for a nice chunk of change. Though only a few moments before, Seoyu was ready to move on from life. But his determination has waned, and he’s agreed to meet the young man’s brother. Seoyu doesn’t expect to meet a very dominant alpha, and a hot one at that.

There’s no way this guy would ever be attracted to a recessive omega like him, but that doesn’t stop Seoyu from imagining it. How surprising it is when those dreams come true, and he is actively pursued by the hot alpha Sunghoon Choi. But is he deserving of such love from someone like Sunghoon?

Title: My Pudgy Co-worker Is a Snack

Author(s): Haikin

Artist(s): Haikin

Fukuyama is an office worker. He’s well-integrated into his office and well-liked by pretty much everyone. However, one coworker that Fukuyama doesn’t necessarily perfectly work with is Takahashi. Takahashi is a bit of an enigma, aloof and standoffish, entirely counter to the kind of person Fukuyama is. After hearing Takahashi harshly correct a subordinate, Fukuyama inadvertently speaks his mind, sharing his recommendations on how Takahashi could be a better superior. Expecting his opinions to be taken poorly, Fukuyama is shocked when Takahashi takes it in stride – surprised but not upset.

Fukuyama never expected this side of Takahashi, and he finds it very cute, but now he wants nothing more than to see more sides of the reserved Takahashi. He finally gets his chance while drinking with him and another coworker. As it turns out, Takahashi is a lightweight, and by the time they’re ready to leave, it’s too late to catch a train. So the two head to a love hotel. Fukuyama has every intention of just going to sleep, but then Takahashi makes a demand:

Make love to me.

Title: Aporia

Author(s): Seontae

Artist(s): Seontae

Goo Ja-wook is hopelessly in love with the infamous Yoon Gyum. Their relationship began by pure chance. Ja-wook just happened to be scoping out the exclusive club for BDSM enthusiasts, not because he was interested in BDSM, but because his company was being hired to design the space for an upcoming renovation and subsequent event. Ja-wook innocently took a seat at the bar to take down notes and sketch up plans when he was approached by none other than Gyum. Gyum was immediately smitten with Ja-wook, assuming he was a club patron as well, and intent on finding out how compatible they are in the bedroom, invited Ja-wook up to his room. Far too enraptured by Gyum to realize what he’s walking into, Ja-wook happily agrees.

After a steamy night, Ja-wook wants nothing more than to be with Gyum, but rather than be asked out officially, Gyum has a different arrangement in mind. Gyum intends to form a dom-sub relationship with Ja-wook. The main stipulation? They never pry into the other’s personal lives. What Gyum doesn’t realize is that Ja-wook has no interest in being a sub, much less a masochist, but he does have a vested interest in Gyum. Ja-wook agrees for no other reason than that he wants to be with Gyum in any way he can, even if at the risk of his pride and health.

So begins Ja-wook’s nosedive into the world of BDSM.

Title: The Warehouse

Author(s): Killa+Whale

Artist(s): Killa+Whale

Dohyun Kim is just barely hanging onto life. Since graduating high school, Dohyun has been hopping from job to job, scraping by, with little regard for other people and personal relationships. He longs for the simpler days when he could partake in the fun and pleasures of high school without the pressures of the real world and with the forced relationships of classmates. Without that forced proximity to people, Dohyun lives a pretty lonely life, but he would prefer that to the vulnerability intimate relationships require.

While working in a scammy cell phone shop, Dohyun is again bemoaning his existence. He leaves his post to smoke in the alley nearby, but before returning, he is assaulted, knocked out, and taken away. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a strange, almost empty room. As if that wasn’t odd enough, he also has a chain around his ankle, limiting how far he can move around the strange room. Why would someone take him? He has no enemies, no loans, and is just generally uninteresting.

When the kidnapper shows himself, the reason behind Dohyun’s kidnapping doesn’t become any clearer, but for whatever reason, this man seems to want to punish Dohyun.

Title: The Man in the Mirror

Author(s): Eight Hisamatsu

Artist(s): Yukibayashi

Sal is the next head of the Senba clan. The family is well-known for their talents in Ikebana, the art of flower arrangement. Every year, the Senba clan takes part in a competition where they display their art and always come out with high praise. It’s Sal’s turn to participate, and his victory will mark his official takeover as head of the Senba clan. While Sal loves flowers and enjoys arranging them, the pressure from his father is almost too much to bear, and his arrangements are suffering as a result.

While in his workroom, he is stressed out and puts his hand against a floor-length mirror in the room. To his surprise, the mirror’s surface gives way beneath his touch, and when he completely passes through, he finds himself in an entirely new place. It’s full of beautiful, and in some cases tropical, flowers, but the most beautiful thing by far is the man standing among the blooms. He is the prince of the country Sal finds himself in, and before he can learn who the prince is, he is told of a cultural custom: if they share each other’s names, they will be officially engaged.

Sal and Prince Shaal come up with nicknames for each other and go back and forth to each other’s countries through the mirror. Shaal gives Sal the thing he was missing for his work: inspiration. More than that, Prince Shaal stirs something else in Sal. Could this be love?

Title: Married to the Dragon God

Author(s): Shogo Ikegami

Artist(s): Shogo Ikegami

Tsuwabuki, the illegitimate child of the head of the wolf family to a lion-dog mistress mother, is a lion-dog. His life as a young child starts out well enough with the protection of his mother, but when she dies, his worth to the family severely declines. Though he’s related to the legitimate children of the family head, he is treated just like any other servant, except by his half-sister, who bullies him incessantly just because she can. Tsuwabuki does his best to ignore her taunts, serving the wolf family as best he can while honoring the god of the mountain they live on, just as his mother taught him when he was a small child. He’s perfectly content with his life, though he secretly longs for a bit more freedom and the affection he lost when his mother passed.

The members of the wolf family are considered the divine messengers of god, so it only makes sense that they are called upon to offer a bride to the god in order to heal him of his impurities. The god specifically requests the youngest child, who happens to be Tsuwabuki’s cruel older sister. She doesn’t want to marry the god and is disgusted by the idea of having to cleanse the impure god, as it requires having sex. Instead, she demands that they offer Tsuwabuki, as he is also a child of the wolf family. Without a word, Tsuwabuki accepts his new role.

After being taken underwater, a gateway to where the mountain god Shuro resides, Tsuwabuki is married and bedded. Though Tsuwabuki doesn’t feel worthy of being Shuro’s bride, Shuro assures him that no one else could be worthy enough to be by his side. Still, Tsuwabuki is sure that there is a better bride for Shuro. As it happens, his elder sister is sacrificed to marry Shuro after the wolf family is destroyed. Tsuwabuki is sure his sister would be better for Shuro, but deep inside, Tsuwabuki loves Shuro and wants him all to himself.

Does Shuro really need Tsuwabuki? And even if he doesn’t, can Tsuwabuki let Shuro go?

Eve’s Faves

Manga Review | Therapy Game by Meguru Hinohara

Manga Review | Secret XXX by Meguru Hinohara

Manga Review | Hotaru Dies Tomorrow by Fuyu Saikawa

Manhwa Review | Bye Bye by SORIM

Manga Review | My Pudgy Co-worker Is a Snack by Haikin

Manhwa Review | The Warehouse by Killa+Whale

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