BL Library - Heterosexual Relationships

Manhwa Review | A Kind Goblin’s Bird by 8cat

Title: A Kind Goblin's Bird

Author(s): 8cat

Artist(s): 8cat

There is a tale about a woman who can help grant wishes in people's sleep. All she has to do is sing as the person falls asleep, and in their dreams, they will see their wishes granted. She is an oracle and one that Sah Heonyoung seeks out to test her powers. When he sees her, they are inexplicably drawn to each other; Sah Heonyoung, in particular, is drawn to the oracle. However, his identity as the twin of the crown prince, a goblin, makes it impossible to want anything without fear of losing it.

The oracle in question has never had a name. She is forced to live out in the woods of the mountain, surviving on weeds and grass in between the few times she is called to perform her wish-granting ceremony. Over time, her body has accumulated many scars, her legs have weakened to the point that she can't stand for long, and her eyesight is poor at night. Her life is an endless struggle until she meets the goblin in the red mask. He whisks her away, gives her a name, and asks her to be his bride. In an instant, her life has changed, but the imperial family, his family, threatens to steal away her happiness forever.

Title: The Thorn That Pierces Me

Author(s): MaCherie

Artist(s): Piggyback

Heesoo was just trying to find an escape. Having just toured America and decided to go back home and better her life, Heesoo is finally seeing the brighter side of life. However, on the way back to Korea, the plane she's on ends up getting sucked into a strange portal that transports the plane and everyone on it to a fantasy world. Heesoo is one of the few to survive the crash, but just surviving the crash isn't enough. She ends up running into creatures called maenok, which are zombie-like creatures that attack the living and that can't be killed. When she isn't running from zombies, though, she faces enslavement, starvation, assault, and misunderstandings due to her inability to communicate with the locals since she can't speak their language.

Things aren't going so well in the new world. Resigned to the fact that she probably won't survive, Heesoo plans to stop fighting and accept her fate. That is until a super sexy paladin appears to save the day. Finally faced with a glimmer of hope, Heesoo is determined to latch onto Calix in the hopes that he will keep her safe, and she does that the best way she knows how: by seducing the chaste paladin. Unfortunately, Calix isn't all that receptive to her feminine wiles, but Heesoo's persistence slowly but surely wears down the wall her savior has put up. However, as that wall begins to fall, it reveals that Calix may not be as pure as he appears to be.

Title: Bride of Elysion

Author(s): Bora Wang

Artist(s): Hansol

Ina Yoo is just going about her day on Earth when she faints and wakes up to find herself in a cage with other women, who all seem to be from different places. None of them seem to know what's happening or where they are. They are carted off to a stage where many masked men overlook them. Ina Yoon is terrified, as expected. While standing in the middle of the stage, she catches the eye of a gentleman in a cat mask. Before she can ascertain his identity, she is chosen and suddenly flies up to a higher balcony. Once there, she is introduced to a gentleman named Aivan. He has decided to be her supporter.

However, the gentleman in the cat mask, Asbell, comes to take her for himself. The two men get into an argument; all the while, Ina is stuck in the middle, only growing more lost and confused by the second. Finally, the two men ask her to choose between them. When pressed, Ina selects Aivan. Aivan then takes her back to his mansion, where he explains that she has been summoned to the world of Elysion, a world where only men are born. As a result, they have to summon women from other worlds. Once the women make it over, they are praised and worshipped by the men, taught how to live in Elysion, and allowed to marry and take on as many men as they see fit.

In exchange, the women help produce mana, magical energy, which can only be done through a “mana exchange” with their boyfriends. It's a lot to take in, but Ina doesn't take long to catch on with all the beautiful men around. It's not all sexy time and butterflies, though, as the drama between her suitors and even other women crops up, but Ina's not going to let that get in her way. She will follow her heart and do everything she wants in this new world.

Title: Beast Blood

Author(s): Sato Fumino

Artist(s): Akira Egawa

Euphemia Ashencourt is a pretty girl… and that's all anyone sees in her, which only puts her that much deeper in her half-sister's shadow. Her elder sister is none other than the mayor of Gothic City – a corrupt city overrun with Nightz addicts, gangs, and Beast Blood-hating groups murdering them whenever possible. But Euphemia's sister is slowly working on turning things around. Naturally, Euphemia wants nothing more than to help her sister make the city better and prove that she is more than just a pretty face. So, using her sister's connections, Euphemia gets a job at a research facility to find a way to naturally destroy the Night Bloom – the flower used to create Nightz.

Euphemia never thought that trying to help her sister destroy some flowers would ever lead her to danger. However, one evening, after seeing the Night Blooms bloom, she is captured by some gang members on her way home. They take her out to the Wilds with the intent to assault her before feeding her to a Muta – a monstrous and blood-thirsty creature. Before the men can touch her, she resolves to take her own life and control her death. But in the middle of her attempt, a man with glowing silver eyes appears.

His name is Zelaide, and he isn't just any man. He is Beast Blood, a species that looks human but is much more than that. He's stronger, he's faster, and he's more beast than man, and he's a Hunter – a contractor that does all the violent, dirty work that most humans can't or won't. He takes out the men, defeats the Muta, and saves Euphemia. That would typically be the end of Zelaide's involvement with a human woman, but the moment Euphemia laid eyes on him, she wanted him and wasn't going to let this beast of a man get away.

Title: Aishiteruze Baby

Author(s): Yoko Maki

Artist(s): Yoko Maki

Kippei Katakura is a player. As one of the most attractive guys in his high school, he has no shortage of partners to play with every day. However, Kippei's days of playing bachelor are coming to an end when a major family event rocks the foundation of the Katakura family. Kippei's aunt Miyako lost her husband. Unable to handle the pressures of single motherhood, Miyako leaves her five-year-old daughter Yuzuyu in the care of Kippei's family until she can get on her feet.

As the only family member old enough to care for her and with enough free time to do it, Kippei is designated as Yuzuyu's primary guardian. Yuzuyu quickly takes to Kippei and begins relying on him heavily. Similarly, Kippei finds himself increasingly attached to Yuzuyu, and soon, those irresponsible player days feel like a distant memory. It isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though. Kippei and Yuzuyu constantly face prejudice, trauma, and the many struggles their unique relationship creates. As their bond grows stronger and stronger, the looming threat that one day they will have to part only grows along with it.

Title: Sweat and Soap

Author(s): Kintetsu Yamada

Artist(s): Kintetsu Yamada

Asako works at a toiletry manufacturing company in the finance department, which is convenient since she struggles with something that makes life pretty tricky: sweat. Asako sweats much more than average, so she has to be extra hygienic to avoid smelling out in public. Even with her above-average hygiene habits, though, Asako still finds herself stressing over her smell. As a child, she was relentlessly bullied for sweating, and that trauma has carried over into her adulthood. So, her days are spent in constant anxiety and fear over getting too close to those around her and becoming the laughingstock of her peers due to her hygiene.

Her fears come to a head when the lead product developer Kotaro Natori at work approaches her in the lobby because of her smell. He has an unnaturally strong sense of smell because he develops the soaps their company produces, and Asako's scent is particularly strong to him. However, he doesn't dislike her smell at all. Instead, he is inspired by it, and he desperately needs Asako's odor to inspire him for the upcoming Winter line of soaps he is preparing to present. Though Asako wants to do anything but let Kotaro smell her all day, for the company's sake, she agrees to let Kotaro smell her at the office daily. It's not long, though, before Kotaro is drawn to Asako for more than just her smell, and even Asako is beginning to enjoy these sniff sessions a bit more than she expected.

Title: Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts

Author(s): Yu Tomofuji

Artist(s): Yu Tomofuji

Beastkind and humans live entirely separate lives. Each is designated land with an agreement to never cross into the other's borders, except for the agreed-upon ritual. To uphold the peace between the human kingdoms and the beastkind, humanity must give a human sacrifice to the king of beasts. Unfortunately for Sariphi, it is her turn to be sacrificed. Oddly enough, though, she isn't afraid. She has known she was meant to be a sacrifice for a long time and has resigned herself to this fate, ultimately happy that her life and death could be meaningful.

During the ritual, she is faced with the king of beasts. However, instead of killing her, he turns into a man and tries to set her free. Since taking the throne, he has never once killed a sacrifice and instead helped them all to escape. Even so, Sariphi doesn't leave. She has nowhere to return to and now has no meaning for her life. The king is entranced by her lack of fear, something he must contend with every day because while he is the king of beasts, he is not entirely a beast. Drawn to her, the king decides to let her stay with him under the pretense that she will one day be his bride and help close the divide between human and beastkind.

Having lived her whole life under the assumption she would one day die as a sacrifice, Sariphi must now find a new motivation to continue. She battles against prejudice, political schemes to keep her from becoming queen, and efforts even to take down the king of beasts. Can a human girl survive in a world made for beasts?

Title: I'm the Soldier's Ex-Girlfriend

Author(s): Ji Hyun

Artist(s): SETE

Maise Hazelnut is supposed to be the saintly female protagonist of the harem romance novel The Soldier's Girlfriend. But, unfortunately, the current Maise is not that saintess character. Instead, she is a girl from the 21st century who has reincarnated into the world of her favorite novel! But she's not just any character – she is the saintess! She initially enjoys the adventure and her cute, soon-to-be-soldier male protagonist boyfriend, Sucre. However, it doesn't take long before all of it gets old, especially when Maise is often getting kidnapped so Sucre's enemies can threaten him. While he is off gallivanting on various male protagonist adventures, he is also flirting with all the beautiful women of the novel.

Fed up with the plot, Maise decides to live her life her way. The first step to do that is breaking up with Sucre, and while he doesn't take it well, Maise holds firm. So, newly single and living her best, peaceful life, Maise goes out to look for her true love. In her pursuit, she is set up with the mysterious Eith Lancell. He's handsome, considerate, and everything that Sucre wasn't, which is just what our independent female protagonist is looking for. Eith seems just a bit too perfect, and it isn't long before Maise suspects there is more than what meets the eye with her devilishly handsome new beau.

Title: Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!

Author(s): Eiko Mutsuhana

Artist(s): vient

Rose is a witch – a being that lives outside of the laws of any country, government, or man. Since she is a being separate from humans, she has lived in isolation on the city's outskirts her entire life. As a result, Rose isn't the most socialized person in the world. To make matters worse, the only reason witches can use magic is due to the singular rule they can never break: they can never tell a lie. This leads to almost all of Rose's conversations being vague responses, riddles, or just non-responses. This has never been an issue, though, since she lives alone, and the only people she interacts with are her guardian, Tien, and the occasional customer seeking out her potions.

Her peaceful existence is rocked, though, when a man she happened to fall in love with four years prior suddenly arrives on her hermitage's doorstep. He is part of the royal guard and is a nobleman in his own right by the name of Harij. Rose encountered him once in the market after her grandmother and caretaker passed, where she was subjected to people celebrating her grandmother's, the witch of the lake's, death. Harij was the only one who defended her grandmother and, by extension, Rose herself, and Rose never forgot him. Unfortunately, though, Harij isn't there for just any reason. He is seeking a love potion.

Rose's pride as a witch won't allow her to deny the man she loves such a potion, but that doesn't mean she won't take advantage of the situation. She draws out the time it takes to make the potion, sending Harij out on errands to procure the ingredients needed, and as time goes on, Rose's love for Harij only grows. Meanwhile, his affection toward the witch grows, too, or is that just Rose's imagination? Even if Harij did fall in love with her, how could a witch fall in love with a human?

Title: Satan's Bride

Author(s): Huyusora

Artist(s): Huyusora

Rupia is the only daughter of one of three major noble families in the empire. As the only daughter, Rupia is lovingly doted on by not only her parents but also her brothers. The only downside is that she has yet to debut into society, even in adulthood, simply because her family is overprotective. Unfortunately, though, her family cannot protect her from everything.

One day, the demon oracle Cleora demands that the underworld takes in 500 human women as their brides, starting from the ruler down the long line of succession of the demon throne. When the decree is sent to the royal family, they put out a royal decree to all noble families to give up one of their daughters for this noble task. That, unfortunately, includes Rupia. Her family, of course, detests this command but is unable to fight against it due to their standing in the empire, so Rupia, along with 499 other human women, is transported to the underworld.

Once there, the women are met by demon maids, butlers, and even the demon king himself, Edith. Almost none of the women can communicate with demons except for Rupia and three other women, as they have learned some of the ancient language, which is one of the few languages humans and demons share. As a result, Rupia and those three other women are chosen for the king, and the three demons next in succession for the throne.

By random draw, the women are doled out to their respective partners, and by pure luck, Rupia is chosen by the king of the underworld, Edith. However, Edith is just as displeased with this situation as Rupia. As it turns out, he didn't want the human women at all. Even so, Rupia and Edith have no choice but to be together. As the new queen of the underworld, how will Rupia manage her new life in this strange place, and will she be able to thaw the icy Edith?

Heterosexual Relationships

Manhwa Review | Bride of Elysion by Bora Wang

Manga Review | Aishiteruze Baby by Yoko Maki

Manga Review | Sweat and Soap by Kintetsu Yamada

Manhwa Review | Satan’s Bride by Huyusora

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