I was really enjoying the story for the first half and then it just... Lost the charm. It wasn't bad, but I was not excited about it anymore.

It felt like everyone was robbed of their personality for the second half (To be fair, they didn't have a lot of it to begin with) to favor a plot that wasn't that interesting or enjoyable. The jewel's thing went for too long for the unsatisfactory way it ended.

Judith could be easily replaced by a rock and not much would change, long gone was the girl that loved acting and daydreaming, or doing anything at all. I usually don't mind when the FMCs let the MMCs help them (It's actually refreshing sometimes) but in this instance, seeing her have 0 influence on how the conflict was resolved was annoying.

Rannulf was good, I liked him as the MMC well enough.

His family on the other side... This was the first book I read from the Bedwyn saga and when meeting the other Bedwyn's should have made me want to read their stories, they seemed bland and uninteresting. With the exception maybe of Wulf.

Mostly I ended what I originally thought would be a solid 4 starts with a feeling of "meh". I don't regret reading it, but I probably won't be re-reading anytime soon.

The only thing I actually disliked about the book was the author planting this things about Judith's family during all the book, just to have them be good and suportive at the end... 

"Oh her parents made her feel like she was hideous and sinful all her life, constantly trying to hide her appearance and interests, but they were just doing it because they were worried about no one being good enough for her" Ugh.

"Her uncle is probably the most indifferent person in the whole world but he magically had a change of heart and now he cares (Feels guilty?) and offers his home for her to get married" Give me a break.

If you're going to spend 90% of the book talking about how awful they have been to her, maybe don't decide that for the last 10% they will become a happy loving family. It's the main thing I wish was different and that had me ending the book with a sour taste in my mouth