Indigo's Recommendations | ✐

02 | Strength and Sensuality

Title: Strength and Sensuality
Author: HeraHarker
Genre: Chicklit and Women's Fiction
Status: Completed. Available on Wattpad as of October 14, 2021.
Content Warning: Mild language. Mild sexual content in Chapter 43.
Top Five Tags: funny, refugee, anxietydisorder, ptsd, strongfemalelead

Blurb | Synopsis:

A modern Pride and Prejudice story. Only sexier.

Mira is a refugee, starting a new life far from home. She has to deal with her troubled past, her son, and her enigmatic boss, while her only weapon is her killer sense of humor. It's a slow-building love-hate story, with a strong female lead; two control freak lawyers, fighting for dominance, in denial of their feelings; an alpha discovering his submissive side; lots of humor and humanism.

Favorite Quote: "There's no shooting outside. When I try to sum up the pros of our home, this one is at the top of the list. In fact, this is the only item on that list. ... I don't mind. The house, with its single bedroom and slightly moldy hue, looks perfect to me. Because, I can't emphasize it enough, there is no shooting outside. That fact alone makes me feel invincible." - Chapter 1

Why? Because it was shocking it to read + it sums up the main character's feelings throughout the story, for the better or worse.

What Reeled Me In | What Caught My Attention: The first line. Period. ❤️

My Thoughts:

I found this story one day when I was reading as a judge for the Dream Awards 2020. I am so glad to have found it, because, oh my gods, it's one of the best stories I've ever read as of today. The development and progression of the story, remarkable, I tell you! I would love to buy it someday if it ever gets published, and I would bend over backwards to get it autographed by the author. (Hi Hera! ✨🥺)

The characterization is beautiful~ I cared about every character (the "side" characters felt like family ❤️🥺), I felt everything they felt, their personalities were consistent and they felt like real people (three-dimensional), and most importantly, I love the fact that the story is narrated in the main character's perspective; how the author uses it to their advantage for the entirety of the plot, which I refuse to talk about because then I will spoil it without meaning to, but let me just say that this is an emotionally powerful story of someone who grows into a better version of herself by letting down her defensive walls, and accepting the support of others.

The aforementioned relates to the way the story was narrated. Since as a reader I saw the world through Mira's own perception of it, I didn't get a full understanding of what was happening to the other characters or how they perceived her unless it was pointed out, or hints were given to us in ways that Mira herself couldn't pick up on. It was intentional. And I love how the story's climax is directly related to that. It showed just how well the author knew how to limit the perspective of a character in a way that is faithful to the character, and how to make someone behave as realistically as possible based on their given circumstances. Sometimes making the story in first-person point-of-view can be challenging because of exposition, for instance. Sometimes things are said that just logically wouldn't make sense for the narrating character to know. The author of this story knew how to prevent those situations.

Mira's voice as a character is so remarkable I honestly don't know if I could stop praising it unless I change topic right now. Which I will.

Another thing I love about this story? It's funny. It's crazy funny! Mira uses humor as a way to cope, and her humor as well as the responses of others due to it are just hilarious. There's also lots of witty/clever remarks and comments that are just amazing.

I also love how the eventual love interest is depicted in Mira's eyes whenever he tries to understand her or when he's just... excited to see her. 😝 Hera, you know what I'm talking about and just... thank you. For writing those scenes. ✨😂

As for you potential readers, you'll know what I mean about those type of scenes if you read Strength and Sensuality.

;)

This is the type of story where— like Flytrap (the story I recommended in the last chapter!), if you reread it, you will pick up on certain things you didn't notice before, like snide remarks or comments Mira made that were insignificant to her but were important to the characters around her (especially when the plot thickens), and generally see the story come together in another light.

Because of this amazing story, I have Pride and Prejudice in my physical to-be-read list, because— did you know? Strength and Sensuality is a retelling of it! I want to see where the author I respect drew from her inspiration source. (Hi Hera! ✨❤️)

I would say this is a romance, but the romance part of it feels more like it's in the background (aside from the fact that Mira actively puts it down single-handedly, too). It's more of a story about a mother with anxiety and PTSD navigating her new world, and a man who worked his way to the top of his career through sheer hard work finding an intellectual challenge.

It's a story about two people that engage each other in the workspace, enough to find themselves learning something new about themselves, as well as each other. It's wonderful.

Favorite Character? Mira. I love her to the Moon and back. And Bill, he's so adorable and totally best friend material. And Mira's son (I loved his subtle development~ ). And Ollie, that sweet sugarpie. And Ms. Okoro. And Marla— I love that chaotic woman (I think her name was changed to Thelma in the edits, but my heart still knows her as Marla, haha). And who can ever forget Mark? Best boss ever, and so, so much more than just a boss, too.

I just love everyone in this story. By the end, I felt connected with everyone. They were like family!

;)