Make Love and Peace by Takane Yonetani review

Make Love and Peace

Author/Artist: Takane Yonetani

Publisher: Luv Luv Press

Rating: M – 18 and above

Genre: Josei, Comedy, Drama Romance

Grade: A

*** Review originally appeared at The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society at http://liheliso.com/buzz/. Check it out! ***

Ayame Shinoda is an 18-year-old college student. By sheer chance she met the love of her life, Koichi. The opportunity presented itself when a thief snatched a purse. Ayame was on the softball team in high school so she’s pretty tough. She helped apprehend the suspect and fell in love with one of the cops who aided in the chase. Yes, that cop is Koichi. After Ayame decided to stalk him, they started a relationship.

Ayame has had a tough life. Her parents died in a car accident. It turns out that when they left, the last words that left her mouth were "I hate you." Because that guilt that she carries, she doesn’t like to complain about being left alone. At intimate moments Koichi is always getting called out so instead of complaining, she reluctantly lets him go. She knows that it is a dangerous job and worries about his safety. But she wants to be supportive. There is one problem though, she is always getting herself into some crazy situations. Be it a panty thief looking for revenge against her, catching would be rapists, or getting kidnapped with Koichi’s younger brother, Koichi is always there to help out. Ayame seems to want the relationship to move up to the next level, but is Koichi ready for that?

Luv Luv has come out with another quality release. I’m am quite impressed with this title as well as the two previous to this one. Make Love and Peace is an interesting premise. I found myself being drawn into the story quickly and I found it to be a very enjoyable read. It is light and fluffy, but there is enough of a plot to keep your attention. The sex shows up in all the right places, and whew! it's pretty steamy. The art is clean and nicely detailed. One thing that I noticed is the wardrobe. I’ve noticed that in a lot of manga, there are a just a couple of outfits that are drawn (hey, I’m a chick I can call them outfits if I want). But in this book Ayame has a huge wardrobe and is always wearing different outfits and different underwear (which is cute, too). The guys are handsome, the girls are gorgeous, and the kids are adorable. The characters worm their way into your hearts at the very beginning and you care for them deeply throughout the book.

The publisher has done a great job with this book. It is in typical Aurora fashion (Aurora is the parent company of Luv Luv as well as Deux Press). They let the manga do the talking. Luv Luv comes out with one manga every two months. I figure they are doing that to test the waters and see how well the titles sell. If they continue to release titles like Make Love and Peace and Pretty Poison they need to release titles more quickly!

If you are looking for something light and fluffy and a quick, fun read, pick up Make Love and Peace. But be aware that it is for ages 18 and up because there is quite a bit of sex and nudity.