Sophelia Lotus is the epitome of nobility and grace, tirelessly pouring herself into her royal duties as fiancée to the crown prince. In her short fifteen years of life, she had learned, above all else, to endure. Unfortunately, however, her fiancée wasn't quite so noble—a fact Sophelia learns firsthand when she catches him half-naked with her very own sister! Running to Sophelia's aid is none other than Livionis, a knight of the kingdom who has long been secretly in love with her. Captivating the forlorn Sophelia at first sight, Livionis invites her to flee the kingdom and run away with him. Making up her mind in an instant, Sophelia takes Livionis's hand and leaves behind the only life she'd ever known. Concealing her past and taking on a new identity as “Sophie,” she tumbles headfirst into a riveting romance with Livionis. Venturing into the unknown wilderness of an uncertain future, just where will this young duo find themselves as new love rings?

My Fiancé Cheated, But a New Love Rings! is written by Ehito, with illustrations by Koyukomu, and English translation by Chris Craigo Published by J-Novel Club (May 12, 2025)

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Where does the line from “sweet” to “cheesy” get crossed? That's a struggle that My Fiancé Cheated, But a New Love Rings! is coping with. Protagonists Livionis and Sophelia are adorable together, overcoming their terrible childhoods in order to be happy in a way that's genuinely heartwarming. In fact, it's almost too heartwarmingly adorable. Livionis has been yearning for Sophelia since he was thirteen and she was twelve (three years before the story proper begins), and she's been trying to suppress her emotions in the face of familial abuse and a terrible engagement to a scuzzball prince. There's no doubt that they need each other, but their relationship is so overdone that it loses some of the catharsis that we're clearly supposed to find.

That said, I do appreciate that author Ehito lets us know that what they went through truly was awful. When they first meet, Livionis has just been punched in the face by his father, and Sophelia's reaction is, “Oh, your father does that too?” The difference is that Livionis' father beats him as a form of military-inspired discipline while Sophelia's does it out of sheer hatred of his elder daughter. It feels as if two trope-laden genres are colliding – the cold father who demands perfection of his son and the maligned daughter of a first marriage. Short stories included at the end of the book show us that Sophelia's situation is the more obviously abusive – her father truly doesn't care about her, and he's manipulated her stepmother into disliking her as well. Livionis' dad is just a terrible parent; he loves his son, he's just also an abusive asshole. A thin distinction, but at least Ehito tries.

The main action of the book is that Livionis seizes his moment to steal Sophelia away when she catches her fiancé in bed with her half-sister. She's had the wool ripped from her eyes, and he's more than willing to be there to support her. It's sweet, really, because he truly does love her and she's touched by his kindness, quickly falling for him as well. The problem is that it tries too hard, and the cringey puns don't really help, although the translator does an excellent job with them. There's some progression towards the end, when Livionis and Sophelia encounter some unexpected company, but mostly this is the sort of book that's best read when you have a craving for cotton candy. It's very sweet, but that's a minus as much as it is a plus.