I have to agree that the otome game part felt a bit weird, either it should've been expanded more or just scrapped.
I'm also of the opinion that Laura was the worst character (well, excluding the villains) and I would've liked her to suffer more.
In the afterwords the author mentioned this series turned out yo be atypical for a female targeted work, and in my case it turned out to be a positive, although I have to wonder how Japanese readers who were probably expecting a more shoujo like story reacted to this much focus on the male protagonist.
The length felt appropriate, I certainly wouldn't have liked 10 volumes of the main couple being unable to be honest with their feelings.

@Lily-Garden welp. We shall see as we shall see.

(Part 1) Alright but Margret be spitting truth about the noblewomen. I like that she's not an entitled bitch. I don't really have anything against her, but I don't think she's realized that being queen doesn't suit her personality at all, and she wouldn't be happy with that life (though, she'd probably make for a better monarch than Elliot). She's an energetic firecracker; she should be brightening up the life of some second son or a lower noble without a big territory, not holing up in a castle.

Others have already said it but damn I need to join the bandwagon because I'm so pissed at Sieg. He's a lot worse than I thought. I wouldn't say that took my by surprise but so far it seemed to me that his actions bordered between malice and idiocy.

But when he even tried to take Ellie back to that shithole of a country just so he could use her as a sacrifical pawn again, that went beyond stupidity. And he feels zero remorse for what he did to his own daughter, while apparently letting his son do whatever he wanted. Self-centered biased pigheaded asshole, he deserved what he got.

It was mentioned during the fight that Sieg was only serving that shitty royal family and not the country... Eiwass seems like a less straightforward (and less of an idiot) guy and when he says that he serves the country, he really means it. And right now the country's best interest is to get rid of the incompetent royal family, especially the trash prince. I wonder if he thinks the same.

So for the upcoming volume we have that prick who disguised himself as the elf top merchant and whatever Eiwass is cooking and the trash prince falling into another trap of that dodgy organization. And Ellie needs to select her next target.

Wow… that was one heck of an after-after-afterward to (most-likely-but-not-definitely) end the series. The look at how the story was written and changed, where the characters and their names came from, and even a glance at some of the characters post-story (as written) was quite interesting. We even got some details about the author’s past.

I’d love to see more written about Angeline, her friends and their travels, and more about those who stayed behind in Turnera, Orphen, and Bordeaux. I’m also quite happy with what we’ve had and how it ended. Anything more would be a nice bonus. This book was an interesting way to conclude things. Thanks, JNC, the author, and artist. It was great. :)

TO THE PRE-HONEYMOON TRIAL RUN!!

And now I finished reading the volume...too bad we didn't get the revenge on Diablo, but on the plus this might bring the chance for Ligh's brother to be rescued.

I'm a bit conflicted on the Wicked Witch. As others said, it works perfectly for the plot, but I'd love to read more of the other SUR summons too. Truth is, I like almost all the characters in this series, and it's hard to always give them enough focus.

Volume 9 is on the calendar, and a forum topic is open

https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/8735/dahlia-in-bloom-vol-9-discussion

@marin-0 JNC does have a great selection of romance titles 💝

@Jason-Maranto I thought I was going crazy! I didn't realize it right away, but the repeated appearances of L'Arc made me look up the author, haha!

It felt like the weakest volume so far. Only relevant character outside of Liam was Lardon, and while I don't mind her being and advisor, I'm not a fan of Liam acting like a upper controlled by her. We also got another overpowered loli dragon which felt unnecessary and risks overshadowing everyone else.
Maybe the novelty of the series is wearing off and I'm starting to lose interest, but this time I was a bit disappointed.

thought plot was thin, 'beams' were crutches, and character development weak. it was almost entirely without substance (like chewing bubblegum instead of eating)

sometimes bubblegum is ok .

this ain't fine literature, but it was ok for what it was

@LightningLeaf Going by the afterword, next volume's plot was supposed to be this volume's plot, but the Beth plotline expanded into a greater explanation of her charitable organizations as well as a way to restore Opal's reputation, and it took up the whole volume.

@neosovereign That's much too early to say. Who knows? He might just have a useful talent! Plus, I believe, that befriending him is actually relevant to patching up old wounds, if you know what I mean.

Liz’s cookies turns the battle between heroes with swords into a battle between heroes in bed.

A new haremparty member!!

Big "I won't die even if you kill me" energy.

I'm gonna have to buy the volume to reread it to remember all the characters at this point haha. JNC gets another purchase from me I guess.

My policy of not reading book blurbs because they spoil too much does backfire from time to time. For example, if you read a collection of short stories, with some set even before the first volume, but the book itself doesn't say that, you might find yourself wondering why the text is constantly contradicting previously established facts, and wonder if you missed something like the main character falling into an alternate world at the end of volume 7.

The stories, at least those that come after Edgar has entered the picture, just nail the dynamic between the main duo, even better than the main story. And the Christmas story is really a treat.

Euphie is really got that Koala cosplay going strong

@kingpendragon Still, I can see another close encounter with a royal princess in the next volume.