Disclaimer: I’ve only seen a few kdramas, so i tend to compare to cdramas.

Positives: FL was a great, charismatic and scene stealing actress. She delivered a great performance and conveyed so much without overdoing it. I’m definitely a fan.

So many of the cast were fantastic, truly. The 2FL, the finance minister’s wife, grand merchant, FL’s husband, even the garrison commander’s daughter - these roles and others were all played so well! Personal favorite for me was the royal secretary/older brother of ML. Actually, no, dead husband was hilarious so he wins. The random English non sequiturs had me rolling.

The 2ML/2FL romance really worked for me and I wish we’d seen more of that. The characters were nice and the connection seemed organic, two people surprised at what they had in common and curious to learn more.

Negatives: ML was clearly too young for FL and for me it made their romantic connection a little less believable. Not sure I totally bought their chemistry - tbh I rather preferred her with her dead husband once he showed up. He matched her playfulness and disregard for rules.

Production value was a bit limited considering the FL seemed to be a star from what I learned. Sets were very limited and costumes kind of eh. Yes, I know she wore white almost the whole time but other people could have looked better.

The worst thing for me though was the music. Oh my goodness the music for this show was off the charts terrible. Awful. Lead actress should put veto rights in her contracts. Such bad music. All of it. Obviously this is just my taste.