It can, at times, feel even more challenging to find light novels with adult characters than manga with the same. That, plus its real-world setting, makes How to Win Her Heart on the Nth Try by Ichine Kamijo instantly stand out. The story is set in an office setting, and its protagonists are both twenty-seven years old, dealing with the sorts of things working adults have to cope with. There's no fantasy, no world-hopping, no battles – just two people trying to figure out their lives and whether they can live them together.

This, and how the plot is handled, makes the novel feel much more like a regular contemporary romance novel than a light one. The story follows the friends-to-lovers trope and stars two childhood friends who have remained close into adulthood. Nagi and Keigo lived across the street from each other while growing up, went to the same schools through college, and now even work for the same company. When the book opens, Keigo has just managed to be transferred to the systems engineering team led by Nagi, which suits both of them very well. The catch? Keigo has been in love with Nagi since they were kids, and at least half of his choices are made with that in mind. He has suffered through her dating other guys for long enough, and now he's in a position where he thinks he can finally make his move.

While something is appealing about this story element, it's also the book's biggest issue. Keigo's love for Nagi can come across as very obsessive, to the point that it becomes off-putting. It's one thing when he's helping her fix a problem with some code so that she doesn't stay at the office all night trying to do everything herself; it's another when he installs spyware on her laptop so that he can keep tabs on what she's up to and where she is. It's clear that everything is coming from a good place, but he still crosses a few lines that are at least a little uncomfortable. Kamijo may be fully aware of this because they go out of their way to let us know that when it comes to Keigo and Nagi's physical relationship, he's all about consent, holding himself back until she is fully committed and ready to have sex. There's none of that "but I have needs" garbage that you still sometimes see in romances, either; just a willingness to move at her pace.

Part of why Keigo is so protective of Nagi comes from their past. Nagi's father was a systems engineer for a major bank, and when there was a data breach, he was made to take the fall for the entire situation. That essentially destroyed him, and some of his last words to his then thirteen-year-old daughter were that she should choose any career but his. When a bad job market necessitated her going into it (and her uncle's company), she carried with her his warning and a hefty helping of guilty concern. She's a hard worker and a devoted one because of what happened to him. Although she doesn't say as much, there's a real sense that she's unwilling to ask for help and equally willing to bend over backward for her coworkers because she doesn't want anyone to be put in the same position as her late father. She can ensure that everything is fine, at least in her mind, and that's how she's going to do things, even if it turns out that she's working herself to death in her drive not to let anyone take the same fall. Keigo understands this, and many of his poor decisions (from our perspective) are made to save Nagi from herself. He knows she's incredibly competent and good at her job; he just doesn't want to see her self-destruct. It's a laudable sentiment, even if he doesn't carry it out in the best way.

The romance plot is straightforward, with no real rivals for Nagi or Keigo. There are two potential spoilers to Keigo's ambitions, but nothing that smacks of anything solid or a love triangle. That means that the story can move at a comfortable pace, but also that Keigo and Nagi are their own worst enemies in their pursuit of romance. This is well within the confines of the traditional romance novel, and if the plot can feel a little claustrophobic at times, it works just fine. As the title suggests, Keigo gets most of the narration (third person in both cases, except the prologue in Nagi's first-person voice), and we do get a better sense of him than we do of her, though not so much as to be deal breaker if you prefer romances from the heroine's perspective. The translation reads smoothly except for one word ("oliveige") used to describe Nagi's hair color.

How to Win Her Heart on the Nth Try isn't groundbreaking, but it is really pleasant. It's a competently executed romance novel, one that might appeal to regular romance readers who aren't generally into light novels. It certainly makes use of more of the hallmarks of the contemporary romance genre (such as Nagi's later choices) than we've come to expect from manga and LN romance. It's a beach read in that you can pick it up, sit back, and let it take you away.