When Venus is in retrograde, emotions and instincts go haywire. Our usual sense of what is beautiful, pleasing and attractive is suspended. Some astrologers warn against buying anything for its aesthetic appeal during this cycle, since the object will seem like a "lapse of good taste" at a later date. Relationships begun now can be the same way. I'd double-check any decisions made by "gut level instinct" or by the way the situation feels while Venus is backing up.