Book two-sixty-four: Splendid

Splendid (1995)
Julia Quinn

While it isn’t as sharp as her more recent books, it is still very funny. I’m pretty sure this is the first book she published.

Alexander Ridgely, the Duke of Ashbourne, is determined to avoid marriage. Unfortunately, his family is just as determined to see him wed. Emma Dunster, in London for a season, is determined to return to Boston to run her father's shipping company. But Emma's British cousins are just as determined to see her settle in England. Sparks --and laughter-- fly when all these terribly determined people cross paths during one very splendid London spring.

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Finished: Friday 18/1/08

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Book one-seventy-eight: It’s in His Kiss

It’s in His Kiss (2005)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3.5/5

Very good and very funny.

Hyacinth was also one of those characters where I was thinking “hmm, you really should be annoying me,” but somehow I just ended up laughing at her instead.

MEET OUR HERO…
Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth’s sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past… and the key to his future. The problem is--it’s written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.

MEET OUR HEROINE…
All the ton agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She’s fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken and according to Gareth, probably best in small doses. But there’s something about her--something charming and vexing--that grabs him and won’t quite let go…

MEET POOR MR. MOZART…
Or don’t. But rest assured, he’s spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual--an annually discordant--Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth’s every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other… and that there is nothing as simple--or as complicated--as a single, perfect kiss.

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Finished: Saturday 29/9

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Book one-seventy-seven: When He Was Wicked

When He Was Wicked (2004)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3.5/5

I really liked this one. Party, because of all the angst, but mostly because it was still funny.

It’s also nice to see a widow who actually loved the first husband.


After years as London's most notorious rake, Michael Stirling took one look at Francesca Bridgerton and fell in love so fast and hard that it was a wonder he was able to remain standing.

Unfortunately, she was the one woman he could never have...

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Finished: Friday 28/9

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Book one-seventy-four: To Sir Phillip, With Love

To Sir Phillip, With Love (2003)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3/5

One of the funniest yet in this series. I love Eloise. She has to be the least annoying character with fairly annoying tendencies I have ever read about.

After a year of secret correspondence, Eloise Bridgerton traveled halfway across England to meet Sir Phillip Crane, the man she hoped would be her perfect match.

He wasn't.

But she can't help but wonder... could this imperfect man be perfect for her?

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Finished: Wednesday 26/9

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Book one-seventy-two: Romancing Mr Bridgerton

Romancing Mr Bridgerton (2002)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3.5/5

This series just keeps getting better… and each book is actually different from the last, not the same plot played out with slightly different characters.

And I love how there is time in between them. So far I think the series has spanned almost a decade, and I am only up to book four. It is much more realistic than “oh, this all happened in the same year” type series.

That being said, I think the next few are going to occur around the same time, as there seems to be stuff going on with secondary characters here that isn’t really explained.

Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend's brother for... well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret... and fears she doesn't know him at all.

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Finished: Sunday 23/9

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Book one-seventy: An Offer From a Gentleman

An Offer From a Gentleman (2001)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3/5

This series continues to actually have interesting and different stories. I can hardly believe it.

I liked the fairy tale element in this one.

When Sophie Beckett decided to sneak into a masquerade ball, she never expected to find Prince Charming.

Benedict Bridgerton didn't believe in love at first sight... until he saw the masked mystery woman. But will she accept his offer before the clock strikes midnight?

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Saturday 22/9

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Book one-hundred-and-fifty-five: The Viscount Who Loved Me

The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3/5

Just as good as the first. Although a couple of similarities that I hope she doesn’t carry over into them all.

Its interesting that in the first book in the series, the sister hardly even thinks about the father... about halfway through I realised he must have been dead. But in this, the brother's whole world is based around the father's death. Anyway, I just thought that was a nifty thing to do in a series, to be able to explore the different ways a common loss effected the different people.

Kate Sheffield is determined to keep Anthony Bridgerton from seducing her sister. But what if the notorious viscount decides to seduce her instead?

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Finished: Sunday 2/9

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Book one-hundred-and-fifty-four: The Duke and I

The Duke and I (2000)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3/5

I had been avoiding reading this series because it is so freaking long… but I finally caved, and it was worth it. This has much better pacing than some of her earlier efforts. I guess now I’ll have to read the rest of the series. Annoyingly, I can find the beginning and end books at the bookshop in the city, but not the middle ones.

Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, has sworn never to marry. Daphne Bridgerton has sworn to marry only for love. They make a bargain and fake a courtship to keep the ton's matchmakers at bay--but what happens when the charade becomes all too real?

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Finished: Saturday 1/9

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Book one-hundred-and-seventeen: How to Marry a Marquis

How to Marry a Marquis (1999)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 2.5/5
[The 115: 3/115]

Also very funny and light. No dark moments, despite once again a less than happy past.

When Elizabeth Hotchkiss stumbles upon a copy of the book, How to Marry a Marquis, the timing is all too appropriate. She must marry for money to support her siblings, and a guidebook to seduction might be just the thing she needs... But when James Sidwell, Marquis of Riverdale, offered to help her find a husband, he never dreamed that the only candidate he could propose would be himself...

Although, I do think that the heroine acts at bit out of character for the last quarter of the book. It seemed to me that everything she wanted had fell into place, so why was she so upset?

Yes, he lied to her. Yes, that was bad. But still, she did have the opportunity not to have to marry anyone, but she wouldn’t accept the hero’s “charity” because she would be indebted to him.

Right.

I just find it a little hard to believe that someone who, at the start of the book, was willing to marry anyone if they were wealthy and reasonably kind, would suddenly decide that this was beneath her.

Maybe it that it felt like she was acting out of her time. Back then, I find it very hard to believe that someone without a title or anyone to protect them could say no if a Marquis wanted to marry them.

Oh well, I just went with it… and I did enjoy it once I decided to ignore these things.

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Finished: Wednesday 25/7

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Book one-hundred-and-sixteen: To Catch an Heiress

To Catch an Heiress (1998)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 2.5/5
[The 115: 2/115]

Yay! This was funny. And very light, despite the fact that the hero’s last fiancée was killed and he’s kind of bitter about it. As you would be, I guess. But somehow, its still really funny and not that dark. I loved that the servants wouldn’t prepare a proper meal unless they knew the heroine was going to eat it.




Caroline Trent is determined to avoid marriage to her fortune-hunting guardian's nitwit son, even if it means running off into the night-- and into the arms of the devastatingly handsome Blake Ravenscroft, the equally determined agent of the crown who mistakes her for a notorious traitor...

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Finished: Wednesday 25/7

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Book one-hundred-and-eight: Brighter than the Sun

Brighter than the Sun (1997)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 2/5

Frustrating. The set up took waaaaaaaaaaay too long. It’s already kind of obvious that they are going to get married for convenience – the author has told us in the letter from the author at the start. Why do we have to spend a quarter of the book working up to that?

Start at the alter, people.

Charles Wycombe needs a bride before his 30th birthday -- or he'll lose his fortune. Eleanor Lyndon needs a husband -- or her father's odious fiancee will choose one for her. Marriage seems a perfect solution -- perfectly convenient -- er, make that inconvenient -- but definitely an adventure...

Not much really happens after they discover who is saboteur is – and it’s kind of painfully obvious who it is anyway (and why) – then there is this very short storyline about someone trying to kill them. However, they are never successfully interwoven.

It would have been better had we suspected there was only one person trying to sabotage/annoy/kill them. Then they would have let their guards down and the person trying to kill them… could well, try. But it is made so obvious which infractions the first person committed, then the others are either forgotten about or thought to be accidents. Where is the suspense you ask? Well, that’s just it, there really wasn’t any.

It was kind of funny, but not nearly as funny as The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (2007). Le sigh.

These are two of her oldest books though, so maybe I should try something more recent? Neither were so bad that I’m giving up on her!

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Finished: Thursday 19/7

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Book one-hundred-and-seven: Everything and the Moon

Everything and the Moon (1997)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 2/5

Disappointing. This wasn’t nearly as good as the other Julia Quinn book I read recently. It wasn’t nearly as funny.

It was indisputably love at first sight. But Victoria Lyndon was a vicar's daughter and Robert Kemble was a dashing young earl-- and their fathers were determined to keep them apart.

Seven years after their plans to elope went hopelessly awry, Victoria and Robert meet again -- and this time they discover that love is often sweeter the second time around.

Also, couldn’t they just have talked to each other and sorted out the misunderstanding? Quinn could have done the same thing in a much more believable way, if one of the characters had been convinced to jilt the other by their father. It would have been more poignant… but I guess they both wouldn’t have wandered around for the last however-many-years blaming the other and becoming all bitter. Although, the character that reneged could have become bitter because of the interfering family. Okay, I’m done re-writing it now…

But the character of the sister has intrigued me enough that I will have to read the book about her…

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Finished: Wednesday 18/7

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Book one-hundred-and-one: The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (2007)
Julia Quinn

Rating: 3/5

Very funny - especially the diary entries - it also had really great dialogue.

At the age of ten, Miranda Cheever showed no signs of Great Beauty. And even at ten, Miranda learned to accept the expectations society held for her--until the afternoon when Nigel Bevelstoke, the handsome and dashing Viscount Turner, solemnly kissed her hand and promised her that one day she would grow into herself, that one day she would be as beautiful as she already was smart.

And even at ten, Miranda knew she would love him forever.

I loved it, and will definitely be looking for more of her books in the future.

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Wednesday 11/6

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