Title: An Offer From a Gentleman
Series: Bridgertons
Author: Julia Quinn
Read copy: ebook (Kindle)
Published: August 25, 2015
Publisher: Avon
ASIN: B00UG8RP2W
Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball—or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.
Who was that extraordinary woman? Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid's garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers her his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love?
My rating:
When Sophie Beckett, bastard daughter to an earl turned slave to the earl's widow, snuck into a masquerade ball at Bridgerton House, she had no idea she was reenacting a Cinderella story. Only she didn't catch the eye of a prince, but of Bridgerton Number Two, Benedict.
A waltz and a life-altering kiss later, she had to run, but, her ruse was discovered, and her step-mother threw her out...
Two years later, this unlikely couple meets again, outside another party, but this time, Sophie is not sneaking in, but out, running from the party-thrower, and Benedict is there just in time to save her.
He doesn't recognize his dream woman under the housemaid garb, but the spark is there anyway. A spark that grows, until Benedict is determined to keep her...
An offer from a gentleman, my butt. A gentleman would never offer what Benedict offered Sophie in the beginning, but I digress.
This was the weakest of the first three books in this series. Not in tone, style or flow, it's just that I didn't much care about the two protagonists. In modern terms: they both needed therapy.
There were too many lies on Sophie's part (some necessary, some less so, but mostly they went on for too long), Benedict's passive-aggressiveness and hurt feelings and pride grated on my nerves, and let's just say their entire relationship, although the author strove to make it appear fairy-tale like and romantic, re-started entirely on the wrong foot (blackmail, really?!) and was far from healthy from beginning to end.
I much more liked the villainess and her toxic hatred toward Sophie. It was straightforward, believable and realistic.
And, of course, I loved the supporting cast; the dowager Viscountess Bridgerton first and foremost. The reader finally gets to know more about her and she really shone in this story. An understanding, loving mama without prejudice and with a clear, determined head on her shoulders, unafraid to dispense advice and express her opinion...And in the end, it was her that saved the day. Not the glowering Benedict threatening violence and bodily harm, but a determined, witty and sharp-tongued Violet who knew exactly what to say and how to say it to get the right result.
A bland romance and issue-ridden protagonists, but the book is saved by the supporting cast. On to the next.
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