Title: Romancing Mister Brigderton
Series: Bridgertons
Author: Julia Quinn
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: November 24, 2015
Publisher: Avon
ASIN: B00U6SFUVA
Everyone knows that Colin Bridgerton is the most charming man in London. 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.
Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone's preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can't seem to publish an edition without mentioning him in the first paragraph. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same—especially Penelope Featherington! The girl haunting his dreams. But when he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide...is she his biggest threat—or his promise of a happy ending?
My rating:
Penelope Featherington has loved her best friend's brother for half of her life, while he barely knew she existed, and only danced with her because his mother forced him to.
Now, at eight-and-twenty she's firmly on a shelf and she doesn't dance anymore...Even that possibility of having him close is now gone.
Or is it?
Colin Bridgerton knows there's something missing from his life. That's why he travels so much—he's trying to fill the void. But it looks like the thing, or better, the person that can truly fill that void has been in front of him the whole time. He's just been too blind to see it.
Or maybe she's changed. Or maybe he's changed. Or maybe they're both the same people as before, but he's finally grown up. Whatever it is, he doesn't really care as long as he can keep Penelope Featherington. They're friends, he's known her forever...Or has he?
Good things come to those who wait. And Penelope Featherington has been waiting patiently for Colin Bridgerton. Not that she thought anything would come of it, she just didn't have much else to do but wait. That's why she's on the shelf. No one ever courted her and she's been daydreaming of Colin Bridgerton...Until her dream came true...Or did it?
I couldn't help but think that the turnabout came only because Colin discovered her big secret. Compared to modern standards, it wasn't that big of a secret anyway, but I guess in 1824 it could lead to ruin. And Colin decided to be a gentleman. That's the vibe I got after the less-than-romantic proposal that was followed by one of the funniest asking-your-daughter's-hand-in-marriage scenes in fiction.
For a romance novel, this one was decidedly lacking in romance. On both parties side. I didn't get those vibes from Penelope either. She might be crushing on the man, one of the few who was kind to her and who danced with her, but that didn't scream "love" to me.
They sounded more like two friends deciding to spend their lives together because they were tired of looking and they were comfortable with each other.
Which was disappointing.
What was equally disappointing was Colin and his new-found character flaw. At the beginning of the series we got to know him as the affable Bridgerton. The one with a constant smile on his face, the one who poked and prodded his siblings until they tripped up and revealed their true feelings...The fact it was all a mask didn't come out as a surprise, but it was a disappointment to realize the mask hid a spoiled, whiny little brat who had no idea what to do despite his charmed life and ended up being jealous of everyone, even those who were indeed less fortunate than him both in familial ties and social circumstances.
Penelope could've found better. She deserved better, because she was awesome. Witty, funny, intelligent, sharp...Which she also hid, but not so much of necessity, but because the society forced her to. It was wonderful reading how she slowly, yet inexorably opened up and rediscovered herself, slowly transforming into a woman she was destined to be. And I believe she would've accomplished that even without a man by her side.
A quick, sometimes funny read with an interesting heroine, a hero with a disappointing character flaw, unfortunately lacking in romance but compensating with a good supporting cast and a wonderful character arc for the heroine.
3 stars, bitchslappable heroine/hero, georgian, historical, historical romance, Julia Quinn, re-read
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