Okay, after reading The Duke and I, I want to go read some more dang Bridgertons. So I borrowed a few (out of order) to get my fix on.
Oh, how I loved this one. You know why? Because for a Regency book (and really, I'm not that into the Regency thing because they all seem so alike after awhile, and by awhile, I mean like "five minutes"), this is cool. The heroine is a wallflower nerd, and the hero and heroine's big goals revolve around writing. How sweet is that to see in an unexpected time and place?
Colin Bridgerton, the current single stud of the family, is kind of sick of only being known for being a hot charmer who gets into the Lady Whistledown gossip sheet all the time. His older brothers have a life purpose, but he doesn't. All he does is travel a whole lot (and secretly writes about it, very well).
Then there's Penelope Featherington, the aforementioned nerd heroine. She's from a family of featherheads (though Penelope and her younger sister aren't), who aren't the best lookers in the world. Penelope is a firmly on-the-shelf spinster at 28 because nobody ever wanted her- in a ballroom she tends to be out of conversation. But if you're friends with her (as Colin's sister Eloise is), she's an entertainingly snarky girl. She's also been hopelessly in love with Colin since she was 16, though she knows full well that's not likely to happen. (Even Lady Whistledown was all, "If those two ever married, I'd have to hang up my pen and quit.") But she and Colin have been socializing more of late, and he's starting to realize she has hidden charms. She's also befriending the old, imperious, and snarky Lady Danbury, who finds her entertaining. That relationship is adorable.
Things liven up during a dull social season when Lady Danbury offers a challenge: tons of money goes to the person who discovers the true identity of Lady Whistledown. Naturally, everyone wants in on that. Penelope has some interesting theories (and claims Lady D herself is Lady W), while Colin suspects Eloise of doing the deed. But when the lady is identified, that throws a new spin onto everything....
It rocks. Four stars.
Update: the author has apparently taken it upon herself to write "second epilogues," i.e. short stories taking place after the original novels. These can be found on amazon.com and ereader.com and fictionwise.com, sold in ebook format. (Or just check the link.) There is a second epilogue for this book, which takes place during To Sir Phillip, With Love. I'd say more, but the link pretty much describes the tale for you. I read it, it was pretty amusing, though as it turns out, a bit anticlimactic.
You are not quite up to my favourite book in the series, but this one is a close second! I just read her newest book and enjoyed that too!
Posted by: Marg | June 06, 2008 at 06:03 PM