“Isn’t it nice,” the older lady said, leaning in so that only Penelope could hear her words, “to discover that we’re not exactly what we thought we were?”

This is a re-read for me, put to the front of the line by a weeklong battle with a sinus infection and certain sectors of my social media intake being flooded with Bridgerton season three promos featuring Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton as Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton. As I am not made of stone, I’ve read all 8 main Bridgerton books, watched the first two seasons of the show (a lack of Netflix subscription prevented my viewing of the Queen Charlotte season), and have enjoyed Nicola a ton across several shows. Add to that having fond memories of this book I decided to give it a revisit before the new season finally arrives next month (well, half of it at least).  

Brief review: perfectly pleasant, still nice to see a lead like Penelope who is outside the traditional body types usually found at the center of a romance, particularly in 2002 when this was first published. Also, series readers know Penelope before the beginning of the book so there’s an investment in the characters from go.  

Longer review: my memory of this was more positive than my actual re-read experience. When I first read Romancing Mr. Bridgerton back in 2015 my review was rather skimpy. I talked about the interweaving storylines of Colin and Penelope and the quest to uncover Lady Whistledown, how Colin is battling with lacking a sense of purpose and how being once again in each other’s company regularly sparks in them both feelings they end up facing head on (which… do they? 2024 Katie is less sure than 2015 Katie specifically in that Colin just kind of keeps repeating it without unpacking it??). However, I didn’t mention that it is all a bit uneven and how the ending just sort of arrives without bothering to end the story (and really neither of the two epilogues help that).  But I still love all things Lady Danbury, I enjoyed the way the Lady Whistledown mystery is handled, and Penelope remains a favorite.  

CBR16 Sweet Book: Exciting. I was excited to re-read, but I am the most excited to see Penelope and Colin’s story on my television screen.