Simon Bassett, Duke of Hastings, has returned to England after six years away. Sworn to never marry, he wants desperately to avoid the scheming mothers and their unmarried daughters.
Daphne Bridgerton, the fourth of eight children and the eldest daughter, is tired of being the “good old chum” to all the eligible bachelors, or attracting all the wrong ones; just once, she’d like to be looked at as a possible marital option by someone she’d actually want.
When they meet at a ball during a horrid proposal, Simon and Daphne decide the solution to both of their problems is to pretend to court; Simon will be left alone, and maybe all of the men will realize what they’re missing out on with Daphne. The only problem is, it’s so easy to go from pretend to real….
I still don’t know what I think of either Romance Novels or Regency England, but this was a tolerable enough, maybe even reasonably enjoyable, book. I do think it was slightly more enjoyable at the beginning, before Simon and Daphne got together; after, the writing went from enjoyable to far too stereotypically Romance Novel, and I went from eagerly reading to feeling like Fred Savage in The Princess Bride.
And the sex scenes are just so formulaic, though I guess there is just so much you can really do with either kissing or sex scenes; I will say that if I have to read the phrase “cradle of femininity” one more time, I am going to yeet the book well across the room. And I’m sorry, and I know it’s fitting with the time period, but between the Bridgerton brothers (especially Anthony) and their overbearing, domination “we know best” attitudes, and Simon’s “you’re my wife, I own you, you can’t say no to having sex with me”, if I was Daphne I would just go live on Continent and let them all go fuck themselves. Seriously, I’m reasonably curious about the rest of the series, but right now the Bridgerton I like the most is Violet: Anthony is a little too “I’m in charge, let me run your life”, Colin just thinks he’s so adorable, Benedict is a cipher, and the other four are standard book children characters; personalities to be fleshed out in later books. The sad fact is, is that the main reason I got curious about the series and decided to read the books before watching the show was Colin and Penelope, and they’re Book Four. And right now, I don’t know quite what I think of Colin, and Penelope is apparently the “sad, poorly dressed, unattractive loser” of the family, so I just feel sorry for her. I will still read the series; as much as I’m fussing, the characters are decent, they do mature and learn from their mistakes (and I will forgive Daphne and Simon forgiving each other so quickly as that is de rigueur in Romance Novels), and the writing when it’s away from the physical romance aspect is flawless at times, but I am definitely going to put a healthy amount of books between each one.
One final thing: I wholeheartedly agree with Lady Whistledown; alphabetically naming your children is the worst combination of too too/twee.