Quite enjoyable!

Even though it rekindles a Cinderella story, the book takes the reader on a very interesting journey.

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I loved this easy fun listen !

it was perfect light entertainment. I cant wait to listen to another by Julia Quinn

Prepare yourself beforehand

Overall the book was good even though as other reviewers have said, it is remarkably similar to Cinderella in the beginning. There were, more than a few times, points at which I was hoping for a particular scene to end. It just seemed to drag on and on... I'm not sure if it was the way it was written or if it was the fault of the narrator. Speaking of the narrator. She did a good job, but I've got to be honest in saying that I CRINGED during the love scene. I'm not sure there is any need for a narrator to try to disguise her voice as a male and act out the male orgasm.

Cinderella ?

I enjoyed the book but I felt like the whole story was a rip off of Cinderella. Not that it’s a bad thing it just made the story very predictable compared to the first two books

Not a fan of Benedict

I really enjoyed this book. I was not a fan of how insensitive Benedict was and is though. I was glad that most of the book was Sophie’s point of view.

I don’t get the hype

I was not neither convinced or intrigued. The books are as bad as the show. Sorry dear author, this ain’t it… for me

Wonderful story.

Enjoy the story very much. Ms. Quinn is just fantastic not supposed that Netflix picked up her books at this moment in time exactly what everyone needed.
Thank you.

somehow both sickening AND boring

I’d probably give this zero stars if I could (the same narrator does all the books so that doesn’t factor into my rating, she’s fine, makes the sex scenes probably even more cringe than they’d read on paper but otherwise, fine). Idk why so many people seem to like this book. This is now the fourth Bridgerton book Ive read (I’ve read the first 4 but out of order) and it’s the only one I really, really hated. It’s not that the Cinderella plot is contrived and overdone (tbh it actually fits well with the world, though it is also both those things). It’s not that the writing is average, the sex scenes bland/repetitive/more cringe than steamy (these things have been true of all four of the ones I’ve read, I keep coming back because the stories are usually good fun). It’s that the entire storyline is a panegyric to a man who cannot take no for an answer. I know this is a ‘historical’ romance, and a lot of shady sexual politics in Quinn’s novels are excused for that reason, because we can’t assign modern understandings of consent to historical characters (though she could, of course, just write better men, but I digress). But this story just left me sick to my stomach. The entire plot is……Benedict relentlessly attempting to persuade/coerce/wear down/seduce Sophie into being his mistress, despite her consistently and clearly telling her she doesn’t want to, can’t do that, and him knowing pretty early on that she’s illegitimate herself and that clearly being an underlying factor. The book actually goes so far as to try and render Benedict’s disappointment/anger at being consistently rejected as sympathetic?? As if we’re supposed to feel bad for him that he wasn’t allowed to screw this woman just because her personhood got in the way and, wow, isn’t he oh-so-principled for not just r*ping her on the spot every time he sees her? Sure, Benedict does not actually force himself on Sophie - but he does quite literally everything else. The only reason she comes with him to London in the first place is because he blackmails her with the threat of lying to a magistrate that she’d stolen from him and having her deported to Australia, for Christ’s sake!! (Which he does after she’s - repeatedly in one conversation - rejected his ‘offer’ to become his mistress and he’s trying to get her take a position as a maid in his mother’s house with the goal of, you guessed it, getting him to *eventually* be his mistress. Also hypothetically because he cares about her well-being - though she does *not* want him to - but forgive me if I have my doubts.) It’s not even like she gives a little bit/changes her objections or like she at any point softens to the idea of giving him what he wants (because he does ask/push/coerce her, literally every time they meet, which he makes sure is frequently). Everything that happens between them prior to their marriage happens because he pushes her into a corner and then weaponizes her attraction/feelings for him so that she can’t think clearly enough to reject him, as he *literally acknowledges in the narration she otherwise would*. His goal is literally to wear her down.
But don’t worry, it’s all okay because when he’s doing all the things she’s expressly told him she does not want him to do to her, she likes it! And apparently that’s sexy! Because…..he wants her SO bad he just can’t help himself? I guess? Yknow that meme that’s like “[insert ideal male character’s name here] is written by a woman”? Well, Benedict is written by a man who thinks it’s not rape if the woman gets wet.

Plus, it’s boring!! There’s not much in the way of plot (this is decidedly the thinnest plot of the four books, the main couple don’t even have contrived emotional issues that get worked on just a slight nod at Benedict’s insecurities and some trauma for Sophie associated with her bastard status that’s never really taken anywhere, just a block to the two leads being together physically), even less in the way of humour, I swear I’ve read every line she’s written here between her other 3 books (I swear Julia Quinn has about one hundred new sentences she can imagine per novel and has to fill the rest of the book with reworkings of the same lines). Anyways, if this is your kind of thing, have at it. I’m gonna go reread Anthony’s story instead to wash the taste of this swill out of my mouth.

If you love Bridgerton, this is a must read for you!

With the recent release of season 2 Bridgerton on Netflix, I went looking in search of the next story. I can assure you the books are better than the Netflix series - you won’t be disappointed!

Like a Cinderella story, but so much better

When I read the description for this book, I thought it sounded a little too much like that classic Cinderella story. However, I love a good Cinderella story and I've loved the previous books in the Bridgerton series. So, I went ahead and listened. Needless to say, Julia Quinn did not disappoint. This story is even more magical than her previous her novels and I did not want to pause it when I finished a chapter. The second epilogue offers closure that makes the characters even more endearing, yet leaves the story open for future exploration. I can't wait to listen to the next story in this series, especially with Rosalyn Landor's narration.