The Bridgertons Series
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn is the third book in The Bridgertons saga. I like Quinn's writing a lot, but there's always just something that keeps her books from being amazing. This novel is no different.
I'm going to start reviewing romance novels based on elements of the romance genre, so I guess here's where I'll start.
Interesting characters:
Sophie Beckett is the illegitimate daughter of an Earl. When her father dies, she's left at the abusive hands of her stepmother. She runs into the second oldest Bridgerton brother, Benedict, in the world's most adorable meet cute at a masquerade ball, but then they are separated for years. Sophie is absolutely wonderful; her story reminded me of Sara Crewe's in A Little Princess and just as I cried when Sara was cold, hungry, and alone, I cried when Sophie was cold, hungry, and nearly raped.
But Benedict. He's just as boring as the rest of this family has made him out to be. I don't really care that he occasionally sketches since a hobby isn't really a personality. I just feel like Benedict was vanilla and sort of a snob. So.
Believable conflict:
The characters come from different social classes and since we're talking about London in the 1810s, this is quite a big deal. I guess the conflict is believable, but it's also the *thing* that kept this book from being a solid five-start book for me. Sophie is illegitimate - her father was nobility, but her mother was a maid who died after giving birth to Sophie. Sophie doesn't want to repeat the past, so even though she's very attracted to Benedict, she repeatedly turns him down. And this "gentleman" repeatedly tries to coerce her (even blackmailing her at one point) into doing things she doesn't want to do. For part of the book, Benedict doesn't know that Sophie is illegitimate, but even so, I think that if Quinn wants to declare him a gentleman, he should damn well behave as such.
Then, when he realizes her past, he's so caught up in the social differences that he runs off to ask his mommy if he has her permission to marry beneath their class. I just...no. He's awful. So, yes, this conflict is absolutely believable, but it also made me actively root against Benedict. Egads.
Emotional tension:
Quinn does this right. The masquerade ball meet-up was amazing and I loved watching both of our characters live out the consequences of that short time for years. I loved how Sophie knew right away when they met again that they had met before, but that Benedict didn't know. Quinn does this right. She's brilliant at dialogue and she's brilliant at writing interactions between characters. The tea scenes with all the Bridgerton ladies were so delightful and were used to create more tension in a clever manner.
Happily ever after:
Yeah, I guess. I mean, three kids sounds kind of like a nightmare to me, but Sophie wanted children, so it's her happiness, I hope.
Yes, I'm absolutely going to read the next book in the series. These books are like candy for me and they remind me of the historical romances I used to devour as a teenager. But I'm waiting for a book that I can give an enthusiastic five stars to instead of thinking how close to perfection it is.
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