It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn

  The Bridgertons Series

#1: The Duke and I

#2: The Viscount Who Loved Me

#3: An Offer From a Gentleman

#4: Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

#5: To Sir Phillip, With Love

#6: When He Was Wicked

It's In His Kiss is the seventh and penultimate entry to the Bridgerton Family series.  It's full of Quinn's snappy and fun dialogue, but suffers from many of the same complaints I've had about the entire series.

Interesting characters: I think Hyacinth is a brilliant character. She's much like Eloise in that she's quick-witted and funny, but she's also a bit like Daphne in that it seems like all she wants is marriage and children and she's not trying to be anyone but herself.  I think Quinn wants us to think Hyacinth is smarter than the writing actually demonstrates (lots of "the men who asked me to marry them were dim" without actually showing Hyacinth doing anything intellectually stimulating), but I liked Hyacinth and I loved her interactions with Lady Danbury, who is the true protagonist of this entire series.

But our hero Gareth is so incredibly bland. He has daddy issues, just like the hero of The Duke and I and To Sir Phillip, With Love. GET A NEW TROPE, JULIA QUINN.  I just...I was bored. I'd read this exact same plot already twice before in this series. 

Believable conflict: Was there conflict? It seemed like these two met, realized they were attracted to one another, had a short courting period, and agreed to get married.  There was some hand waving conflict over Gareth's *sigh* issues with his father and a very (incredibly) brief issue that Gareth might be engaged to someone else, but there was no emotional or situational conflict of substance.  None.

Emotional tension: Nope. They were both attracted to one another.  Their families were in support of the relationship.  There was a bit of time before they said "I love you" to one another, but it didn't stop them from hopping into bed together (BEFORE THE WEDDING - Quinn's insistence that these men are "gentlemen" seems so false in light of how many of them literally ruin the reputations of these women.

Happily ever after: The ending was satisfying. I like the tiny little mystery. (This is also where I think Quinn overestimates Hyacinth's intelligence - if she'd been that smart, she could have solved this...)  Again, I don't think all HEA has to be marriage and children, but it's what Hyacinth wanted, so I guess that's good enough for me.

Blech. I'm going to finish the last book, but I'm over Julia Quinn.  Over her, I say.