Thursday, September 20, 2007

I finished reading... The Viscount Who Love Me

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, This Author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London's most elusive bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry. And in all truth, why should he? When it comes to playing the consummate rake, nobody does it better...

-Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1814


But this time the gossip columnists have it wrong. Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry-he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield-the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate's the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...

Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes to not make the best husbands-and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate's determined to protect her sister-but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony's lips touch hers, she's suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself...
This is my third Julia Quinn book. She has a lovely light, fun writing style and I've found I enjoy her books when that's just what I'm looking for. It happens more often than I like at present, so it's a good thing Quinn has a nice, long backlist.

The Viscount Who Loved Me is the second in Quinn's Bridgerton family series and is a very nice addition. The idea of the man who choses a potential (and beautiful) bride and soon finds himself falling for the plain older sister has been done before (I love Georgette Heyer's Devil's Cub for example), but Quinn pulls it off nicely all the same. Kate and Anthony make a lovely couple and their courtship is a lot of fun, although I was a bit worried to find myself at three-for-three on the compromising position means marriage plot in my Quinn reading. This time, it's all a bit over the top and silly and Anthony, long traumatised by the death of his father, over-reacts when Kate is stung by a bee. All the same, a very pleasant story.

Bridgerton croquet is hysterical, by the way.

The Viscount Who Loved Me
Bridgetons, Book 2
Julia Quinn
7/10

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