Romancing Mister Bridgerton

I really liked Colin in the earlier Bridgerton books, so it's a little disappointing that I found his book in the series a little bit of a letdown. I enjoyed it until the big drama about the last Whistledown paper and Colin's reaction, which seemed to really come out of nowhere, as did his writing ambitions. Other than the plot taking longer than it really needed to wrap up, this was pretty enjoyable and I really loved the heroine.

Sinds de Bridgerton Netflix serie, was ik echt benieuwd naar Penelopes boek, gezien zij naast Eloise mijn favoriete personage is, maar ik moet zeggen dat ik helaas op mijn honger bleef zitten. Ik weet niet of het komt omdat ik de Bridgerton-reeks allemaal achter mekaar lees of omdat de serie mijn verwachtingen te hoog heeft opgebouwd, maar ik vond deze echt ontgoochelend.

Ik voelde de romance tussen Penelope en Colin totaal niet. Er is geen chemie en geen ontwikkeling tussen de personages. Die is er gewoon opeens, terwijl die daarvoor enkel eenzijdig was. Echt ongeloofwaardig.

Colin vond ik trouwens ook geen echt sympathiek personage, terwijl hij in de vorige boeken wel voor de komische noot zorgde. In dit boek was echter niks meer van de vrolijke grappigaard te bekennen en was hij eerder een deprimerende zeur.

Ook Penelope vond ik inconsequent.
Met momenten was ze echt stoer, om dan opnieuw als een pudding in elkaar te zakken. Haar reacties zijn ook niet echt logisch, bijvoorbeeld als Crescida haar confronteert kon ze daar zo gemakkelijk zich vanonder uit gepraat hebben...Het einde met Colins aankondiging haalde het boek voor mij dan helemaal naar beneden. Zo'n opbouw voor zo'n tegenvallend einde. En we zien niet eens de reacties of gevolgen ...

Ontgoochelend en globaal eigenlijk een nogal flets, vergeetbaar boek.
De enige reddende noot was voor mij Lady Danbury, die echt een zalige madame is.

There are some details in Julia Quinn's writing that are ridiculous, like “ancient act” or how she put it :-D I think she has mentioned it in every one of the 4 books I've read now :-D
Also, in this book “he released the breath he didn't know he was holding”
But, those are so typical romance novel things I can easily ignore them.

I liked this one. Also, because the main character is supposed to be plus-sized. Though I don't know, the description didn't quite fit a seriously fat person. I think Julia Quinn just imagined a normal-sized woman, while all the others were size 0 or something.

I also listened this as an audiobook, and I thoroughly enjoy Rosalyn Landor's reading. All the gasps and moans and that :-D And she does the male and female voices very nicely.

I liked their story. Colin and Penelope make a very charming (hah! See what i did there?) couple. I like that they became friends and progressed from there. The whole thing with Lady Whistledown was well done. I loved Lady Danbury in this one. Other than the stuff about him pitying her, there wasn't too much second-guessing which was good because it always annoys me when they do that. I liked that they were both aware of their faults but still accepted each other. Colin being jealous of Penelope's success was a nice touch. I enjoyed his writing. Also, I'm very proud of Penelope for being Lady Whistledown. That ending was spectacular! Colin's declaration of love was one thing, but the moment Lady Danbury started clapping? I actually hollered.

My only gripe with the book is that the ending felt rushed. The solution was simple enough but it just felt like it could've been drawn out a little longer. Also, that they kept mentioning how Colin never loses his temper, but he does it quite often and he flips his emotions a lot. Which is a bit of a red flag to me

Probably my least favorite, second epilogue of the Bridgerton series so far. It barely has anything to do with the central couple and more to do with Eloise finding out Penelope‘s secret. But the resulting story doesn't offer much. I would much rather it have been a peak into Colin and Penelope‘s married life.