After coming off of When He Was Wicked, which was my favorite Bridgerton book so far by the way, I was worried that Hyacinth’s story would fall flat. Hyacinth was probably my least favorite sibling in the books as a fringe character. She always came across as young and silly but with a shrewd eye for details. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t like her going into this one, but rather I just didn’t feel like I knew her as well as the other Bridgerton siblings thus far.
However, it was clear from the beginning that Hyacinth’s story would most certainly contain much to love. It was at this book that I decided to buy more of Julia Quinn’s other books for future reading. I love a solid romance with witty dialogue and chemistry between characters that is sexy without being raunchy. A tall order for sure but Quinn consistently delivers charming romances. I describe it as Jane Austen with sex.
I cannot wait to read more of Quinn’s novels when I am done with the Bridgerton series. She has earned a place in my top favorite writers for her charm, wit, and consistent romances. It’s hard to write characters, troupes, heros and heroines that inspire believability and swooning all at the same time but Quinn does it consistently!
Summary
F IT’S IN HIS HEART… IT’S IN HIS KISS
MEET OUR HERO…
Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth’s sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past… and the key to his future. The problem is—it’s written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.
MEET OUR HEROINE…
All the ton agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She’s fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken, and according to Gareth, probably best in small doses. But there’s something about her—something charming and vexing—that grabs him and won’t quite let go…
MEET POOR MR. MOZART…
Or don’t. But rest assured, he’s spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual—and annually discordant—Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth’s every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other… and that there is nothing as simple—or as complicated—as a single, perfect kiss (summary from Goodreads)
Review
This one had a lot to recommend itself. Hyacinth and Gareth came together to solve a treasure hunt of sorts which was a little different than in some of the other books. Lady Danbury also plays a larger role in this one and I loved that! Lady Danbury is one of my favorite secondary characters in the series! As I had mentioned, Hyacinth wasn’t my favorite sibling prior to reading this one, but as I got to explore her characters, I found her smart, witty, and ruthless which I adored about her. She has so little fear when it came to speaking her mind and I easily fell in love with her and was so glad I got to know her more in this one.
Of all the books, this one had the snappiest dialogue in my opinion. Gareth and Hyacinth played well against one another when it came to their dialogue and I enjoyed their banter immensely. Gareth was a worthy hero and while he had a lot of daddy issues to address and unpack, I liked his storyline and how his past impacted him. Gareth was sexy and even if he was immature in his response to his father, I rather liked watching him over come that immaturity.
While I enjoyed this one, there was one thing that stood out to me and that was that the novel felt unfinished. The ending was so rushed and when Gareth and his father meet for their final confrontation, I was expecting so much more. It felt really anticlimactic and indeed a little disappointing. I wanted to see more of a resolution between the baron and Gareth, I mean maybe that was the point that Gareth felt like he could just let it go and not have to be ‘right’ or ‘have the last word’ but as a reader, I wanted more resolution. It felt like the whole book ended too abruptly especially with the jewel hunt. Everything up until the end was great and I enjoyed the love story immensely but then all of a sudden all that momentum that Hyacinth and Gareth had building in the book just stopped and it left me wanting a lot more.
I really struggled with the rating on this one. While I loved the first part of the book, the ending just stopped short. I would have rated this one as 4 stars based on the chemistry and snappy dialogue but then the ending was too abrupt for me, but not enough to rate it at 3 stars. So I split the difference and went with 3.5 stars for this one.
Book Info and Rating
Kindle Edition, 407 pages
Published March 28th 2017 by Avon (first published June 28th 2005)
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Review copy provided by personal collection. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: historical romance, romance
WHERE TO BUY (AFFILIATE LINKS)
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