Category: Literary Criticism

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!

The sixth book in the Bridgerton series was probably the one I was least looking forward to. There is next to any info about Francesca’s character in all the other books. To be honest, I practically forgot about her on a regular basis. I was constantly reminding myself that ‘oh ya there is another Bridgerton sibling before Gregory and Hyacinth’.

The minimal references to Francesca’s story left me with a lot more questions than answers. For example, there were references about her being a widow really young and that the love of her life died etc. Which made me constantly think ‘wow that sounds depressing’. So when I finally got to Francesca’s story I was fully expecting it to be the book that I had to ‘get through’ before moving on to the rest of the charming Bridgerton siblings.

However, Julia Quinn is a stunning writer and I fully trust her ability to write believable romances that will win me over in spite of myself even if I don’t LOVE the story, I know that I will at least enjoy it. When I started this one, it was very clear this was going to be different than some of the other ones in the series, but by the end it emerged as my favorite in the entire series.