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cepbreed's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This may just be my favorite of the main Bridgerton series! I'm never to type to stick to a reading order if I don't have to so I picked this up because someone on TikTok ranked it as one of their favorites of Quinns. Like the sheep I am I loved it so much. Gareth and Hyacinth are so compelling as a couple; two sly troublemakers finding one another, it doesn't get better. I was more empowered to speed through this in one day because I had just finished season 3 of Bridgerton the show and was still craving the high of regency romance. I love to see a romance where both leads have a strong character and stick to it. I am so tired of unambitious female leads to swoon at the slightest touch. Thank you Hyacinth for being difficult and unabashedly so! The structure of this novel is nothing like the other Bridgerton books and I love it more for that. The introductions to each chapter were so fun; it was weirdly meta to think that Hyacinth, a character in a novel reading a novel, begins to think of her own life in terms of one. I also ADORED the added element of mystery! Histrom authors should take notes from this book and play with the genre more. As an avid reader of histroms I am getting so tired of the same old same old. This story combined two of my favorite genres and I hope to see that more often. Is there a histrom horror out there? I know that sounds antithetical but I'd pay so much to read a well-written one. I saw so much of myself in Hyacinth and maybe that's why I really loved Gareth St. Clair. All the male leads of Julia Quinn's books are wonderful, they have to be loveable, but so far they've all had glaring faults (cough cough book Colin I'm staring DIRECTLY at you), but in the wake of this novel I have yet to have any issues with Gareth (#needthat). I mean the way he said "She would make a fine wife. Not for most men, but for him, and that was all that mattered," ugh, it's so sweet I could die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Miscarriage
natalie_chase's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny and Grief
prashiie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
“The hallmark of civilization is routine. But the sign of a truly advanced mind is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
As with any Bridgerton book, we have likeable characters that are somewhat flawed.
Hyacinth is very smart and knows what she wants which is partially the reason why she’s on her third season and still unmarried. She spends a lot of time with Lady Danbury and might even be one of the few people that like her. Lady Danbury truly is an amusing character, owing to her brutal honesty. She does not shroom to play matchmaker and nudges Hyacinth towards her grandson, Gareth. Gareth is described to be a rake, just like any other gentleman in this series so far, sigh. Anyway, he dotes on his grandmother, Lady Danbury, who is the only person he has in his life. He does not have a good relationship with his father, the baron. Throughout the story, his father remains a one-dimensional character. Every time Gareth interacts with him, he leaves the scene fully distraught. It makes sense why his father is so angry all the time. He found out his wife cheated on him which led to the birth of Gareth. Whilst nobody in his situation would accept or ignore that, it’s unacceptable to take it out on a child.
When Gareth is in need of an Italian translator, Hyacinth offers to help. They slowly learn more about each other and fall in love. For Gareth this also means that he becomes part of the loving Bridgerton family. It was really heartwarming when Anthony mentioned this to him.
The superficial nature of this story makes it a good read when you are in need of something light and fluffy. What I didn’t really like is that, yet again, the male protagonist is convinced that he must compromise the female protagonist to ensure their marriage. I get that this might be the mindset of that time, but it just annoys me at this time of age.
As with any Bridgerton book, we have likeable characters that are somewhat flawed.
Hyacinth is very smart and knows what she wants which is partially the reason why she’s on her third season and still unmarried. She spends a lot of time with Lady Danbury and might even be one of the few people that like her. Lady Danbury truly is an amusing character, owing to her brutal honesty. She does not shroom to play matchmaker and nudges Hyacinth towards her grandson, Gareth. Gareth is described to be a rake, just like any other gentleman in this series so far, sigh. Anyway, he dotes on his grandmother, Lady Danbury, who is the only person he has in his life. He does not have a good relationship with his father, the baron. Throughout the story, his father remains a one-dimensional character. Every time Gareth interacts with him, he leaves the scene fully distraught. It makes sense why his father is so angry all the time. He found out his wife cheated on him which led to the birth of Gareth. Whilst nobody in his situation would accept or ignore that, it’s unacceptable to take it out on a child.
When Gareth is in need of an Italian translator, Hyacinth offers to help. They slowly learn more about each other and fall in love. For Gareth this also means that he becomes part of the loving Bridgerton family. It was really heartwarming when Anthony mentioned this to him.
The superficial nature of this story makes it a good read when you are in need of something light and fluffy. What I didn’t really like is that, yet again, the male protagonist is convinced that he must compromise the female protagonist to ensure their marriage. I get that this might be the mindset of that time, but it just annoys me at this time of age.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Grief
cielosiluminado's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gareth and hyacinth were very cute!! their story was really fun and refreshing in the bridgerton series.
my favorite thing was hyacinth never changing herself for a man despite that meaning less marriage prospects for her and despite all the warnings gareth got about her being “too smart” and “difficult to manage”, he still loved her. he loved her quirks, confidence, and brains.
there was just two things that made me not give it a perfect rating: (1) gareth’s glaring daddy issues led him to seduce and compromise her pre-wedding so she wouldn’t back out of the engagement. that was a very questionable action. but i wasn’t that bothered once i read when hyacinth learns that he compromised her on her purpose, she reaffirms that despite being peeved that he resorted to compromising her, she still enjoyed their first time together. and (2) there was also a little lull for me in the story shortly after their engagement.
but i was able to look past those two hiccups because i enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story. the betrothed couple breaking and entering the clair house was so funny to me. i laughed so hard at the imagining hyacinth wearing breeches and cackled when they scaled up the walls to climb into the windows was hilarious to picture. also, the scene between anthony and gareth had me cry laughing because they were both so unserious. i also adored lady danbury and hyacinth’s relationship in this book. it was so heartwarming, especially when lady d had been plotting gareth and hyacinth’s relationship for over a year!
this one is going to be a fun season for netflix to adapt tbh
my favorite thing was hyacinth never changing herself for a man despite that meaning less marriage prospects for her and despite all the warnings gareth got about her being “too smart” and “difficult to manage”, he still loved her. he loved her quirks, confidence, and brains.
there was just two things that made me not give it a perfect rating: (1) gareth’s glaring daddy issues led him to seduce and compromise her pre-wedding so she wouldn’t back out of the engagement. that was a very questionable action. but i wasn’t that bothered once i read when hyacinth learns that he compromised her on her purpose, she reaffirms that despite being peeved that he resorted to compromising her, she still enjoyed their first time together. and (2) there was also a little lull for me in the story shortly after their engagement.
but i was able to look past those two hiccups because i enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story. the betrothed couple breaking and entering the clair house was so funny to me. i laughed so hard at the imagining hyacinth wearing breeches and cackled when they scaled up the walls to climb into the windows was hilarious to picture. also, the scene between anthony and gareth had me cry laughing because they were both so unserious. i also adored lady danbury and hyacinth’s relationship in this book. it was so heartwarming, especially when lady d had been plotting gareth and hyacinth’s relationship for over a year!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Grief, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Death, and Death of parent
cicireadsinthedark's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Death
readyforit's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75⭐️1.5🌶️
This book had a bit of a mystery/treasure hunt plot to it, which was fun! I enjoyed all the sneaking around and scheming. I think hyacinth has a really funny personality and she has great banter with Gareth. I loved the friendship between lady Danbury and hyacinth as well! This wasn’t my favorite in the series though, I liked some of the other books a bit more. I noticed the author reused the exact plot line from Simon in book 1 where Daphne points outhe is living his life to spite his father, and not making choices that are really about himself. Could she not think of anything else? I liked gareth but I think I liked Michael in Francesca’s story more. It seemed like Gareth was meant to be another handsome, witty rake. It’s the same story recycled again. Something different that happened was that hyacinth chose to have sex before marriage, knowing what that would mean for her reputation. Other than that there’s not a whole lot of spice in this one! Whenever hyacinth’s season gets made on Netflix I hope they leave out the bit about Gareth being forcibly engaged to who sounds like a mentally disabled woman bc she has a large dowry. I could do without the ableism for “plot.” I probably won’t reread and will opt to watch the Netflix show instead, but I might reread in a few years whenever hyacinth’s season comes!
This book had a bit of a mystery/treasure hunt plot to it, which was fun! I enjoyed all the sneaking around and scheming. I think hyacinth has a really funny personality and she has great banter with Gareth. I loved the friendship between lady Danbury and hyacinth as well! This wasn’t my favorite in the series though, I liked some of the other books a bit more. I noticed the author reused the exact plot line from Simon in book 1 where Daphne points out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Ableism
Minor: Pregnancy
siankrb's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This wasn’t my favourite in the Bridgerton series but it was a nice book to chill out to. I found Hyacinths character fun and likeable and the side plot about the diamonds was different to the other books in the series. I think my main issue was that I was less interested in Hyacinth and Gareth as a couple than others in the series, although Lady Danbury being a large character in this book was fun.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexism, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Misogyny
hecksbecks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Its in His Kiss gives us a little angst, quick wit and enough Lady Danbury to soothe the soul. Hyacinth’s inclusion to the Bridgerton franchise is a fun read, a little slow to get into but once we truly meet Mr. Gareth St. Clair we are ALL asking “Gareth more.” It could just be me but I saw the true identity of Gareth's father from a mile away, it could have been teased a bit better but no matter. These books are fun to read in a binge-it-all-in-the-bath sort of way. I believe I enjoyed it as much as Hy and Lady Danbury enjoyed their Buttersworth adventures. Highly recommend these books. :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
booksalacarte's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It’s in his kiss- 4⭐️ 3.25🌶️
This is the mystery to solve book with the absolutely reckless heroine.
This is my favorite of the Bridgerton Books. It’s definitely the funniest. Lady Danbury is one of my favorite side characters in the whole series, and her being featured in this makes it so much better.
Hyacinth is one of the best girls in the family. Her wit and unabashed nature is great to read in a regency romance full of demure debutants.
Gareth was a great pairing, a rake with a great sense of humor who doesn’t take himself too seriously. He had his moments with his father that made me want to smack him upside the head, but overall he’s a likable guy.
And the second epilogue is adorable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
haley49's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Very cute story. There were more substantial sideplots than in previous books, more 🌶 (with the exception of book 6), and all the fun Bridgerton-Danbury antics. Hyacinth instantly become one of ny fav Bridgerton heroines. A few iffy decisions by the male lead but he was redeemed. Overall, definitely recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Classism