Reviews with content warning for Death - It's In His Kiss

October 2023-⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧
This was a light and cute book. It was an enjoyable read, like most of the series. My favorite character was probably Lady Danbury. To be honestly, she's my favorite from the entire series.

March 2022-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📱
This was an adorable book. I enjoyed it. Hyacinth and Gareth were a cute match, though it didn't seem like love love to me. I like the subplot with Garett's father.

Content Warnings

kasialipa's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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

I wanted to read this book because of the Netflix show that hit on Christmas a few years ago and now Netflix has announced we are getting Polin’s story and I'm hoping we get the full eight seasons for each sibling. I wanted to get ahead and know what is going to happen, so of course I bought all nine books. I enjoyed the first two books in this series, I struggled with Benedict’s and Eloise’s story and didn’t mind Colin’s story and Francesca’s and Hyacinth's story have been adorable.

This novel follows two main characters. The first character is Hyacinth Bridgerton. She is the baby of the family and the eighth child in the Bridgerton household. All of the ton agree, there is no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgeton. She is fiendishly smart, outspoken to some and best in small doses. Her mother and oldest brother are desperate to marry her off, but after four marriage proposal that she has rejected, everyone is slowing giving up. Hyacinth just wants to find a man who doesn’t want to change her and can keep up her outspokenness and her attitude. The second character is Gareth St Clair, he is in London for his grandmother and the one family member that likes him – Lady Danbury, he has no intention getting married as his father is running up debt so that when he dies, the debt goes to his son (who isn’t actually his biological son). Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth’s every word seems a dare, and she offers to help him out with a knotty inheritance problem he’s facing. As they delve into the mysterious St Clair history, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the past but in each other, and that there is nothing as simple or as complicated as a single, perfect kiss.

My favourite things about this book were Julia Quinn’s writing style. It didn’t feel like I was back in time. I mean, obviously they weren’t going on about Snapchat, but it just felt like a modern-day story with a bit of mystery. The only thing that kept me from remembering that it was set in the 1800s was the references of letters and carriages and that they couldn’t Google Translate the diary. The storyline was adorable and funny and heartbreaking, all at the same time. Gareth was a sweetheart and I felt for him for his daddy issues, but also a bit of a dick at the same time. I wanted to smack him for how he was thinking about Hyacinth and the original reason why he wanted to marry her. Hyacinth finally found someone who could deal with her dry humour and then she gets screwed over.

However, that’s not the reason I didn’t rate it five stars. The reason I didn’t rate it five stars was because I miss the Bridgerton gang – in the first four book, they were all together and causing mischief together. Besides Gregory and Anthony playing a small part in this book, they weren’t there. I wanted girl talk and all the sister to spill secrets, I wanted the overprotective brothers who wanted to hunt down Gareth. I just miss the sibling banter and I get that in those days when they got married, they had their own household and children to deal with it, but I just missed them. Also, I think because I've read these books in such a short span of time rather than when they were debut over the years, it was weird to picture little Hyacinth like in the TV show being this elegant and sexy woman and getting laid, it was like reading a young siblings diary.

I cannot wait for Gregory’s story and hopefully it will be all tied together nicely and we see more of the brothers.

Content Warnings

haleysversion's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful 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

3.75

Content Warnings

hecksbecks's review

Go to review page

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

hayleyvem's review

Go to review page

lighthearted slow-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

3.0

Content Warnings

saliwali's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

hmlongstreet's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense 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? No

4.5

How can I say this...Oh my god! This book is an absolute gem in the series. Truly, I cannot explain the pure emotions I felt from this story. I laughed, I gasped, I blushed and just fell in love with it all. Hyacinth and her relationship with Lady Danbury had me laughing aloud, while Gareth and Hyacinth had me swooning. Hyacinth was positively witty with her snarky remarks while Gareth with his clever retorts made the pair such a joy to read about.

I felt connected to both Hyacinth and Gareth while they discussed their fears and troubles, having felt many of them myself which was so lovely and brought my closer to them both in an curious way. This book was just FILLED with romance and charm that tickled me pink. Both characters were very well written, and most moments never felt questionably non consensual (which I was beginning to find was quite a common thing in this series).

Gareth has by far got to be the best male main character in the whole series (we will see after I read Gregory's story however) as he rarely treats Hyacinth like...how should I say this..? like he has no idea what she means to him so he just kisses her and then being forced to marry. Also Gareth just a tiny bit reminds me of my own boyfriend, so maybe that is why I am so fond of him. And Hyacinth... well if you've seen the Netflix adaptation, she is exactly like Eloise in the show. I would not be surprise if the show based Eloise off Hyacinth in the novel. Hyacinth is just so funny, and her one liners are the best! The overall plot given to the book was so adventuress and fun, as I felt the excitement right along with the characters

There are only a few things I didn't like which I will list (they are kind of spoilers though):

1. Gareth is an illegitimate child; they did this trope in book 3 and I personally don't like it however, they didn't really make it as big of a deal this time around which was good.

2. Gareth is just another rake; why are all the men talked about as being rakes, and having mistresses. Gareth is makes male lead #4 to be described as a rake.

3. No one wants to marry Hyacinth because of the way she acts; this plot point was very similar to both Daphne and Penelope's characters.

4. Gareth taking advantage of Hyacinth to anger his father and get her to not back out of their engagement; the book was going so good and then they turned Gareth into all the other male leads

Another this time add is how confusing the relationship between Gareth and his father was, like Gareth's father was all like "oh you are so predictable with Hyacinth", so Gareth responses by trying to make him irritated by doing exactly what his father said he would do. But it actually gives his father fuel to harass Gareth even more...like where is that logic-?

Even though I didn't like certain things in this book the good does out way the bad, if you are going to read any of the Bridgerton books it has to be this one.

Content Warnings

More...