A review by daiinty
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Deep inside, she knew who she was, and that person was smart and kind and often even funny, but somehow her personality always got lost somewhere between her heart and her mouth, and she found herself saying the wrong thing or, more often, nothing at all.” — Julia Quinn

officially all caught up for the season three premiere this friday! colin was certainly a step up from benedict’s toxic behavior, even if he is quite a bit aloof. i really enjoyed the way quinn goes about revealing the identity of lady whistledown and how this secret hangs over the plot/development of the characters until the very end when all is revealed to the ton. i absolutely love penelope’s character. i think she is my second favorite behind kate. i see a lot of people have deemed colin quite boring, and while i can agree that his aloofness maybe made the relationships lack that fiery passion we’re used to seeing, i think that was kind of the whole point. colin learns that falling in love isn’t like being struck by lightning, sometimes it is a slow and steady thing that catches us by surprise. 

with that being said, it did make the book not as riveting as the others. there was much less of a “will they won’t they” play going on. his proposition of marriage after the carriage ride felt a little abrupt, and while that wasn’t meant to be where there was the declaration of love, it still felt a little awkward. throughout the book we see that penelope gains self confidence when fortified by the presence of colin, but i think i would have liked to see more character development on her end where she finds that strength within herself. even at the very end it is colin who declares that she is lady whistledown, and pen just kind of stands there blushing. i wanted to see her really own it.