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A review by meganpbennett
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
emotional
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If you, like me, decided to read The Duke and I because of the Bridgerton Netflix show, the book is very different. It covers the same time span, give or take, but it is very different.
Daphne Bridgerton is the fourth child and first daughter of the eight children of the Bridgerton family, who names their children alphabetically. She's looking for a love match during the Ton of Regency England, and she's on her third season. Prospects are not looking good.
Simon Basset, the new Duke of Hastings, has vowed never to marry, and certainly never to sire children.
They bump into each other, and decide that, since Daphne has no marriage prospects and Simon wants all of the Mamas of the Ton to leave him alone, they will fake court until she has a proposal she might accept. Even Mrs. Whistledown, the writer of a gossip sheet widely read by the Ton, buys it. But, like all fake dating, it gets a little real.
If you've seen the Netflix show, you know about the duel, the wedding, and the scene that makes people really really mad. If you haven't, Simon is caught kissing Daphne and Anthony challenges him to a duel when he won't marry Daphne to ensure her reputation won't be ruined. Daphne saves his life by convincing him to marry her, and they have a rather short engagement. The rest, dear readers, is up to you.
Daphne Bridgerton is the fourth child and first daughter of the eight children of the Bridgerton family, who names their children alphabetically. She's looking for a love match during the Ton of Regency England, and she's on her third season. Prospects are not looking good.
Simon Basset, the new Duke of Hastings, has vowed never to marry, and certainly never to sire children.
They bump into each other, and decide that, since Daphne has no marriage prospects and Simon wants all of the Mamas of the Ton to leave him alone, they will fake court until she has a proposal she might accept. Even Mrs. Whistledown, the writer of a gossip sheet widely read by the Ton, buys it. But, like all fake dating, it gets a little real.
If you've seen the Netflix show, you know about the duel, the wedding, and the scene that makes people really really mad. If you haven't, Simon is caught kissing Daphne and Anthony challenges him to a duel when he won't marry Daphne to ensure her reputation won't be ruined. Daphne saves his life by convincing him to marry her, and they have a rather short engagement. The rest, dear readers, is up to you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Vomit
There is a sex scene in the book that can (and should) be read as sexual assault, depending on the reader. Simon is pulling out to avoid impregnating Daphne, and Daphne realizes that it's because he can impregnate her, he just doesn't want to. She thinks he lied to her - he said he can't have children when it's really that he won't have them - and has sex with him the morning after he gets incredibly drunk and distracts him long enough so that he ejaculates before pulling out.
The 'vomit' warning is from the second epilogue, which is not in every copy. A pregnant character vomits 'on screen' several times.