A review by readwatchcrochet
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

“And I am certainly not going to marry Penelope Featherington”

📚 friends to lovers
📚 mystery 
📚 regency romance
📚 dual PoV

🌶️🌶️

Thoughts after a reread

“Penelope would always her first, and most people only kiss had occurred on a Friday…she’d met Colin on Monday. She’d kissed him on a Friday, twelve years later”

I was actually surprised with how horrible Colin actually is in this book. I thought the show was doing book Colin a disservice, but he is fairly horrible and petty all by himself in the book too. 

He also does come across as a spoilt main child who has so resilience when he doesn’t get exactly what he wants straight away. 

“The word is your oyster Colin. You’re young, wealth and you’re a man…you can do anything you want”

It was probably accurate for the time, however that doesn’t make his actions more palatable. 

“He was rather irritated at her for her lack of concern for her own safety. But that paled in comparison to the fury he felt at her keeping of secrets. His anger was entirely unwarranted”

He seemed to be more concerned with himself being embarrassed that she kept secrets from him and he felt humiliated like she was laughing at him. Making it all about him. 
“He wouldn’t have been so cruel” 

“He knew he was hurting her. And he knew it wasn’t a terribly nice thing he was hurting her. But he was so damn furious at that moment. And it was either squeeze her arm for all he was worth or loose his temper in front of 500 of their nearest and dearest acquaintance. All in all, he thought he was making the right choice. 

Decided to reduce my rating of this one. 
Even his proposal was abrupt and he was irritated. 

“For god same Penelope”. He said. Grabbing her hand and yanking her down 
“Are you going to marry me or not”

Isn’t that just the most ‘romantic’ proposal 🙄 

Initial thoughts
Book 4 in the Bridgerton series does not disappoint. The story is probably more focused on who is Lady Whistledown than previous books in the series. However, one can’t  help but swoon over the growing relationship Colin & Penelope. 

“It was really too bad then that the man she’d been leaving was the only one in whose company she ever wanted to remain”