So, I did not enjoy the beginning of this book. It felt like a rip-off of Cinderella, and I was hoping for something a little more creative. However, as the book progressed and got past the Cinderella-esque evening, I fell in love with this book.

Sophie is exactly the heroine I needed in a Julia Quinn novel. She was strong-willed, smart, and never swayed when it came to what she believed in. Most of all, though, she was unwaveringly kind. That is honestly what I love most when I am introduced to a new character. No matter how many times Benedict pushed her (more on that later…. blech), no matter how many times Araminta insulted her, she hardly ever said a rude word. I know a few of my friends have mentioned Sophie as being not-so-nice, but I have to disagree on that wholeheartedly. Sophie, to me, was the epitome of kind. She never complained and gave more than she took, and I really love that aspect of her character. She had one instance where she may have gotten a bit physical with a certain someone, but no one who has read it will say that the certain someone didn’t have it coming. 😉

Spoilers ahead.

Benedict was horrible in this book. I hardly ever really liked him. He asked Sophie to be his mistress—didn’t see the problem in it, mind you—and often pushed her to do things that she didn’t want to do. She has been basically a slave her whole life and now, after finding freedom and Benedict saving her from an attempted rape, she is indebted to him? That honestly just made me a little furious. He didn’t deserve Sophie in my opinion, but, hey, I’m not the writer, and everyone loves to have a love-to-hate-em character.

Overall, this was my number one Bridgerton book so far. It felt different from The Duke and I and The Viscount Who Loved Me, which basically were the same to me. It also had very strong characters—Sophie, of course. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series, and hoping to have more entertaining tidbits from Lady Whistledown.

Source: eBook from Overdrive local library