The Viscount Who Loved Me, by Julia Quinn
>> Tuesday, August 24, 2004
I was in a training seminar most of last week, so I've fallen really behind in my blogging. I'll try to be as brief as possible, so I can catch up.
Ok, then, first book. Continuing with my reread of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series, I read the second one, The Viscount Who Loved Me.
The Viscount Who Loved Me is one of my favourite entries in the Bridgerton series so far. An A-.1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, This Author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London's most elusive bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry. And in all truth, why should he? When it comes to playing the consummate rake, nobody does it better...But this time the gossip columnists have it wrong. Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry--he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield--the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate's the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...
--Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1814
Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes to not make the best husbands--and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate's determined to protect her sister--but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony's lips touch hers, she's suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself...
What I enjoyed so much about this book was that though it was tremendously funny, this didn't prevent the romance from being very intense. And even though Kate and Anthony's relationship developed while they bantered along, there was just the right amount of angst there to make it all interesting and give me the stomach clenching feeling that is, for me, one of the marks of a great romance.
As for the humour, well, I guess Quinn's very individual sense of humour really tickles my funny bone. It's witty, intelligent humour, that doesn't rely on making a character look ridiculous. And it's all told with Quinn's very distinctive voice, which I think makes it all even funnier. Oh, and this book contains what has got to be one of the funniest scenes ever, the game of Bridgerton Pall Mall. I adore this scene. I love it so much that I grin like a fool even when I think about it. Right from the start from the scene, it's lovely. I started chuckling at the first mention of the "Mallet of Death", and didn't stop until the end.
2 comments:
I didn't like this book. I think that you have pointed out the problem -her sense of humour. My personal sense of humour is so different from Julia Quinn's that I just don't get it. And if you take the humour out of her books there's nothing else left to atract a reader.
That's the thing about humour, isn't it? You can't really know whether it will work for you until you try the book. And yeah, with this one, if that element doesn't work for you, there's no point. Quinn has other books where the humour is a lot less prominent and are much angstier. I don't know if you've read those, but if you haven't and you want to try her again, I'd suggest When He Was Wicked, or To Sir Phillip, With Love.
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