The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

Summary of The Viscount Who Love Me:

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 . . .

Kate is quite sure that, contrary to popular belief, reformed rakes do not make the best husbands – and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of 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 worried she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself . . .

Length:

354 Pages

Reading Speed:

6 hours and 20 minutes

My Opinion of The Viscount Who Loved Me:

As mentioned in my previous review, period dramas are an absolute weakness of mine. But unlike The Duke and I, enemies to lovers is my all-time favorite trope. And nowhere was it so perfectly executed as in this book.

Trope:

To deliver the perfect enemies to lovers, the plot or the reason for their disdain, doesn’t actually matter. What matters are the characters and how utterly compatible they need to be in order to pull this off.

Characters:

For example, Anthony took up responsibility for the Bridgerton household, a household that contains his mother, four younger sisters, and three younger brothers, unexpectedly after his father tragically died from a bee sting. While he is portrayed as a headstrong, stubborn man and unwilling to listen to his sibling’s wishes in the first part of this series, it goes deeper than that. It shows us his fear over his relationship with his closest-in-age siblings. It shows his uncertainty, but willingness to practically raise his younger siblings. And it shows his utter respect for his mother.

He is also shown as a much angrier character than we saw on Netflix.

Then comes Kate: Kate, who is so fierce and headstrong and the only possible match for the bullheaded Bridgerton lord. Little lines were dropped all over this book over her relationship with herself, her stepmother, and her little sister. She expected to end up a spinster, as she was rather on the older side of that time and had no dowry* of her own. It goes in-depth over her insecurity within herself and it was done rather thoroughly. Like real-life problems, it didn’t get resolved overnight but little by little over time.

The In-Between Relationships:

Between seductions, funny quips, and some toe-stomping, we see a strong relationship built between Kate and her stepmother Mary, over their mutual love and longing for Kate’s late father. Had they not specified it directly, I would never have guessed that Mary wasn’t Kate’s biological mother. It is a lesson that families come in all shades. Kate’s relationship with her sister seems simple at first but gets more and more complicated as you read on. As much as Kate does not want to, her jealousy of Edwina’s ‘perfectness’ sometimes clouds her judgment of herself. It is a constant battle with the guilt and the responsibility she feels over Edwina.

Side Characters:

Mrs. Quinn, once again, had us searching the books with the hopes of learning more about our side characters. There were even some scenes from our beloved Daphne and Simon, broadcasting their happily ever after but not making the book about them. Not to mention, Colin Bridgerton is mentioned a few times. It is implied that he is much more astute than previously thought. Though, I’ll be getting into that tiny detail more in my review of Romancing Mr. Bridgerton.

Writing Style:

Not that the toe-stomping is anything but amusing. The clever remarks Kate especially makes towards Anthony are utterly remarkable and completely hilarious. It builds their relationship over the course of the entire book. While they are wildly attracted to each other, it also shows that they are compatible in their expectations of their counterpart, their ability to take up responsibility, and even sometimes their insecurities about being loved.

And those scenes, you know the ones I’m talking about, the ones we don’t tell our parents about. Well, let’s just say they are bookmarked.

Recommendation for The Viscount Who Loved Me:

I know what you’re thinking. I already watched Bridgerton, why should I also read the book? Well, that’s just it. If you watched their characters and fell in love with their story, you get to see it again played out differently. The show differed from the book in quite many ways.

And if you haven’t read The Duke And I, no worries. This book can be read separately. It would simply be a shame if you missed out on these feel-good light-hearted stories that are in this series.

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Dowry: Money the head of the family has to pay the groom in order to take care of the bride.