Sizing up the Series: The Bridgertons (plus a giveaway)
On April 21, Julia Quinn will publish First Comes a Scandal, the fourth book in her Rokesby series–which is also known as the Bridgerton Prequels. There are eight books in the original Bridgerton series along with many published epilogues. A TV show, Bridgerton, helmed by Shonda Rhimes, is to air on Netflix later this year.
The first book in the Bridgerton ouvre, The Duke and I, was published in January of 2000. (AAR’s Blythe gave it a B-. The thing she liked best about it: Lady Whistledown’s remarks.) That book introduced the eight Bridgerton siblings–named alphabetically from Anthony to Hyacinth–whose lives and loves take place between 1813 and 1827. The Duke and I tells the story of Daphne, the fourth child and first daughter, and her romance with Simon, the Duke of Basset who just happens to be one of her older brother Anthony’s best friends. (Daphne, by the way, was the first heroine we discussed in our Winsome or Loathsome columns.)
In order, the original eight books are The Duke and I (we’ve given it an A- and a B-), The Viscount Who Loved Me (Anthony’s story–we gave it an A), An Offer from a Gentleman (Benedict’s story–we gave it a B+), Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (Colin’s story–we gave it a B+), To Sir Phllip, With Love (Eloise’s story–we gave it a B+), When He Was Wicked (Francesca’s story–we gave it B), It’s in His Kiss (Hyacinth’s story–we gave it a B+), and On the Way to the Wedding (Gregory’s story–we gave it a C+.) Four of the eight made it on to AAR’s most recent Top 100 Romances reader poll and may be found on those from years past as well.
The three books in the Rokesby (Bridgerton Prequel) series have gotten Bs from us an and we gave The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After, a collection of epilogues about each couple, a A-.
I’d hazard that, like me, many AAR readers have read all eight of the original series. And, like me, I am sure our readers have their own opinions on the reviews we gave the books (I’m still bitter we only gave Romancing Mr. Bridgerton a B+ –it’s a DIK all the way for me. I also love When He Was Wicked–it too is a DIK for me.)
What are your thoughts? Does this series deserve the fame and adoration it has in Romancelandia? Which book(s) is your favorite and why? Are there any stories in the series you dislike and why? Let us know.
And, just because we love, AAR will give a copy of First Comes Scandal to one reader–ebook or physical, your choice. Make a comment to be entered in a drawing for that!
My absolute favorite is The Viscount Who Loved Me. Although I’ve read all of the books in the series and two of the Rokesby books, I have to say that looking back, none of the other books have really been ones that I would want to reread. I’ve always considered JQ to be one of the best in writing humor, but the overall story is only above average. Somehow, I always expect more from the excerpts that I read or the setup from the previous book(s) of the characters (i.e. Colin – I loved him so much leading up to his book but he fell kind of flat for me) than I end up getting from the actual book.
I love the Duke and I
For me, there are two camps in historical romance – Chase/Duran/Milan/Thomas/Bourne camp and the other is Quinn/Kleypas/Dare/MacLean camp. I prefer the Chase et al camp.
I think. this is true. Like you, I prefer the first and love all of those authors and find the second group doesn’t generally work well for me. Loretta Chase might be an author that is more in the middle though, perhaps?
I have more ‘loves’ vs ‘likes’ in the former grouping, but I would also argue this group is still producing higher quality romance novels, while the latter has fallen off a bit and/or aren’t quite as sharp as the first grouping.
If I was shuffling your decks, I might drop Duran to group two (her earliest books work much better for me than her last couple of releases), and I would float Quinn between the two.
I like all these authors and loved many of their novels.
I like both camps! Sometimes I just want to have fun. Other times, I want to read and be enriched. I need both kinds of romances!
So when I look at these books on Amazon and the title reads “with 2nd epilogue” is that the epilogue from The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After” tacked on to the old book?
I think so, yes.
People seem to be praising the bridgerton collection so I may get that for the gf, as a pdf at least, considering how things are going these days with the pandemic and so on.
My favorite is Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. That is the one I keep and re-read every once in a while.
I have enjoyed the series a great deal, and have enjoyed most of the books she has written.
This is one series that I realize I missed the boat on almost entirely as I have read only one of them (Romancing Mr. Bridgerton). I think as I came in so late to the series, I missed a lot of the buildup.
For big fans of the series: is it best to go start at the first book? Or is it one of those series where it’s the second or third book where things really take off?
I’m a big Kleypas fan so I’ve always felt like I *should* love this one but while I enjoyed the one book I read, it didn’t hook me. What am I doing wrong?
I think you could read either The Duke and I or The Viscount Who Loved Me to start the series. Then skip to Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. I like TVWLM better than TDaI, for what it’s worth.
Thanks for the recs! I already downloaded my first Kresley Cole book. Gotta keep distracting myself from reading the news 24-7.
Which one did you start with?
I got “Wicked Deeds On A Winter’s Night” from the library as I wanted to try the author out. None of your recommendations were available so I chose from what was left. I’m not too far into it yet as I am also reading about four other books and just literally finished about five new ones by Molly Harper. I am hoping Cole turns out to be a new binge for me as well!
That one is very funny as I recall.
For me, Quinn’s books are wallpaper historicals and pretty light, frilly reads without enough substance or depth to hold my attention, I did enjoy the first one, The Viscount Who Loved Me, but most of them after that haven’t made much of an impact on me, and I’ve since moved on to authors who I feel do a much better job writing complex romances in the historical subgenre.
I am though curious about Shonda Rhimes’s take on the books. I feel much the same way about Rhimes’s productions as I do about Quinn’s writings, but given many of the similarities, that may mean the two will work well together. I’m expecting glossy production values with beautiful people and settings but slightness in the overall writing. In any. case, I’m there for the first one and hope it’s a good series. We’re overdue for something big and splashy on TV now.
I think anyone discussing Bridgertons should lead with where they stand on THAT scene… I am perfectly OK with it. An appropriate response to the situation he put her in.
Of the 4 Bridgertons I have tried, I have completed 2, giving both of them 4 stars but rank tVWLM ahead of tDaI.
That scene is discussed greatly in our Winsome or Loathsome column on Daphne for anyone who is curious.
I see from the “Steals and Deals” page that Quinn’s Bridgerton prequel The Other Miss Bridgerton is on sale for $2.99.
I have been wondering whether this series is worth it. I guess I will try it!
Quinn’s book are an interesting contradiction in my reading. I’ve read everything she’s had published (that I know of) and enjoyed most of them. I’ve rated the humor highly in many: 3 at 5 stars, my highest rating, 2 at 4.5, 12 at 4, 1 at 3.5, and 13 at 3. Yet with all that, I almost never reread her books. I’ve only reread 3 of her books, and only once for them, unlike favorite books that I’ve read over 20 times. The Duke and I is the only Bridgerton book I’ve reread even once, so I guess I would count that as the favorite.
I read most of the books in the series but not all because I got bored. I know I did not start with the first one because my memory is that if it HAD been my first read, I doubt I’d have read the others. (I rated it a 2 out of 5; and I made no notes for myself so I can’t tell you why.) The two I liked best (4 out of 5) are Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and An Offer From A Genteman. It has been more than a decade since I read them the first time, and I’ve read these two titles more than once. But Romancing Mr. Bridgerton is the only one I really, truly remember because I loved every moment of Lady Whistledown. She made the series for me. It is the only Quinn in my personal Top 100, and Mr. Bridgerton is #20 on that list.
Lady Whistledown is my favorite thing about that book, closely followed by Lady Danbury!
I read The Viscount who Loved Me first – which was also one of the first historical romances I read when I was really getting into the genre 15 years ago or so, so I have a real soft spot for that one. I admit that I haven’t read the entire series in print, but when the audios of the first five came out with Rosalyn Landor narrating (she’s just about the best narrator of HR there is) I listened to them all and gained a real appreciation for From Sir Philip, WIth Love which I think is one of the most underrated books of the set.
Like Dabney When He Was Wicked is a DIK (and a new audio version was released just this week, so I’ll definitely be grabbing that). For me, the weakest in the series are On the Way to the Wedding and An Offer from a Gentleman. I don’t dislike them – the’re just not as good as the rest, IMO.
It’s certainly one of the most iconic series in the genre; as to why, I’m sure those of us who love the Bridgertons all have our reasons – not least of which are those gorgeous heroes and delightful heroines -, but I suspect the deftness of the writing, the humour and the wonderful familial dynamics have all contributed to its status at or near the top of the HR tree..
I enjoyed this series and the mystery of who the town gossip was. My favorite book in the series is When He Was Wicked.
I only read the first four, which I had purchased together, because I was so enraged by everything about The Duke and I that I swore never to read another book by Quinn. At the time I felt much less comfortable about tossing books unread or unfinished than I do now, or I’d have stopped with TDaI, but even though I did read them, the other three sort of got overshadowed by my TDaI rage anyway. I had previously quite liked Quinn, so I probably liked them okay?, but the only one I liked enough to vaguely remember liking it was Romancing Mr Bridgerton.
Was this the series that started the trend we are all currently still suffering through of historicals having titles that are fractured pop culture titles?
Yes, I think it did start the twee titles thing.
Personally, I use “Quinn” in my head as shorthand for “Wallpaper regency.” They epitomize that subgenre along with Kleypas. You can draw a clear line from those early 2000s books to stuff being published today (ex Eva Leigh’s My Fake Rake).
You say that like it’s a bad thing. ;)
It’s actually what I love about early Quinn and Kleypas–they read modern but not in my world. It makes them perfect escapism for me.
I actually think they trace their roots back to Julie Garwood.
And for many people it’s not a bad thing! I don’t like it, but from votes and sales I can tel many people do.
It’s ironic this blog ran today. I started listening to The Duke and I yesterday afternoon! Caz recommended the series & audiobooks have been a game changer for me on my runs. I used to be ride or die for music (my other passion), but I tend to obsessively track my running intervals by song length and it loses its pleasure just a bit. Audiobooks distract me like nothing else. I recently finished both Mia Vincy books, Circe and Song of Achilles while training for a local run.
I digress. I’m looking forward to listening to the whole Bridgerton series on audio & I was happy to realize I only vaguely remember the first book. I think The Viscount Who Loved Me was my series favorite, and An Offer From a Gentleman was my least favorite.
I’m happy to ‘re-discover’ this series!
I thought the narrator of Circe had the best voice I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t run to that book–I kept stopping to replay sentences!
I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I reviewed it for Audio Gals but it hasn’t gone up yet. I didn’t love Song of Achilles narrator, but the story felt so much more powerful in audio. I CRIED AT THE END. In my car. And obsessively replayed the last scene until I felt I was ready to move on. Gah. I’m still trying to put my feelings into reviewer words. Those books.
I haven’t read TSoA. If I do, you recommend listening rather than reading?
Tne narrator of the UK version is MUCH better, IMO than the one used in the US version;
I just listened to the sample of the UK version. I liked the US version of Patroclus – the voice matches my idea of this character; the UK narrator sounds more like Achilles to me though. A toss up.
I would listen to it Dabney. I enjoyed the novel; I LOVED the audio book.
Until recently, only the final three books in the series had been recorded, but fortuantely, Recorded Book got Rosalyn Landor to narrate the first five a few years back, and she told me the other week that she’s now doing the other three, so we’ll have the complete series from her soon.
I think Madeline Miller wrote Circe and Song of Achilles, not Mia Vincy.
Yes, you are correct. I was just listing recent books I listened too & I didn’t include the Vincy titles.
The viscount who loved me is the best! I reread it last month.
I love Anthony and Daphne’s banter so much. That book always makes me laugh.
The Viscount Who Loved Me is the best. Next would be The Duke and I. The last four are forgettable.