Anthony

Bridgertons #2

by Julia Quinn

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...

--Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1814

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...

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...

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Audiobook, Enemies To Lovers

341 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 5, 2000

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn loves to dispel the myth that smart women don't read (or write) romance, and and if you watch reruns of the game show The Weakest Link you might just catch her winning the $79,000 jackpot. She displayed a decided lack of knowledge about baseball, country music, and plush toys, but she is proud to say that she aced all things British and literary, answered all of her history and geography questions correctly, and knew that there was a Da Vinci long before there was a code.

A graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, Ms. Quinn is one of only sixteen members of Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. Her books have been translated into 32 languages, and she lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest.

The Bridgertons, her popular series of historical romance, is currently in production by Shondaland as a Netflix original series starring Julie Andrews, Phoebe Dynevor, and Rége-Jean Page.

Reviews

[mel ☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars ✩⋆

update after watching s2: kanthony gave me the biggest blue balls and gave me the worst (or best?) edging i've ever experienced in my entire life

but netflix... bestie... what are y'all doing with this love triangle and edwina bs pls i can't handle this (overall thoughts about season 2 will be at the end of this review but i wanna talk about the book first)

* * *

don't mind me. just reading this after suffering through the anthony + siena scenes in the show.

after watching episode 1 i ran so fast to goodreads and started stalking everyone's books and me always being curious af and wanting to know if siena's gonna be a problem and me being weirdly attracted to anthony's sideburns, i read this aaand i loved it. kate is just so- *chef's kiss* and the enemies to lovers trope- *chef's kiss x2* but first, imma have to talk about the book and then i'll quickly rant my feelings out about anthonysiena cuz y'all are my therapists and ranting is therapy so <3 (note from future mel: listen, anthonysiena drama was one thing but the edwina drama...)

.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ .・゜゜・

REVIEW FOR THE BOOK

moving on to the book now, i fucking loved it.

『 p l o t 』↠ Anthony Bridgerton being the eldest and taking up the Viscount title, he finally decided to marry (not for love) to fulfill his duties. he wants to marry Edwina but her sister, Kate Sheffield (h) doesn't want a rake (a man ho) to be her sister's husband so she does everything to sabotage Anthony's courtship (as she should).

after reading one chapter, i already knew i was gonna love kate and i really did (you see why i feel so angry for our girl with the whole anthony + siena scenes?) she didn't take any shit from anthony, called him out whenever his "rake" behavior is showing and their enemies to lovers trope? slowburn and hesitant friendship? banter? hate to love? kate smiling evilly whenever anthony suffers? newton the corgi? kate being the one and only and FIRST love for anthony?? YESSS.

i can't believe a fucking bee caused them to get married.

my favorite scene is the pall mall scene with kate's black mallet of death and anthony's pink mallet. i am praying to the netflix gods to make this scene happen because watching anthony being the loser was such great content.

i would've rated this higher but i just wanted more scenes of them being a couple. i looove slowburn but after suffering through the siena scenes, i wanted to see more smut. and honestly, i know he didn't need to grovel but i wish he did just because i'm a ho for these scenes. basically, i just wanted more of them. aaand that maria (siena in the show) scene where he invited her to his study where, unknowingly, kate was hiding, and he was going to use maria to "forget" her was annoying af but thank god this ended quickly.

.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ .・゜゜・

<< quick note from future mel, hi hello, the upcoming rant was my reaction after watching season 1 and i wanna full-on rant about season 2 but like- im too lazy for that (i wrote a quick rant at the end though) just know i was blushing and giggling and felt very single but anyways enjoy me hyperventilating about the anthonysiena drama from season 1 but if you don't care about my thoughts of the show just ignore everything after this ok byee >>

soo this is my upcoming rant about s1 and if y'all don't mind, imma just rant about anthony + siena a little bit here because their scenes were PAINFUL af and i just gotta let it out of my chest ya know?



so don't mind this ⤵ section if you haven't watched the Bridgerton because SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW

.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ .・゜゜・

RANT ABOUT ANTHONY + SIENA (in the show)

↠ pro tip: do NOT read this book after watching just ONE episode of the Bridgerton because i was😀smiling😀through😀the😀pain from all the anthonysiena scenes.

@netflix @shondaland @showrunners y'all have some explaining to do. knowing that siena/maria only has one scene in this book where he just flirts and kisses her in the neck and anthony apparently being this character who avoids anything related to love and commitment... the show showing A LOT of anthony + siena hurt. ooohhh the pain.

i will never forget his ass pumping, fucking her against a tree
i will never forget them cuddling and touching lovingly after sex
i will never forget all the moaning and grunting (yes, thank you netflix subtitles for specifying that they are, indeed, moaning and grunting)
i will never forget him begging her to come back to him (book anthony would NEVERRR)
i will never forget the longing looks he gave her
i will never forget them dancing, saying he'll leave everything for her (this one hurt the most not gonna lie because wtf)
and i will never forget how passionate their sex scenes are that they literally rip each other's clothes off and lick and eat each other's face out. ew.



listen, listen. i get that they probably did this to make anthony have some backstory to give him more screen time and to make his arc better for season 2 but like- their scenes were TOO passionate and steamy that i'm getting wrinkles from cringing too much. you know what i did after watching episode 1 and continued watching the show after reading this??? i had to skim each episode so i'm prepared for any anthony + siena scenes so i won't be blindsided by them. that's how bad it was.

the reason why he wants a loveless marriage is plausible in the books because it was about grief and his father and it had nothing to do about being broken-hearted from another woman and the show is going that route it seems. it hurt watching them knowing Ms. Kate Sheffield is supposed to be his one and ONLY and FIRST love because he was anti-relationship before he met her. i mean, he didn't say he loved siena but it sure seemed like he was "in love" with her. whenever they come up on the screen i yell at them to TONE IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT! they were at a 100, i needed them to be at a 0.

they probably added this couple for smut's sake to make the show more raunchy but daaaamn leave the smut to the main characters but don't touch anthony jeez. give that smut to benjamin (benedict?) instead or something but SAVE THAT PASSION FOR KATE!! and i know i shouldn't compare the adaptation but this one just hurt. i read this loving kate and anthony and being obsessed with them real fast and when i continued on with the show these scenes with siena felt like a slap in the face. basically what i'm saying is,

✨ KATE DESERVES BETTER ✨

i mean, i did feel for siena and i know what they're trying to do to her character, veering away from the "OW" stereotype and giving her some character depth, but goddamn. TONE IT DOWN- HE LOOKED SO IN LOVE WITH HER. all the feelings he has for siena is supposed to be for kate ugh.

the only thing that's giving me comfort right now is that twitter, friends, and all of internet are collectively, with utter detest and disgust, are hating on anthony + siena.

@netflix @shondaland @showrunners y'all better make kate + anthony scenes waaaaayyy more intense and sexy and there better be at least 20+ smut scenes between them or else y'all are about to catch these hands 😤👊🏼

ok anywaysss thank you for listening to my ted talk xx

.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・．.・゜゜・ .・゜゜・

OVERALL (post-season 2) THOUGHTS

hi hello it's future mel again after finishing season 2,

ok so imma just be quick about this cuz apparently i gotta go on reddit to talk about this and not in goodreads or whatever the fuck but anyways to summarize my feelings:

kanthony >>> daphnesimon
and, season 2 >>< season 1 (i personally like s2 better cuz i was crying literal tears cuz kanthony made me feel so single and had me panting from all that tension but s1 had better side plots)

listen kanthony had me blushing and giggling that daphnesimon never had but like- the edwina drama? immediately no. there were so many iconic scenes from this book (the correct bee scene, the library scene, the opera house scene, the tea scene (iykyk), and the storm/them opening up to each other cuz of their childhood trauma scenes) that were removed because of what- the love triangle?? ugh. and poor book edwina- she deserved better.

to be honest, i did like the drama and enjoyed it more when i stopped comparing it to this book (i've rewatched this season 4 times now and it only came out few days ago) so i ended up loving it and am now obsessed with it. was i a bit disappointed with the story change? yes. did i still love it? yes. am i gonna defend this season from people saying they lack chemistry because apparently physical/sexual chemistry = good chemistry (y'all haven't watched kdramas and it shows)? hell yes (pls kanthony's tension and chemistry had me sweating, fanning myself, and at the edge of my seat yelling at them to fuck already god!!). will i side eye people complaining about the "casting issues" *cough* we all know what that means *cough* (and yes i've seen someone say this, a "famous" tiktoker apparently)? HELL FUCKING YES.

i heard kanthony will return in the later seasons so here's me hoping they'll show the marriage parts from this book next season aaand i want more smutty scenes of them mainly to even out the amount of sex anthony and siena had in s1 (yes, i wont shut up about them). but again, this book will always have a special place in my heart though ♡ i will keep rereading this since i have the biggest kanthony hangover atm.

but also, when will a man tell me that i am the bane of his existence and yet the object of all his desires?



i guess we'll never know.

[Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Men are so fragile, it's unreal.

"I don't enjoy being condescended to," Kate said stifly.
His eyes flashed. "And I don't like being denied my rights," he returned, his voice cold and his face a harsh rendition of aristocratic power."

(she asked him to wait a week to have sex)

Lmao, so the "hero" here is part of those men who try to convince women that they need sex.

"Tell me," he whispered, his lips pressing against her ear. "Tell me how to make it right. For I don't think I can grant you your reprieve." He molded his body against hers, his strong arms holding her close as he groaned, "I can't wait a week, Kate. I simply cannot do it."

Oh, well. I simply cannot like you, dog.

For more of my reviews, please visit:

[Bibi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shonda and her screenwriters deserve awards for turning this mess of a series into something quite exceptional. I was catatonic with boredom.

[chan ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

netflix ate this up

a marriage of inconvenience? not wanting to fall in love with the woman you're already married to? a terribly insecure older sister? mayhaps i am throwing tomatoes at the unoriginality.

i read this book back in 2020 and thought it was fine. nothing to write home about. and then i needed to read it for a video this year, after having watched the netflix season. and lemme tell you, the netflix version was much much much more interesting.

a truly forbidden romance with mutual pining and longing glances has flavor. this didn't. i think it really all comes down to the way julia quinn writes her heroines. they all are pretty steeped in insecurity and it gets pretty tiresome after a while. like girl... he wanted to sling his meat at you with HASTE after y'all got married and you don't think he thinks you're pretty?

the show seemed to have more nuance with both Kate's and Edwina's characters and i appreciate that.

anyway not trying to dissuade you from reading this, i'm just consistently asked if the book series is worth it. and my answer is: watch the show and then read a different historical romance series :)

[Bryce Rocks My Socks · Rating 1 out of 5]

where was the anthony pulling himself out of the water scene??

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well let’s forget last less steamy Bridgerton season that made me miss the Duke and take a look at the original manuscript;


Hell yeah, I was literally drooling when I got my hands into Anthony Bridgerton’s own book to discover his steamy, sassy, emotional love story! The actor Jonathan Bailey already won my heart at the first season with his successfully developed Anthony Bridget portrait. Without waiting for whole year, I wanted to know his story ASAP which forced me to have special weekend appointment with his journey!

There’s a big difference between streaming series and the book : series focused on love triangle and Edwina’s self growth but in this book there’s hardly a love triangle. And Edwina is portrayed a little naive, inexperienced and clueless young woman who doesn’t know what she truly wants to do with her life: except finding charming, wealthy husband.

We saw the womanizer side of Anthony at first book and now he’s a big challenge for the mommas who read scary stories about cunning, tempting Anthony before they go to bed to their daughters to stay the hell away from this notorious guy who breaks all the women’s innocent hearts!

Anthony finally decides to settle down and get marry with Edwina Sheffield but there’s a big obstacle between him and his beautiful future wife: Kate Sheffield, the sister of Edwina who knows Anthony’s tarnished reputation and his debauchery addiction. She has no intention to let her sister tie the knot with this notorious heartbreaker which starts the war between him and her.

But as you may imagine this strong enemies to friends and finally lovers theme work so well for this couple. They can’t hold their feelings. They truly yearn for each other. The entertaining, humorous and witty banters between them are quite enjoyable and their pant melter chemistry also made me hyperventilate!

This book is heart, giving you so much great time! Romance and steamy parts worked well. It’s not tear shedding, heart breaking kind of poignant story and the ending was a little fast and abrupt. I wish the author wrapped things a little slower and gave the happy ending the characters earned!

But overall it’s quick, enjoyable, smart, sassy, feel good regency romance I’ve dreamed of!

I cannot wait to read the next five books and dive into more Bridgerton siblings’ adventures. Maybe I’ll skip the third book and directly jump into fourth one because Penelope and Colin are amazing characters who picked my interest at the series and I’m so curious to read their own book as well!

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to Julia Quinn to make you fall in love in a few chapters!



I've come to realize, ladies and gentlemen, that Julia Quinn's novels are an oasis for both my mind and my soul. She takes you by the hand, and with her magical writing she opens a portal to another era, to a world of etiquette and courting and balls and lavish gowns, where the devastatingly handsome sworn batchelors end up falling in love with the smart girls, the ones who are not admired for their dazzling beauty, but can challenge them with their wit. And that's the recipe for a delicious, swoony romance!

“This Author has come to the conclusion that there are rakes, and there are Rakes.
Anthony Bridgerton is a Rake.”

The head of the famous Bridgerton family, Anthony, is a womanizer. He's the ultimate challenge for all those Ambitious Mamas that try with a frightening determination to find the perfect match to their daughters. And while his ways of debauchery are legendary, he suddenly decides to tie the knot with the most beautiful debutant, Edwina. There's just one tiny problem; her sister. Kate Sheffield is all too familiar with Anthony's reputation, and she will not let her sweet and innocent sister fall into the clutches of the most notorious (and unrepentant) Rake. Anthony and Kate are at war; but all is fair in love and war, and soon they will not be able to tell each other apart.

“But when Anthony kissed her, she felt as if she were losing her mind. And when he kissed her twice, she wasn't even sure if she wanted it back.”

While I loved The Duke and I, it was The Viscount Who Loved Me that solidified my belief that Julia Quinn is my haven from reality. Those past weeks have been really stressful, and I was in a desperate need for escape, even for an hour per day, just to keep magic alive and give me hope that dreams come true, that anyone can find love, that fairytales happen even when you least expect them. The Viscount Who Loved Me was full of hilarious dialogues and veiled (and not so veiled) insults, tender moments that reduced me into a puddle of mush and scorching scenes that made me relish Anthony's wickedness. Julia Quinn has been described as the Jane Austen of our time, and I can't help but agree. She portays in an accurate way the English society, and the marriage frenzy that consumed mothers and daughters alike, but she also crafts strong family bonds, and romantic relationships that warm your heart. Extended dreamy sighs are simply a natural reaction.



Anthony was a difficult character to like. You admired him for his devotion to his family, and his small acts of kindness, but man! his views on marriage and the way he treated Kate a first made you wanna throttle him! His slow development though won you over, and after a while he gave you palpitations! Kate, on the other hand, was my favorite character! She was extremely witty and protective, and despite being aloof and strong-headed as a mule (or because of it) I rooted for her and her happiness. Taming Anthony, and overcoming her own low opinion of him, was difficult, but they complimented each other perfect. The appearance of the Bridgerton family was also a treat, because it meant lots of laughter, and the bond between Mary, Edwina and Kate was an aspect of the story that truly moved me, and made my eyes tear up.

“Love's about finding the one person who makes your heart complete. Who makes you a better person than you ever dreamed you could be. Its about looking in the eyes of your wife and knowing all the way to your bones that she's simply the best person you've ever known.”

The story of Anthony and Kate left a shadow of a smile on my face, and a strong and lasting feeling of contentment. Julia Quinn, I owe you big time!

For this review and more visit BookNest!

[Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for the URR New Year 2018 Reading Challenge: Animal Lovers' Romance. (Well. Okay, not really. But there's a fat corgi, Newton, and he's by far the best thing this book has to offer).

Do you remember that scene in Fight Club where Edward Norton tells us how much fun Brad Pitt has inserting porn into cartoon movie reels? I think something like this is happening with Julia Quinn's Bridgertons series. You think you're reading a charmingly sweet, witty and sexy historical romance; then all of a sudden the hero deliberately steps on the heroine's hand and when she fights him off, he kicks her in the stomach for good measure. Now: my reading life is filled with bloodlettings, maimings and guttings. I do love my (fictional) violence: stepping on someone's hand? Puh-lease.

Only... maybe not when I'm reading a fluffy historical romance, you know? Or at the very least I'd expect the author to recognize the violent nature of the scene she just described. This really doesn't seem to be the case with Julia Quinn, who airily writes about wives taking advantage of their husbands' drunk stupor to get pregnant despite the men's unwillingness to have kids (in book #1 of the series) and viscounts kicking young women in their stomach ("Normally, Anthony would die before striking a woman, but this truly seemed to be an exceptional case." Well, sure. Isn't there always a "normally he'd never, BUT"?) There's just no tonal change between such a scene and the rest of the book - which relies heavily on the cat-and-dog relationship of the two leads and on their banters and bickerings... too bad all their squabbles aren't even particularly funny, in my opinion - because Anthony, viscount, and rake extraordinaire, always has the upper hand with Kate, the strong-headed wallflower he's trying to win over so he can go ahead with his plan to marry her beautiful sister (don't ask). And Anthony, being the usual brand of Alpha male who would be much more at home in a Neanderthal romance than in a Victorian one, doesn't really have to be particularly witty to shut Kate up: as long as he invades her personal space and breathes close to her ear, he wins whatever argument they were having by reducing her into a shivering mass of hormones. But, whatever, that's beside the point --

-- the point being, when I read about a male romantic lead kicking the heroine and stepping on her hand - and especially if such behavior is never addressed, explored or (somehow) explained but is treated as a funny interlude - I just know that no matter what happens next, I'm not going to enjoy myself anymore. What can I say. Maybe I'm just way more prudish than I thought. Maybe some Tyler Durden type is effectively sabotaging Julia Quinn's books by adding jarring scenes to her otherwise funny stories. Maybe Quinn really believes this stuff is hilarious - maybe you think so, too. To each its own, right? But as for me, I'm so outta here.

[mina reads™️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I desire you. I burn for you. I can’t sleep at night for wanting you”

Name a more iconic line, I’ll wait.

3.75 stars

[Warda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s annoying when a book starts out great and then leaves you feeling lukewarm by the end of it.

I loved how this started. The introduction to the characters were great. Julia Quinn writes some of the best and most wittiest lines. Her dialogue are always on par and the chemistry between the hero and the heroine is always palpable. At first.

But then they got together and my interest in their relationship started to wane. Probably because we didn’t get many moments where they lived their happily-ever-after before the drama took centre-stage. It felt too dramatic? The conflict has to occur - this formula will always be there. But it would’ve been nice to see them in an actual relationship that was established and then see them work through their problems, since the marriage was one of circumstance and maintaining propriety.

I still enjoyed it for the most part. The writing is clever and inviting, the characters are heartwarming and I just enjoy the overall historical feel.

I’ll of course be reading the rest of the series. The Bridgerton family might possibly be the best bookish family. The verdict is still out there but I think I’d leave my family for them. With no regrets either.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Bridgerton, eldest of the eight Bridgerton siblings, has always known that love happens to some people but he's never given it much weight.

He loves his parents, his siblings and that's all he needs.

Actually, scratch that, he also needs a wife.

Enter the Sheffield siblings, and from the very first moment Anthony has decided to marry the younger one. Not any particular reason, just that she'd make a good match.

And yet, there's something - or should we say someone - between them. Kate. The older, spinster sister.

Kate adores her younger sister, and seeing such a rake of man pursuing her sets Kate's anger ablaze.

She will do everything in her power to keep her younger sister safe...but...who will keep her safe?

This series? It's a guilty pleasure. No shame.

So, I enjoyed this book more than the first - there were less controversial scenes and I feel like I bonded with Kate as the main character.

The way Kate and Anthony danced around each other was hugely entertaining, and I loved watching them fall for each other (even though they didn't know it yet).

The Bridgerton family is so fun to watch - with the mother's wild antics, the hilarious brothers and the dry cynicism of Eloise...ah. It is fabulous.

I do want to get heads up - this book does have a few eye-rolling sexist moments and internalized misogyny to boot...but at the same time, I was far more entertained by the fictional story than I was upset by the sexism and classism.

Ultimately, I am just speeding through these books like crazy and I'm seeing no end in sight!

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 4 out of 5]

´”You have to live each hour as if it’s your last and each day as if you were immortal”.

Si les gusta la novela romántica y son fans de las historias de época, ¿qué hacen con sus vidas si no están leyendo los libros de los Bridgerton? Después de todo el drama y el amor que vimos en el primer libro de la saga, El Duque y Yo, llega Anthony Bridgerton a conquistarnos en El Vizconde que me Amó.

En este libro Anthony, después de muchos años de dedicarse a conquistar mujeres y a vivir la vida loca, decide que es hora de asentarse, buscar una esposa y producir un heredero para el legado de los Bridgerton. Sin embargo, esta decisión no la toma porque haya madurado, sino porque teme seguir los pasos de su padre y morir joven. Así pues, Anthony ha decidido que se casará con el diamante de la temporada, Edwina Sheffield, y se llevará bien con ella, pero no la amará. El problema es que para conseguir la mano de Edwina, Anthony deberá buscar la aprobación de Kate, su hermana mayor, quien es conocida por su fuerte carácter. Mientras Anthony intenta lidiar y ganarse el respeto de esta mujer, se va a ir dando cuenta de que está empezando a sentirse atraído por ella y todos sus planes están a punto de estallar en llamas.

No saben lo que disfruté de este libro, de verdad. La historia de Anthony y Kate está llena de altibajos, momentos de odio, pasión, sentimientos indescriptibles y, en el fondo, amor. Me encantan las historias que empiezan con los personajes negándose a sentir lo que todos vemos tan claro como la luz del día. Esa lucha contra los sentimientos y el posterior momento de rendirse a ellos es espectacular. Y, si bien está clarísimo desde el principio que Anthony va a terminar con Kate y no con Edwina, eso no arruina para nada la trama del libro, sino que nos da algo que esperar, nos va llenando de expectativas y de tensión hasta que todo estalla.

Evidentemente mis partes favoritas del libro fueron, literalmente, todas aquellas en las que Anthony y Kate interactuaban. Los dos son personajes tan inteligentes y tan agudos que sus conversaciones, llenas de sarcasmo e indirectazos, me encantaban. Pero, aún más que todo esto y que el romance, lo que me fascinó de El Vizconde que me Amó es que nos mostró una realidad bastante cruda en lo que se refiere al miedo a la muerte y a los ataques de pánico y ansiedad que pueden ser verdaderamente terroríficos y paralizantes. Anthony y Kate son dos personas acostumbradas a poner una fachada fuerte ante todo el mundo y la sociedad, pero, en el fondo, tienen problemas, dudas y luchas que intentan mantener escondidas hasta que todo salta por los aires.

La saga de los Bridgerton es muchísimo más que un simple romance de época y, precisamente por eso, creo que voy a seguir devorándome todos los demás libros. Ya quiero ver qué tipo de aventuras y locuras crean los demás hermanos de esta familia.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

“Love's about finding the one person who makes your heart complete. Who makes you a better person than you ever dreamed you could be. Its about looking in the eyes of your wife and knowing all the way to your bones that she's simply the best person you've ever known.”

I enjoyed the first 'Bridgertons' book a lot, but this one.... this one I absolutely loved. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite troupes, but I've never read a historical romance enemies to lovers book, and let me tell you - I've been missing out. This had the best banter, and I loved watching Kate and Anthony fall in love. I can't wait to continue on with the series, but this is going to be a hard one to beat!

Audio book source: Hoopla (library borrow)
Story Rating: 5 stars
Narrator: Rosalyn Landor
Narration Rating: 4.5 stars
Genre: Historical Romance (enemies to lovers troupe)
Length: 12 hours and 23 minutes

[Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp · Rating 2 out of 5]

|| 2.0 stars ||

Oh, what a shame. This was nothing at all like the Kate and Anthony from the TV show.
Whereas TV Kate always seemed confident, in control, smart and genuinely unimpressed with Anthony’s rakish ways, we now got a meek, virginal, demure doormat that swooned over the handsome viscount (even when he was being a creepy arse) and who was impossibly jealous of her beautiful sister. Like, seriously, what on earth was this!?
And don’t even get me started on Anthony, because his character could have made me cry with disappointment. He was, quite frankly, repulsive. He was unbelievably arrogant, painfully sexist, uncomfortably similar to a rapist, annoyingly emotionally stunted, infuriatingly rude, and just, overall, an awful person.

I like my romance heroes to kiss the ground their love interest walks on, and definitely not spit on it like our dear Anthony did. He treated Kate with the utmost disrespect and non-stop hostility. And I do mean literal hostility since he stepped on her hand on purpose and followed that up by kicking her in the stomach. I don’t know what kind of surreal scene that was, but it was straight-up abuse, yet it was immediately ignored afterwards.

Also, the amount of times this guy pointed out that she was “not beautiful” got on my damn nerves, and the way he just kept on kissing her and devilling her honour, without any intention of marrying her and without her true consent, made me want to strangle him. He played with Kate’s feelings without any qualms, and would have kept on pursuing her sister in marriage until the end if it wasn't for society forcing him to marry Kate due to them being caught in an “uncompromising position.”

And, of course, after they do get married (which we don’t even get to see and just completely skip in the book?), we are immediately graced with this horrendous scene: Kate asks if they can wait a week to have sex, because the marriage was very sudden and she’s nervous about losing her virginity. Anthony’s response was literally just “No.” He then goes on about how she would be taking away his rights by not giving him sex, and Kate is like “Oh, right, OK.” And then they have sex, no problem. I was baffled, because what the hell was that??!?

All in all, I’m very disappointed. I really had higher hopes for this, and neither character was anything like I expected. I wasn’t even the biggest fan of them in the TV show (I actually preferred season 1 over season 2), but gosh, the TV version was the best romance in the world compared to this monstrosity!

I can’t summarize their relationship as anything other than a rude, abusive romance starring a sexist man-whore and an insecure doormat. Bah. Even when they were married, he still refused to fall in love with her and she was just like "oh he treats me so well, I'm so lucky". Girl, grow a spine please, because what in the actual hell is wrong with you. Their entire dynamic was just skewered because Anthony always felt superior and Kate always felt inferior. He would always have the upper hand.

It’s all such a waste of potential as well, because I do feel like this author has a very pleasant and charming writing style with just the right amount of humour and wit. If only she had been able to write better characters and a less sickening romance…


'Bridgertons' series:
1. The Duke and I - 3.5 stars
2. The Viscount Who Loved Me - 2.0 stars
3. An Offer From a Gentleman - 3.5 stars
4. Romancing Mister Bridgerton - 3.5 stars
5. To Sir Phillip, With Love - 3.0 stars
6. When He Was Wicked - 3.5 stars
7. It’s in His Kiss - 2.0 stars
8. On the Way to the Wedding - 2.5 stars

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enemies to lovers? Sign me up! From the start, I really enjoyed Kate and Anthony's characters. I loved how Anthony was an overbearing older brother in book one and that prologue in this book broke my heart for him. Kate is only in her early 20s, but she's already seen as a spinster and she's more focused on finding her younger sister a husband. When she hears that Anthony is on the hunt for a wife, she wants that rake nowhere near her sister! It was so fun watching them butt heads as Anthony tried to court Kate's sister. I love when there are huge, multi-day parties at people's estates and we had one of those in here! We also had the funniest family game and I will love that scene forever.

That all being said, there was just something missing for me with the romance and I couldn't give it a full five stars. I feel like after a little over halfway through the book, I wasn't as invested in the romance anymore and was more annoyed at Anthony for not wanting to be in love. Other than that, though, this was so fun! I definitely love this series and cannot wait to continue on!

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒'𝓈 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓉𝑒. 𝒲𝒽𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒. 𝐼𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓃.” ♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚

:¨ ·.· ¨:
`· . ୨୧

Anthony’s story is complex, and sad without being depressing. I thought it was a very realistic take on a man who loses his father from an impressionable age. At first it’s easy to dismiss Anthony’s fears of death but as the story goes along I think Quinn does a remarkable job at explaining why he just couldn’t get past it and creating a believable phobia for Anthony and Kate to work through together.

The sexual tension between them crackled and hummed. While this book definitely has steam, it never crossed over into raunchy excessive. Quinn struck a perfect balance between sexy and romantic.

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ Kate was strong, funny, and intelligent and that shined through in their romance and witty banter that I loved.

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ Anthony was sexy, flawed, and brought so much sex appeal, charm and humor to the story that it was easy to love him.

Needless to say I ordered the third book in the series about two chapters into this book because I knew that I would definitely need more Bridgerton’s after this one! Absolutely loving this series!

“𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝒻 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓂𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓁." - 𝒦𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝒮𝒽𝑒𝒻𝒻𝒾𝑒𝓁𝒹
:¨ ·.· ¨:
`· . ୨୧

[Jessica's Totally Over The Top Book Obsession · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars


Short and quick, I liked The Viscount Who Loved Me okay, but I wasn't much impressed with Anthony. I didn't like that he was going to sleep with his ex mistress, just to get Kate out of his mind. It left a sour taste in my mouth. I liked Kate and I liked her family, Anthony just wasn't the greatest heroes.

[Arini · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1 The Duke and I — 2.5 Stars
#2 The Viscount Who Loved Me — 2.75 Stars

The men don’t have ☆BALLS☆, and the women too obsessed with attending ☆BALLS☆.

Upon finishing this book, this lady (me) realized that she might hate herself but she at least still has her self-respect intact. Therefore, she decided to not read anymore of this rubbish for doing so would be an act of self-loathing she simply does not want to partake. Not in this lifetime.

It’s been a month since I read the book, so I’m kinda blinking on what went down and the plot in general. However, I do remember that I didn’t like Kate at the beginning because (even though her intention was sound) IMO she stuck her nose too much in her sister’s business of finding the perfect suitor.

I adored Anthony as a brother, but as a man he reeaalllyyyy SUCKED. Why are the men in this universe sooo ☆fragile☆??? Will there ever come a time when these heroes don’t marry their heroines out of a circumstance but because they genuinely love them and are man enough to admit it and ask for their hands???

All’s well that ends well cause they marry and live HEA eventually, but I HATE THIS.

(Read as an Audiobook)

[Maria Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnífico! Hacía tiempo que no me lo pasaba tan bien leyendo una novela romántica histórica ❤ He disfrutado mucho con los mordaces comentarios de los protagonistas y con sus pullas. Me he enamorada de ellos, he reído con ellos y he sufrido con ellos. En serio, toda una joya que hay que leer.

[Lacey (laceybooklovers) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bumping this up from 3 to 4 stars solely for Kate (and Newton).

[ଘRory · Rating 3 out of 5]

⁠✯✯✯

When a man loves a woman, truly loves her from the depths of his soul to the tips of her toes, isn't it his God-given duty to try to make her happy?
We need to talk about this book. Did the plot shock me with crazy twists? No. Did I still devour it for the character development? ABSOLUTELY.

Let's talk about Anthony Bridgerton. I’ve had a literary crush on this man since Book 1, where he was basically a gorgeous, overprotective brick wall of a brother. But here? We watch him evolve from a top-tier rake—the kind who probably has a frequent flyer card at the brothel—into a loyal, smitten husband. And if you don't want a man who learns to worship the ground you walk on, I question your life choices. Just saying. The moment he decided to marry, he set three rules for his ideal bride: she had to be attractive, intelligent, and someone with whom he would never fall in love. But how could a man live under the roof of matrimony and not love his wife?

The moment Anthony find what he we call the future charming wifey Edwina Sheffield,he was trying to get the approval of her old step sister kate ,he could not marry her without that approval .
Kate Sheffield the sharp tongued spinister was really determined that a man with a bad reputation like Anthony could not marry her sister ,she hated him that only on the begining then we follow the developement of enemies to lovers trope cuz we all know that"all's fair in love and war"


“sometimes there are reasons for our fears that we can’t quite explain. Sometimes it’s just something we feel in our bones, something we know to be true, but would sound foolish to anyone else.”

The author lays out Anthony and Kate’s story in a way that feels destined by the gods of Regency society. Their journey is about facing their deepest misgivings together—he's convinced he'll die young like his father did at 38, and she's been terrified of storms since she was a child. Marriage doesn't magically change their core personalities, but it forces them to grow up, feel deeply, and take responsibility—and that's the really good stuff.

Overall, the book was really enjoyable, but the unnecessary drama definitely had me rolling my eyes a few times.

Spoiler!! Spoiler!!!:
Let's talk about the things that made me want to throw this book (gently, because it's still good) across the room.
_🔏First of all, I did NOT like that the author had Anthony all into Edwina—Kate’s sister?!—like, sir?? Seriously?? And then he ends up obligated to marry the "less beautiful one," the sharp-tongued one… like, excuse me, that was just unnecessary DRAMA.
Honestly, it low-key annoyed me. Anthony, my guy, you’re better than this… or at least I thought you were.🙄 Couldn’t you see you were meant for the woman who actually challenges you, not the one who just smiles nicely?? Come ON.

_🔏The bee sting scene is peak Regency drama. Anthony's trauma_losing his father cuz of a bee sting_ is real, but his reaction—a physical struggle that leads to a compromised position—feels engineered by the plot gods rather than organic. His subsequent proposal is born from a place of fear (of scandal, of loss), not love. While it serves as the inciting incident for the marriage, it robs the moment of genuine romantic intention, making it feel like the story started on a technicality.

_🔏Just when I thought he was becoming Prince Charming, he pulls a classic "hit it and quit it." He was a total hot dog—grilled, served, and then gone, leaving Kate with a side of emotional devastation. It was a spectacularly bad move that set feminism back about 200 years. Thankfully, it was the wake-up call he desperately needed, but man, did he have to be such a dog about it?

--------------------------------------------------------------

“It means that love isn’t about being afraid that it will all be snatched away. Love’s about finding the one person who makes your heart complete, who makes you a better person than you ever dreamed you could be. It’s about looking in the eyes of your wife and knowing, all the way to your bones, that she’s simply the best person you’ve ever known.”
“and listen well, because I’m only going to say this once. I desire you. I burn for you. I can’t sleep at night for wanting you. Even when I didn’t like you, I lusted for you. It’s the most maddening, beguiling, damnable thing, but there it is. And if I hear one more word of nonsense from your lips, I’m going to have to tie you to the bloody bed and have my way with you a hundred different ways, until you finally get it through your silly skull that you are the most beautiful and desirable woman in England, and if everyone else doesn’t see that, then they’re all bloody fools.”
.“If you just look at me, you will know that you are safe.”
“Any time is a difficult time for a man to lose his father.”

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure, unadulterated entertainment! I can tell I am going to love this series. The author has a talent for writing amusing dialogue and her characters are all so very charming.
One very interesting thing about this particular story was that Ms Quinn did not stoop to stereotypes. The stepmother was not wicked but was much loved and her daughter and step daughter also got along together really well. It was a nice touch.
The Bridgerton family are marvellous, always bickering and teasing each other but still all very much together. Colin stood out in this book and I look forward to eventually reading about his journey towards matrimony!
These are ideal books for reading when you just want some good, clean fun.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a re-read/listen. Wonderful again. I fell in love with this series about ten years ago and have read and reread them many times over the years... I adore them all. And now with the new Netflix production up and running there is more interest and more pictures of the characters.

Lord Anthony Bridgerton (as per the Netflix casting and production of BOOK 1, "The Duke and I")


Miss Katherine Sheffield (as per my casting)


Netflix have not even confirmed that they are going to continue with the series ... all I can say is they better. I NEED Anthony and Kate's story ... but by the time is is done and dusted I am sure we are talking about 2022!!! Way too long - maybe they were not sure of the popularity of Season one and also with 2020 being what it was, production probably would not have gone ahead anyway.

I would love the Hardcovers of all the books but, alas, all I have is the paperbacks ...



This is book two I am reviewing and Netflix only deals with book one but we do, of course, meet Anthony. Honestly, he came across as a bit of a dick in the TV show ... a roguish Rake through and through ... maybe it is a good setup for his eventual downfall when he meets Miss Sheffield.


I am definitely recommending this book and series and I am sure I will read it again some time in the future...

And had it not been for Netflix, I would have made by reading challenge in 2020 - I was ONE BOOK SHORT... if I had not spent the time watching the delectable Duke of Hastings and Miss Daphne Bridgerton, I could have definitely fit another book in ... but it was worth it!!!

A safe, healthy and happy 2021 to all my friends here xoxoxo



**********************************************
(One of my) ... ORIGINAL REVIEWS BELOW ...

Adored it... again! Swoonworthy - I love Anthony and Kate. xxx


... and the Epilogue!

[Just A Girl With Spirit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third reread. It will always be Anthony for me.

“Listen to me,” he said, his voice even and intense, “and listen well, because I’m only going to say this once. I desire you. I burn for you. I can’t sleep at night for wanting you. Even when I didn’t like you, I lusted for you. It’s the most maddening, beguiling, damnable thing, but there it is. And if I hear one more word of nonsense from your lips, I’m going to have to tie you to the bloody bed and have my way with you a hundred different ways, until you finally get it through your silly skull that you are the most beautiful and desirable woman in England, and if everyone else doesn’t see that, then they’re all bloody fools.” I love him so much!


Where have these books been all my life!

I love Anthony and Kate so much. I haven’t read many “enemies to lovers” type tropes, but this one is my absolute favorite! Julia just has a way of writing that I’m becoming addicted to, and I’m afraid She’s going to spoil me as I read other books. This book gave my feels feels as I witnessed both Anthony and Kate work through fears and demons they had in their closets from tragic circumstances in their lives. These circumstances making it hard to give oneself completely in the heart, but that’s what was so beautiful about this story..them working through it and the realizations smacking them dead center. I just want to cover myself in a Bridgerton blanket. Is that possible? I just love this family so much.

It’s a love in my bones kind of love.

“..love isn’t about being afraid that it will all be snatched away. Love’s about finding the one person who makes your heart complete, who makes you a better person than you ever dreamed you could be. It’s about looking in the eyes of your wife and knowing, all the way to your bones, that she’s simply the best person you’ve ever known.”

[Karla Martínez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

me gustó más de lo que estaba esperando, anthony es dm sensual.

[Camila (previously the opinionated Catruler) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5*

So... The Viscount Who Loved Me. The name itself is a spoiler, I believe. Because Anthony is so fucking sure he can control whether he falls in love or not, and Kate just bloody knows no man, especially a handsome and rakish Viscount, could ever fall in love with her. And so it begins, as I eye roll for the first but not last time.

But let's be fair. I have never and probably never will claim not to be able to enjoy a cheesy, stereotypical and predictable romance. Sometimes I just do, and that's more than fine by me. I really do like liking things, whether or not they're "good quality". There are many things I don't particularly like feeling, but if a book gets me involved, even if that means hating with a fierce passion, it's doing its job.

Now, in my humble opinion, there are two things one should not feel while reading a book, novella, short story or any written work meant to entertain in any way, rather than strictly inform. Those two things are nothing or disbelief.

Feeling nothing is simply boring and forgettable. I used to think this was the worst imaginable thing that could happen to me while reading a book, but it's actually the worst for the author. If I'm completely underwhelmed by something, I put it aside and go on with my life.

The real problem is when I don't believe something, when I can practically see the author writing it. The story doesn't have to be realistic, it has to feel real. Even if you couldn't care less about it, a story you can picture is better than one that feels forced. And here I found my issue(s) with The Viscount Who Loved Me, which I'll address in five sections.

KATE

I can understand Kate's personality. I can understand, even if it is annoying, how unimpressive Kate feels next to her outstanding sister. Her self-pity, her necessity to be strong, her alleged selflessness. What I can't bring myself to understand, least of all believe, is her prejudice.

Kate hates Anthony Bridgerton before even meeting him. She hates him for his rakish ways, which she knows about because Lady Whistledown writes about them. She literally doesn't know anything else about him because she lives in the countryside and meets him at her first season.

All I'm saying is that Lizzie at least confused Darcy's inability to talk to new people and shyness for snobbishness (more than the average Darcy snobbishness, that is). Kate doesn't even get one look at Anthony and she's already making plans to avoid him and get him away from her sister. And, while I do love Kate's protectiveness towards Edwina and their relationship in general, here it went to a stupid level I could not possibly get.

Overall, Kate's feelings towards Anthony felt forced. Even when she does realize she's in love, I just wasn't convinced. Yes, I had the reasons why she supposedly has found her other half, but it felt like a bad acting with a poor screenplay.

ANTHONY

To be honest, I'm fairly new to the HR genre. I'm not an expert by any means, so all my judgment comes from my little experience, but for a rake, Anthony was rather unoriginal and boring. Plus, his humor was as amusing and natural as Patch Cipriano's one-liners. (If you don't know who he is, lucky you.)

Alright. It also didn't help that I read Kleypas' Wallflowers series right before this and I kept comparing Anthony to Lord Westcliff and St. Vincent. Because somehow Anthony Bridgerton manages to be the worst mix of those two amazing characters.

THE TRAUMAS

Yes, this has its own section. Why? Because Anthony and Kate's daddy and mommy issues (respectively) took up half of the book. Anthony was all like, "BEES! MORTALITY! I WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH! AHHHHHHHHHH!" And then Kate went something like, "RAIN! THUNDERS! LIGHTNING! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Julia Quinn told me about their pain ALL THE TIME, but I never once felt it. Maybe it could have made a good argument, but the execution wasn't believable.

THE ROMANCE, THE SEX

Both were dull and seemed rehearsed. Since I'm not into erotica and I wasn't attached to the characters, the smut was utterly boring. I literally fell asleep during a sex scene and skimmed through the rest.

Although, it was kind of funny when they fought. Before they became pussies and regretted it, that is.

THE WRITING

Here I declare myself completely inexperienced and uninformed for a lot of people's standards, yet this is how it felt for me.

There is nothing wrong with Quinn's writing. For a contemporary or futuristic story it would be more than decent. But for a story set in the 19th century, it was distracting. It is clear that this is a contemporary writer writing a historical book. Usually I wouldn't particularly mind (I didn't in The Duke and I), but I was honestly, truthfully, intensely taken aback by it. I'm not sure how to describe it. All I know is that I didn't feel like I was in the English Regency. It was more like 21st century, possibly in the USA.


Having said all that, I did give the book two and a half stars, didn't I? I attribute that to the Bridgerton family, the Bridgerton Pall Mall and the mystery of Lady Whistledown*. For all those reasons I will continue with the series since most of my friends didn't really love this installment either. The next one promises to be way better, even though the Cinderella trope tends to get on my nerves, in a bad way.

* After some considering, I am one hundred percent sure Penelope Featherington is Lady Whistledown.

[Flo Camus · Rating 5 out of 5]

[4.6⭐] 𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙞𝙯𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤́ es una novela de romance histórico escrita por Julia Quinn en el año 2000. Forma parte de la famosa saga de los Bridgerton, que narra las vidas de los hermanos de una de las familias más importantes de la alta sociedad londinense del siglo XIX. Este segundo libro se centra en Anthony Bridgerton, el mayor de los hermanos, y Kate Sheffield, una joven de mente aguda y gran carácter. Anthony, tras años de vivir como un libertino, decide que ha llegado el momento de casarse, no por amor, sino por conveniencia. Entre las debutantes de la temporada, Edwina Sheffield, la hermana menor de Kate, es la elección perfecta, ya que es considerada la joven más hermosa y virtuosa. Sin embargo, para casarse con Edwina, Anthony deberá ganarse la aprobación de Kate, quien no lo ve con buenos ojos debido a su reputación de mujeriego.
Lo que comienza como un enfrentamiento entre dos voluntades fuertes pronto evoluciona en una relación mucho más profunda y compleja. Kate, quien inicialmente desprecia a Anthony, ve cómo su percepción cambia al conocerlo más íntimamente. A su vez, Anthony, quien creía que el matrimonio sería una cuestión práctica, se encuentra atraído por la pasión y la inteligencia de Kate. Esta dinámica entre los protagonistas es un ejemplo clásico del tópico rivals to lovers, en el cual las tensiones iniciales dan lugar a una conexión genuina y emocional.


Decidí leer toda la saga de los Bridgerton y no quedarme solo con el primer tomo. En este momento de mi vida, necesitaba una lectura ligera y alegre que me ayudara a combatir la ansiedad que siento, especialmente al estar en mi último semestre de universidad. 
Esta historia en particular me resultó encantadora, mucho más que la primera novela de la serie, en gran parte porque disfruto del tropo rivals to lovers. Quiero destacar que es más preciso catalogar la relación entre Anthony y Kate de esta manera, en lugar de como un "enemies to lovers". Aunque Kate siente una intensa antipatía hacia Anthony al principio, esta sensación de rivalidad se va diluyendo a medida que ambos se conocen más profundamente y la atracción entre ellos se vuelve innegable (y sí, dado que estos libros son de romance, esto no es un gran spoiler).

Comparado con el primer libro de la saga, me gustaron mucho más los diálogos en 𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙞𝙯𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤́. Aquí, los intercambios entre Anthony y Kate están cargados de sarcasmo y malicia, lo que los hace divertidos y ágiles. Hay una chispa constante entre ellos que mantiene al lector enganchado, y eso, sumado a los momentos cómicos, convierte la lectura en una experiencia más amena. Los personajes, tanto los protagonistas como los secundarios, son carismáticos. Los Bridgerton, en particular, siempre logran destacarse. En este caso, Violet, Daphne, Colin y, por supuesto, Anthony, aportan su propio encanto y hacen que uno se sienta más conectado con su historia familiar. Julia Quinn también hace un excelente trabajo al conectar esta novela con la anterior, recordándonos constantemente a la adorable pareja de Daphne y Simon, lo que crea un sentido de continuidad agradable para los fans.

Anthony y Kate son personajes complejos y bien desarrollados, y la forma en que su relación avanza, entre la atracción y la resistencia, resulta muy entretenida y conmovedora. Sus personalidades, tan astutas y decididas, les permiten afrontar los desafíos de maneras únicas, y esto queda reflejado en cada decisión que toman a lo largo de la historia. Una de las ventajas de la narrativa de Quinn es que nos permite conocer el punto de vista de ambos protagonistas, lo que nos da una mayor comprensión de sus pensamientos y sentimientos.


En conclusión, 𝙀𝙡 𝙑𝙞𝙯𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤́ es una maravillosa continuación de la saga Bridgerton y un placer para quienes disfrutan de romances inteligentes y con personajes bien construidos. Esta novela no solo es entretenida y divertida, sino también conmovedora. Al terminarla, no pude evitar sentir curiosidad por lo que el futuro depara a Benedict, el siguiente hermano Bridgerton en el centro de atención.

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars 🐝

What can I say other than I adore Kanthony. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the show but I’ll chalk to up to being because I watched the show first. I felt like the show showed more of an enemies to lovers than the book.



I was in love with Anthony’s inner thoughts. He was lusting after Kate so hard it was making me swoon

Anthony knew he had to be insane.
There could be no other explanation. He’d meant to scare her, terrify her, make her understand that she could never hope to meddle in his affairs and win, and instead . . .
He kissed her.

I loved the way he battled with his feelings so much. He tried desperately to not love Kate because he was scared of losing her. Him denying his feelings for Kate hurt her so much. There were some scenes where my heart actually broke for her 💔

Suddenly it was too hard to be in his presence, too painful to know that he would belong to someone else.

The scene where she gets stung by a bee! He was so concerned to the point where he didn’t care about the consequences of what he was doing

Whatever trance he was in suddenly snapped, and he leaped forward, roughly grabbing one of her shoulders with one hand while his other grappled with the bodice of her gown, pulling it down to better expose her wound.
“My lord!” Kate shrieked. “Stop!”

IM SORRY BUT THIS SCENE WAS SO FUNNY IN THE BOOK. The way he then started sucking the venom out and got caught by Mary, Lady Bridgerton and Mrs. Featherington forcing Kate and Anthony to marry 🤣🤣🤣

There wasn’t a ton of smut in this but the parts that were there were so sweet. I love how gentle Anthony was during their marriage night, but he was also ✨hot✨

“You’ve never seen a naked man before, have you?” he murmured.
She shook her head.
“Good.” He leaned forward and plucked one of her slippers from her foot. “You’ll never see another.”

It’s sad how insecure Kate feels in the book. She talked about how she thought wasn’t as pretty as Edwina and had a panic attack when Anthony first called her beautiful because she assumed he had to have been thinking of a different women. But then Anthony set her straight in the most dreamy way 😍

“…I’m going to have to tie you to the bloody bed and have my way with you a hundred different ways, until you finally get it through your silly skull that you are the most beautiful and desirable woman in England, and if everyone else doesn’t see that, then they’re all bloody fools.”

Sorry that this was super messy...I definitely didn't spend an hour on Tumblr looking at Kanthony edits and get lazy to add more to this 😅

[♡ Martina ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

BELLO. BELLO. BELLO.
L'ho adorato dall'inizio alla fine. Ero in un periodo dove tutto ciò che leggevo non mi entusiasmava ma questo libro è stato come un fulmine a ciel sereno. Mi sono allontanata molto dalla mia comfort zone, visto che mi piacciono i romanzi rosa ma non gli harmony, ma nonostante l'azzardo sono contenta di averlo letto.
Dopo aver letto il primo, che ho apprezzato ma non così tanto, pensavo di non volere più a che fare con questa saga e invece ho intenzione di continuare leggendo anche il terzo.
La protagonista femminile, a differenza di Daphne, è molto più energica, impertinente e im un certo senso più vera.
Anthony, che nella serie tv è stato veramente svilito come personaggio, attraverso il libro si scopre un nuovo lato completamente diverso.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

So this one is Kate & Anthony's story.
And once again I find myself enjoying these stories well enough while the amazing narrator (Rosalyn Landor) reads to me. If you get the chance, she's the way to go with Quinn's books.
However, I also find some of it a bit too odd or implausible once I finish the proverbial last page.



Anthony is THE CATCH. The eldest Bridgerton, the handsome Viscount, a renowned rake, rich as hell, etc..
You know, it occurs to me that I don't really know what a Viscount is in terms of the aristocracy. I should. I read about 10,000 of these sorts of bodice rippers a year. Huh.
Anyway.
He's the shit.



Kate is not the shit. She's decent enough looking but she's the older sharp-tongued sister of the Season's Incomparable, so she tends to be overlooked or outright avoided. But she adores her sister and is determined to keep anyone unsuitable away from her. And wouldn't you know it, Anthony Bridgerton, the notorious libertine has zeroed in on her baby sister and decided that she'll do as a wife.
Now, I thought the back-and-forth between them was cute. It was just their weird childhood traumas that kind of made me wrinkle my nose in annoyance.



Anthony has all of this waaaaay over the top childhood trauma due to the loss of his father to a bee sting. He knows he's going to die young because his father did and he could never do anything better than his father. <--that was just stupid
And Kate has something similar going on but I don't want to spoil what. Suffice to say, it was a tad melodramatic, not to mention odd that they were all matchy-matchy-twins when it came to that stuff.



Overall, if you just want a fluffy romance that doesn't make you think too hard this should fit the bill. For me, it was a wonderfully narrated audiobook that let me zone out and escape for a few hours.