To Sir Phillip, With Love: The 2nd Epilogue

Bridgertons #5.5

by Julia Quinn

Those cute kids from romance novels aren't actually supposed to grow up, are they?

When last we saw Amanda Crane, she was eight years old and (in her own words) a blight on the face of humanity. Now she's grown up, remarkably well-adjusted, and ready to fall in love. All she needs is the right gentleman...

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Regency

22 pages, ebook

First published August 18, 2009

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

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was just.... unnecessary lol

[Exina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lovely story - unusually from Ms. Quinn - is told in first person, from Amanda’s viewpoint. Amanda is 19 now, and she has become an elegant, observant, and witty young lady. Not surprising, but still heartwarming to read about how much she loves her stepmother, Eloise, and how idyllic their life is.
Amanda’s narration is smart and kindly sarcastic.

“It must be so very intriguing to be a twin. Tell me, dear Amanda, how is it different than not being one?”
I should hope that I do not have to explain why this question was so asinine. I could hardly tell her what the difference was, as I have spent approximately one hundred percent of my life as a twin and thus have precisely zero experience at not being one.

She tells the story of meeting her future husband, Charles, and we get a glimpse of Eloise and Phillip as well.

Lovely second epilogue!

My mother insisted upon a premarital chat, but this was conducted the night before the wedding, by which time the information was no longer exactly timely...

[Millie]

A fun little story of the daughter, but to be perfectly honest, I’d much rather read about Eloise and Phillip. I didn’t spend a whole book invested in a couple, hoping to get more in the second epilogue, and yet get another story altogether. I just want more philoise.

I don’t mind it, but could’ve been better.

[exploraDora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all 2nd epilogues in this series, I liked this one the least. It's not bad per se, but I didn't care that much about adult Amanda to be invested in the story..

[Geo Just Reading My Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fost drăguț să-i reîntâlnim pe Eloise și Phillip la atâția ani după căsătorie. Dar mi-a plăcut mult și povestea Amandei. Aș fi dorit ceva mai multe informații despre Oliver, totuși.

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amanda and Charles are absolutely adorable, I loved their banter. I didn't like the way the other female characters in this novella were treated. You would think that there wasn't a lot of room for internalized misogony in a 22 page novella, but here we are.

I don't need a page talking about how amazing it is that Eloise doesn't look a day older than when she married Amanda's dad. Let your heroines age, Julia Quinn. It's okay.

I also don't need to read about how much Amanda doesn't care about her dead mother. It's been a long time and Amanda was very young when her mother killed herself, but it was just very cold and felt out of place in mostly happy, cute novella.

She also really looked down on Charles' cousins, and no, they weren't the brightest girls, but that doesn't mean we have to lean into the whole "Not Like Other Girls" thing. It's boring.

(Yes, I am probably overthinking these novellas. My brain is in Bridgertons-overdrive waiting for the Netflix series.)

[Amy | Foxy Blogs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-listened 4/18/2021

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Eloise's (40 now) stepdaughter Amanda Crane at 19, and her future husband Charlie (Charles Farraday).

She tells me that she was never considered a beauty when she was young. No one thought she was unattractive, and she was in fact quite popular, but she was never designated a diamond of the first water. She tells me that women of intelligence age better. I find this interesting, and I do hope it bodes well for my own future.

The Brougham girls are hilarious!! Dulcie, Antonia, Sarah, and Cordelia, just to remember!

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, a first-person perspective!
Except that it wasn't even Eloise's perspective (womp womp). It was her adopted daugher's. I liked that it was set when she was an adult now, looking to find a man for herself and I like that we see when they meet, I just wish we would've gotten more on Eloise. We find out that she has younger siblings, so loved that, and we see that she gets her HEA as well.

Cute, but I wanted more lol (yes, I'm greedy!)

[sof ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️
Me gustó mucho conocer la perspectiva y mente de una Amanda más adulta. Phillip es muy buen padre, no puede ser más dulce 🥺

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 3 out of 5]

Γλυκούλι, χαριτωμένο και ανάλαφρο! Όχι κάτι το ιδιαίτερο, όχι κάτι το ξεχωριστό, αλλά δεν περιμέναμε κάτι περισσότερο. Just fun to read!

[Kate prefers books to people · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the accompanying book. Eloise's step-daughter Amanda turns down a London season and meets a man in the country.

[Linds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story 20 years in the future told by Eloise’s step daughter.

[Romi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este breve epílogo fue algo inesperado para mi, comencé a leerlo sin saber que estaría centrado en Amanda y sinceramente me pareció una forma interesante de mostrarnos qué fue de la familia que forman Phillip y Eloise.

Varios años después quien se presentó como una niña rebelde y traviesa es ahora una joven igual de determinada que su madre. Ella relata desde su propia visión lo que significó la llegada de Eloise a sus vidas, la forma en que puso todo patas para arriba -en el mejor de los sentidos-. Su visión, sin duda, le da un cierre muy lindo a la historia de sus padres, sobre todo ahora que sabemos que tuvieron un matrimonio feliz y que también agrandaron la familia.

Y no solo nos muestra eso, sino que nos entrega la historia de amor de Amanda y su propio final feliz. ¿Puedo pedir que Oliver tenga su propia historia? Solo díganme dónde tengo que firmar para poder lograr que Julia Quinn nos la regale.

Mi única queja es que fue demasiado breve. ¡Necesito un poco más de Amanda y Charles!

[Rosemary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give it 0 stars if I could. Disgusting take on suicide and depression. To have Marina’s daughter be so uncaring towards her mother was 🤮. She also came off haughty (aka bitchy) which tells me Eloise didn’t do well as the replacement mother she was meant to be. Or maybe she took on Eloise “insufferable” persona and her father’s lack of empathy. Child Amanda was much more preferable to adult Amanda. Also, Amanda grew up to be a “pick me” girl 🤮🤮🤮

[Zairobe25 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha gustado más el epílogo contado por Amanda que el libro de sus padres, quedan ganas de leer un libro completo de ella y también de Oliver su hermano.

[kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amanda Crane remains delightful although I was not a fan of the first person narration—a personal gripe.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

omgomgomg i love eloise’s dynamic with the kids and this was so cute i was so happy
i loved seeing how amanda and oliver turned out 😭

amanda is amazing
and charles is perfect for her
the talking was amazing…. very much reminded me of how phillip and eloise just talked for a year

[Louisa Zanin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love how she said ‘Eloise is my step-mother, but I never call her that unless to make it clear’ then spent the rest of the epilogue calling her ‘current mother’

[Bookish ✨]

epilog z perspektywy Amandy - why tho??? i mean spotkanie jej i męża było cute ale chciałam się dowiedzieć bardziej co u Eloise 😬

[rayhanah · Rating 4 out of 5]

tell me why it was better than the book 💀💀 (probably bc it wasn't about phillip and eloise which i surprisingly didn't mind as much!)

[Lovisa Wistrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastisk!

[Kate Russo ❦ (Rina Kent’s Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly think we should have gotten a full book on them BC OMG MISTER CHARLES (that’s his name right idk) THAT MAN HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD THOSE LITTLE GAMES OMFG 🥵

[willaful · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was curious about this story, since the "second epilogue" of Romancing Mr. Bridgerton seemed to also thoroughly cover To Sir Phillip, With Love; Quinn thankfully doesn't rewrite the same scene but skips ahead in time to when Amanda, Sir Phillip's daughter by his first wife, is 19.

This is a very short, conflict-free, pleasant narrative by Amanda, who describes how she came to meet her future husband. The voice is crisp and wry, with a sweetly sentimental undertone. It could possibly be enjoyed by someone who hasn't read the original book but seeing Amanda interact with her loving father and stepmother is definitely part of the charm. I liked it more than any Quinn I've read in ages and would be interested to see her try a first person narrative again.

[Catarina | cat literary world · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the original book (probably my favorite of the whole series) and really really really loved the second epilogue!

This second epilogue is narrated by Amanda (Sir Phillip's daughter from his first marriage). Since she and her brother Oliver are so importante for her father, and the main reason for him to remarry, it was really nice to see that everything turned out okay. Amanda loves Eloise like a mother, and Eloise loves Amanda and Oliver as her owns. It was so heartwarming seeing this relationship. The best book with the best second epilogue.

[MountainKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

How wonderful to get a look into the future! It was great to see Amanda grown up and get a glimpse into Eloise and Phillip's life too. I was surprised this wasn't included in the audio as the other second epilogues have been.

[GuisBell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que encantador epílogo, lo único malo es que me hace desear saber más de lo que les sucedió a los demás personajes...

[Sandra Cortez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too bad this wasn’t full length, I’m sure Amanda would have held her own with a full length novel.

[Madison Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay this was the cutest of the novellas so far.

[nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

One would suspect that because it is called: "To Sir Phillip, With Love: The 2nd Epilogue" that it would be... about idk Sir Phillip??? You know since the whole book is about him and Eloise?

It would have been nice for it to be about them since the original epilogue was not very satisfying either (a letter... like okay but give me more?) and could have been better.

So in conclusion, unnecessary.