Book Review: The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

 

Goodreads Summary: 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 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 is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...

Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands—and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate is 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...

Goodreads Rating: 4.07 stars with over 134,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Romance, Historical Fiction

Goodreads Challenge: 26/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #30 Read a book with at least three different covers (Find the entire challenge here)

Previous Reviews on the series: The Duke and I

Book Review:

Hello readers, I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend. I hadn't planned on diving into another Bridgerton novel so quickly, but I was growing tired of trying to force myself to finish Oliver Twist. I ended up starting The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn and finishing all but 100 pages that night. 

If you are looking for a romance story that is realistic or adheres to modern ideologies of men and women being equal, this and most historical romances are probably not for you. In most romance novels that I've read, much of the drama stems from the lack of communication and some character flaws. This is no different, and I can see where people wouldn't like it because of Anthony's traits. At the beginning of the story, he's an ass for the sake of being an ass. He enjoys it and expects the world to bend because of his money and title. Of course, this is all a ruse to protect himself. Once he drops the controlling asshole act, I actually found him charming. He won me over with his saving of Penelope during a ball. 

I really liked Kate. She was feisty and so protective of her family. I think she was an interesting contrast to the "Ton's" high society. I liked how she didn't take Anthony's crap and frequently put him in his place.  Both she and Anthony were very similar, and I enjoyed their need to best each other to some extent. I felt like she fit in really well with the Bridgertons.

This second Bridgerton novel had a lot of darker tones surrounding death and the concept of mortality. There's a lot of focus on Kate and Anthony being near the age that their respective parents passed away. This hit really close to home for me as I'm battling that myself now. My mom died when she was 38, and I'll be turning 34 in ten days. I guess I picked an interesting time to read this one.

Overall, I really liked The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn. I pretty much inhaled this book and then started in on the third one. I definitely recommend this for readers who like historical romances.