I was a bit undecided about how to grade The Duke and I. I had fond memories of my previous reading of Quinn's Bridgerton books. They were, I believe, my first family series and among my first keepers. I still remember how excited I was when the first ones came out and we were all trying to guess who Lady Whistledown was! I had never reread them and so, naturally, the first one became a part of my rereading challenge.
Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry-though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever! Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry-though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!
The story is still as I remember it but after the tons of books I read since I read these it seems more an average read than keeper material. Not only that but for the first half of the book the jokes seems too modern and almost forced. I also didn't feel the angst that Simon's past (ok, maybe a little bit from his past) and present actions should provoke. Maybe because of not feeling that angst I didn't really feel that Daphne's action deserved what he did. Yes she did a bad thing in not allowing him to stop when he wanted but at the same time she did not plan it and I'm afraid I have a hard time believing someone can be asleep and making love at the same time. And if he was awake he should have been able to control himself. And if he was that scarred by his past didn't he came around too quickly?
So my empathy with the characters was limited and since I couldn't feel Simon's pain I liked Daphne's level headedness a lot more. But in the end it was nothing special! And what was it with her brothers always acting like cavemen? It felt a bit riiculous at times!
Grade: B- (but just because I remember liking it so much the first time, or else...)
And now I really must reread the others...
That was my big problem with this serie, the humor seemed sometimes forced and the stories not strong enough (or logical enough!). I like to read Quinn but it's always an average read for me... But I remember that I enjoyed some of them, like When He Was Wicked but probably it wouldn't work as well if I had to read it again.
ReplyDeleteI think at the time my favorite was The Viscount Who Loved Me, I must reread it one of these days...
ReplyDeleteThat's why my rereads are very seldom ... They are just a few books I can read and reread and reread again being sure I'll still love them. Others, I reread only some parts of the book, not the novel in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteMutual friends linked me here, and since I agree your reviews are differentiated I was surprised you rated Quinn so highly. She does have the most tempting summaries, but the four books I sadly bought of hers are probably the worst in my shelf - deriviative and badly written. She has a clever trick though: she ends each book with her best scene, making you want to pick up another, forgetting the boring and unhistorical and illogical middle :)
ReplyDeleteWell I really only give it a B- because I had it on my keeper shelf before, if it had been my first read it wouldn't have been more than a C. But the Bridgerton books were the first family series I read (way back when...) and at the time the style was new to me and I really liked it. Now I'm afraid to read the other books in the series... they will probably be as bad as this one...
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