Oof, this was rough. It's Julia Quinn's first novel and I think that's apparent. She's evolved so much as a romance writer and I'm very grateful for the wonderful world of Bridgerton that she's given us. Every writer has to start somewhere and I think it's lovely that we get to see this evolution of writing.

The story itself was pretty bad though. The plot was predictable and formulaic, the characters paper thin, the dialogue terrible and cringey, and the sex scenes disruptive and forced.

I think this is a trilogy romance readers can skip unless you're a Julia Quinn mega fan and it's your quest to read her entire body of work.