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A review by alibookedup
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
4.0
4.0 stars ****
I wasn’t expecting to like this more than the first two books. The story is heavily based on the Cinderella-esqué theme and I figured right away I wouldn’t be as interested because we’ve all read this before. I, however, enjoyed the characters Sophie and Benedict as well as the story they followed despite it being easy to guess the ending. The characters felt much more fleshed out and because the romance is spread out over years it feels more realistic. I’m also ALWAYS more here for a “different class” romantic trope than a “daddy issues” romantic trope, which I felt the first two books relied a bit too heavily on for me. Their issues as well (Sophie becoming Benedict’s mistress, Sophie having bastard children, etc.) were a more relatable issue for women of this time and something I am personally more interested in compared to Kates fear of thunderstorms. The issue of Benedict never being able to understand why this is an issue for a woman even if they are very much in love was also more personally enjoyable than Antoni being convinced he is going to die young because of his father’s death or Simon’s hatred of this father.
I especially enjoyed how there were more characters that revolved around Sophie and Benedict throughout. In my opinion, it made the world more open, realistic, and enveloping. It is something I feel the first two books lacked. Sure there were other characters around Kate, but I felt that they popped in sometimes and were less constant than the people around Sophie. Due to Sophie being of a lower class, she needed more interactions to survive in the world and the story would have been clunky if she was only EVER with Benedict in every scene (again how I personally felt about the first two books). Having more interactions outside of the couple meant I got more of Violet Bridgerton and the younger siblings which was a sweet edition and helps you to understand the bond of the Bridgerton family (Violet and Sophie, Violet and Benedict, Benedict and Eloise, Benedict and Colin).
I’m most interested to read about Colin and Penelope as this book DEFINITELY added some intrigue to how they fell in love based on an interaction from this book. It’s very sad and embarrassing in a sweet way so I am excited to see where that leads.
I will say so far this is my favorite of the series and I hope I like Colin and Penelope’s story even more.
I wasn’t expecting to like this more than the first two books. The story is heavily based on the Cinderella-esqué theme and I figured right away I wouldn’t be as interested because we’ve all read this before. I, however, enjoyed the characters Sophie and Benedict as well as the story they followed despite it being easy to guess the ending. The characters felt much more fleshed out and because the romance is spread out over years it feels more realistic. I’m also ALWAYS more here for a “different class” romantic trope than a “daddy issues” romantic trope, which I felt the first two books relied a bit too heavily on for me. Their issues as well (Sophie becoming Benedict’s mistress, Sophie having bastard children, etc.) were a more relatable issue for women of this time and something I am personally more interested in compared to Kates fear of thunderstorms. The issue of Benedict never being able to understand why this is an issue for a woman even if they are very much in love was also more personally enjoyable than Antoni being convinced he is going to die young because of his father’s death or Simon’s hatred of this father.
I especially enjoyed how there were more characters that revolved around Sophie and Benedict throughout. In my opinion, it made the world more open, realistic, and enveloping. It is something I feel the first two books lacked. Sure there were other characters around Kate, but I felt that they popped in sometimes and were less constant than the people around Sophie. Due to Sophie being of a lower class, she needed more interactions to survive in the world and the story would have been clunky if she was only EVER with Benedict in every scene (again how I personally felt about the first two books). Having more interactions outside of the couple meant I got more of Violet Bridgerton and the younger siblings which was a sweet edition and helps you to understand the bond of the Bridgerton family (Violet and Sophie, Violet and Benedict, Benedict and Eloise, Benedict and Colin).
I’m most interested to read about Colin and Penelope as this book DEFINITELY added some intrigue to how they fell in love based on an interaction from this book. It’s very sad and embarrassing in a sweet way so I am excited to see where that leads.
I will say so far this is my favorite of the series and I hope I like Colin and Penelope’s story even more.