Title: The Duke and I
Author: Julia Quinn
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: E-Book
Length: 433 pages
Series: Bridgerton #1
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: 1st January 2000
My Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)
Goodreads | Storygraph
Synopsis:
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 it 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!
My Review:
I stumbled across Bridgerton on Netflix and was hooked on the series. I watched it all in a day! After watching the series, I decided to buy the first book in the series on my kindle. I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel; it isn’t something that I would typically choose to read.
This novel follows Daphne Bridgerton, a witty, gentle debutante who is in her second season. She’s great, but not the woman whom men are falling over themselves to propose. Simon Basset is the Duke of Hastings, the last thing he wants is to marry. He proposes an arrangement that would benefit them both but then develops into something more.
The novel is entertaining, and I enjoyed the humour and banter between the characters but I also enjoyed the depth it went into especially with Simon’s character. He’s stubborn and frustrating at times but you could see how what he went through influenced who he became. This story opened up a world that I didn’t know much about; a society that demands women have good manners and produce healthy heirs and that’s all. Lady Whistledown’s gossip column had me highly entertained and I could imagine the scandal that it caused.
There was a scene that I did not like in this novel, and it may be triggering. This scene was altered in the Netflix adaptation so going into the book I had no idea that this scene occurred (I assumed the event would be the same as it was in the series). I don’t want to spoil the series for anyone who is planning to read it but if you’d like to know what the scene is so you can be prepared, please send me a message.
All in all, I enjoyed this first instalment of the series, and I do plan on eventually reading the rest of the series. It seems each book centres on one of the Bridgerton siblings, and the next one is Anthony.
