Overall: ⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (if you're generous)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: Yes, 7 years in the future
Format: audiobook borrowed from Hoopla

Should I read in order?
Ideally, yes. The family is intertwined in the series and their siblings books. Though I do feel this one stands very well alone. Much of their time is focused together away from the family, and what is with the family is mostly the younger siblings that haven’t had their HEAs yet.

Basic plot:
Sophie has the chance of a lifetime to attend a ball at Bridgerton house and meets her Prince Charming – though they are separated at midnight.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1815/1818)
- London and country setting
- Cinderella retelling
- Class difference – hero is the second son of a Viscount, heroine the bastard daughter of an earl
- Dancing lessons in the moonlight
- Masquerade
- Secret identity
- Heroine nurses hero back to health
- Artist hero
- Emotionally strong hero (hero cries)
- low steam – I count 1 full scene but those generous might count the second too (it fades and isn’t very detailed.)

Ages:
- Hero is 27/30-ish in the various parts, not sure about the heroine but would guess just a bit younger

My thoughts:
Ugh. Ugh. Benedict ruined this book for me. I loved Sophie. I hated Benedict.

The beginning of the book I did like. I enjoyed the whole Cinderella vibe and the sweetness of their meeting. I loved the dancing in the moonlight and all the sweetness. But then, we got to Part II and the rest of the book and we got to know Benedict. And I just couldn’t forgive how annoying he was.

I’m going to get into specifics so marking with a spoiler warning. Please don’t read this if you love Benedict because it will make you hate me 😂

Part II starts with a few years passing and the heroine being harassed and 3 men attempted to sexually assault her.


Benedict groaned. He was too far away to determine if the housemaid was enjoying their attentions. And if she was not, then he was going to have to save her. Which was not how he’d planned to spend his evening. He’d never been particularly enamored with playing the hero.


Wow, Benedict. Glad you care at all about someone being raped by 3 of your acquaintances. Sorry it’s such an inconvenience to you.

The way he basically disregarded what happened to her after the almost assault was gross too. It kind of became a big joke almost to him and the way he nonchalantly mentioned repeated that she was almost raped was just gross. He wasn’t empathetic in away way.

Benedict is obsessed with being seen as ‘more than a Bridgerton’. He mopes around about it, acts super spoiled and whiny and I was disgusted with how much Sophie had to comfort him. Sophie, who actually had gone through trials in life that would make Benedict just die because he’d never be able to hand it. He can’t handle not getting enough attention in a big family so imagine if he actually had to suffer. It was tiring and I was not filled with sympathy.

Benedict also is a jerk about making Sophie his mistress. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Wouldn’t respect her decision. Wouldn’t marry her because he’s too high and mighty as a Bridgerton to marry Sophie the working class woman. Gross.

When they finally have sex, I was just so icked out the entire experience. The fact that he has to remind himself repeatedly that ‘this is for her’ and not just himself. The fact that he tells her there’s NO WAY for it not to hurt. How about you spend some fucking time getting her turned on? How about you think about her? How about you take your time? How about you respect her? I am SHOCKED she had an orgasm from this experience. I’m convinced she faked it because Benedict was so pathetic she felt bad for him and his ego couldn’t handle that he was bad in bed too. ”You need to tell me to stop now. Not in ten minutes, not in one.” I get it….he is so in love with her he just can’t control himself. And I LOVE lack of control like in the hero. I love when they want the heroine so damn bad. But here it was just more disappointing Benedict behavior. She was touched he would even ask. SHE WAS TOUCHED HE WOULD EVEN ASK!!!! Poor Sophie, who has been pooed on by everyone her whole life is touched Benedict isn’t raping her because he expectations are so low. She deserves a true prince charming. This is not it, Sophie!!!

And the entire ending how he was SO MAD at Sophie that she was the girl from the ball. Excuse me??? I’m fucking mad at you that you didn’t recognize her when you saw her again. That’s on YOU. I just feel like Benedict comes off as fragile, selfish and whiny and I hate him. I will love his tv version so much more than this book. It’s not possible for me to dislike book Benedict more.

Content warnings:

- abusive family/physical abuse of the heroine by her step mother
- attempted sexual assault
- heroine faces hanging for theft

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
15% - kiss
32% - kiss while he’s deliriously sick
44% - kiss
58% - kiss
63% - kisses, fingering for her, missionary
92% - missionary? It kind of fades and doesn’t have a lot of details