03/09/2020
In Quinn’s charming fourth Rokesbys Regency romance (after The Other Miss Bridgerton ), a woman marries her lifelong friend to save her reputation. The wealthy Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Bridgerton is ruined when Freddie Oakes tries to trap her into marriage, compromising her reputation by forcing her to spend unchaperoned time with him. When Georgie’s godfather learns of her predicament, he tells his son, Nicholas Rokesby, that he must marry her. Both Nicholas and Georgie are romantics who had hoped to marry for love, but they agree to the union as a necessity and hope that their close friendship will survive. But the arrangement leads them to see each other in a new light, and an attraction grows between them as Nicholas tirelessly supports Georgie in pursuing her dreams; Georgie is fascinated with Nicholas’s classes at medical school, and as women aren’t allowed to attend, Nicholas agrees to teach her everything he can. Both hero and heroine enter into their marriage as virgins, making for tender, exploratory sex scenes with a welcome degree of humor. Quinn’s fans will delight in the sparkling prose and progressive central couple. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency. (Apr.)
The final Bridgerton prequel offers all the attendant humor, banter, and romance we’ve come to expect from Quinn’s books.” — EW.com
“Quinn…continues to perfect her literary recipe for witty, entrancing historical romances as evidenced by the latest scintillating addition to her Bridgerton Prequel series.” — Booklist on First Comes Scandal
“Charming…Quinn’s fans will delight in the sparkling prose and progressive central couple.” — Publishers Weekly on First Comes Scandal
“With her trademark wit, Quinn steers [her couple] from outrage and resignation, to love and hope for the future. Strongly recommended.” — Historical Novel Society on First Comes Scandal
With her trademark wit, Quinn steers [her couple] from outrage and resignation, to love and hope for the future. Strongly recommended.
Historical Novel Society on First Comes Scandal
Quinn…continues to perfect her literary recipe for witty, entrancing historical romances as evidenced by the latest scintillating addition to her Bridgerton Prequel series.
Booklist on First Comes Scandal
The final Bridgerton prequel offers all the attendant humor, banter, and romance we’ve come to expect from Quinn’s books.
Quinn…continues to perfect her literary recipe for witty, entrancing historical romances as evidenced by the latest scintillating addition to her Bridgerton Prequel series.
Quinn…continues to perfect her literary recipe for witty, entrancing historical romances as evidenced by the latest scintillating addition to her Bridgerton Prequel series.
04/24/2020
Compromised by a scandal involving an attempted kidnapping, Georgiana Bridgerton agrees to marry childhood friend Nicholas Rokesby, who is called home from his medical studies in Edinburgh to aid in the crisis. The two wed quickly and prepare to return to Edinburgh, when on the long journey there, Nicholas discovers Georgie's mutual interest in medicine, and they realize they might not wish to have as strictly a platonic relationship as they once thought. Nicholas and Georgie's hijinks are charming, and it's a joy to watch Georgie's fascination with the medical field in Georgian England evolve in this fourth prequel to the beloved "Bridgerton" series (e.g., The Sum of All Kisses ). VERDICT Quinn is in her usual fine form. The newly launched Netflix series will ensure more fans, but Nicholas and Georgie will be a hit with longtime readers and newcomers alike.—Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Cincinnati Blue Ash
Listeners find themselves in England during the late 1700s in this entertaining romance narrated by Rosalyn Landor. Nicholas Rokesby finds himself called home from medical school to marry friend and neighbor Georgiana Bridgerton, who has found her reputation ruined through no fault of her own. Landor’s dry tones will have listeners chuckling over the antics of the two butlers from Nicholas’s and Georgiana’s households. Landor brings alive Georgiana’s howling cats as she and Nicholas travel by carriage up to Scotland, allowing listeners to easily envision the chaos. Character portraits run the gamut from the lower-class servants to the upper-class protagonists and the childishness of Georgiana’s young nephews, providing listeners with a fun-filled listening experience. S.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Listeners find themselves in England during the late 1700s in this entertaining romance narrated by Rosalyn Landor. Nicholas Rokesby finds himself called home from medical school to marry friend and neighbor Georgiana Bridgerton, who has found her reputation ruined through no fault of her own. Landor’s dry tones will have listeners chuckling over the antics of the two butlers from Nicholas’s and Georgiana’s households. Landor brings alive Georgiana’s howling cats as she and Nicholas travel by carriage up to Scotland, allowing listeners to easily envision the chaos. Character portraits run the gamut from the lower-class servants to the upper-class protagonists and the childishness of Georgiana’s young nephews, providing listeners with a fun-filled listening experience. S.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
2020-03-02
When Nicholas Rokesby receives a letter from his father ordering him to immediately return to the family home in Kent, he obeys the summons, fearing that some disaster has befallen the family. When he arrives, he’s informed that his neighbor and lifelong friend, Georgiana Bridgerton, was kidnapped a month earlier by a man hoping to force her into marriage. Georgie freed herself, but she’s pronounced “ruined” by society rather than being celebrated for her quick thinking and bravery. Nicholas’ father informs him that he can save Georgie by offering for her hand in marriage; otherwise, her only choices are to live as a spinster or to marry the cad who kidnapped her. Unfortunately, Quinn’s witty dialogue isn’t enough to hide the fact that there’s very little conflict or plot in the novel. The setup leans heavily on the “friends to lovers” trope but doesn’t invest any time developing the couple's past. They are two nice people in their mid-20s who agree to marry out of duty and deference to society’s rules. More detailed attention is given to Georgie’s plan to make a rope hammock to soothe her yowling cat during a carriage ride than to her and Nicholas' development as a married couple. Georgie’s character might frustrate modern readers. Her ingenuity is often highlighted—she escapes from her kidnapper, has her own interests, and verbalizes her frustrations with how society treats women unfairly—but she’s also strangely passive, happily serving as Nicholas’ nurse rather than pursuing her own interests in medicine. Die-hard readers of this Bridgerton prequel series are likely to enjoy the book as fan service, with glimpses of beloved characters from the original series appearing as children.
A lukewarm romance for series fans only.
