I continued my journey to find the heir to Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels. I had mostly given up on this quest but then the Netflix TV show became popular. I had to reconsider. I did not watch the TV show before reading the novel. I have started it as of this writing.

This is probably the second or third modern romance novel I’ve read. I do not count the Outlander series. I am finding that romance novels have a couple of tropes which include a lot of angst from the male lead. Back to this novel, it was not bad overall. I think there were a couple of really funny moments. I actually wanted to read more about the female characters like Daphne’s mother Lady Bidgerton and Lady Danbury.

I found the book a bit too long. Most of the novel, I just wanted it to get to the point. It seemed too many drawn out shenanigans. If one would resolve, another conflict would resolve. I did not relate to Daphne either as I am not really inclined to a large family. There was just not enough character development for me. I feel like Simon got the most and it became a bit too angsty for me.

So not a bad read, but I will not be reading the sequels. The TV show is fine. I like the visual, the music, and the casting. I am overlooking the writing to be honest.

Read May 23-25, 2021.