Bonus Review: The Sum of All Kisses

The Sum of All Kisses

By Julia Quinn

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: 

October 29, 2013

Lady Sarah Pleinsworth, whose mother was a Smythe-Smith, is unhappy at the thought of two upcoming weddings, neither of which is her own. First, she will serve as maid of honor for her cousin Honoria when the latter marries the Earl of Chatteris (Just Like Heaven) at Fensmore, the Chatteris estate in Cambridgeshire.  Two weeks later, she will be among those attending the wedding of Honoria’s brother, Daniel Smythe-Smith, Earl of Winstead, and Anne Wynter, former governess to Sarah’s younger sisters (A Night Like This). It’s not that Sarah isn’t happy for her cousins, but after three seasons, she expected to be married. Not only is marriage what a young woman of her class is trained for; but it is also the only way Sarah can escape participating in the dreadful Smythe-Smith musicales. She’s already pled illness as an excuse once and is doubtful that it will work again.

Lord Hugh Prentice may be the only wedding guest as reluctant to be present as Sarah. Hugh was never a bon vivant, and since the drunken duel with Daniel Smythe-Smith that left Hugh lame and Daniel an exile until recently, Hugh has become even more of a loner. Only Daniel’s insistence that Hugh’s presence at both weddings is necessary to persuade society that the duel is old news and Daniel and Hugh are friends has brought Hugh to Fensmore. The situation worsens from Hugh’s point of view when the illness of one Smythe-Smith cousin and the lack of social graces of another prompts Honoria to ask Hugh to sit at the head table as partner to Lady Sarah Pleinsworth.

Hugh and Sarah have a decided preference for avoiding one another’s company. He finds her overly dramatic, and he is aware that she dislikes him. Sarah holds Hugh responsible for the scandal resulting from the duel and for Daniel’s exile, both of which negatively affected all Smythe-Smiths and, in Sarah’s opinion, was responsible for her lack of marriage prospects. Still, neither of them is willing to do anything to detract from Honoria’s happiness, and so they agree to spend time in one another’s company. They may begin horrified at the thought of time together, but conversations, shared laughter, and a growing awareness of the other’s physical attractions soon has animosity turning to love. Unfortunately for the path of true love, Hugh is convinced that his lameness makes him less than the man Sarah deserves and his toxic relationship with his mad father creates further complications. But Sarah proves more resourceful than anyone expected.

Enemies to lovers is not a trope that I am particularly fond of, but Quinn makes it work well here. Sarah and Hugh do spend a lot of time together, and in addition to the banter at which Quinn excels, the emotional intensity between the two of them develops gradually. Their falling in love is based on more than wit and lust. Neither of these protagonists has the charm that often makes Quinn’s characters memorable, but they have their own strengths. Hugh had a truly horrific childhood, and I had no problem accepting his eccentricities given his abilities and his history, both of which set him apart from his peers. I warmed up to Sarah slowly, but by the second half of the book, I found her endearing. And I’m always in favor of a warrior heroine who saves the day.

I would like to have seen Hugh’s brother play a more visible role in the story since he clearly is important to Hugh, and the final few chapters are unquestionably melodramatic, a technique that will likely dismay some readers and delight others. But the epilogue is perfect in a Smythe-Smith book.

Overall, I’d rank The Sum of All Kisses as less satisfying than the first two books in the series. But this is Julia Quinn, and I’m a reader who has read every Julia Quinn book and has never read one that failed to give me enough Quinntessential moments to make me glad I read it. So—not Quinn’s best, but I still recommend it for JQ fans or for other historical romance fans who will enjoy Quinn’s humor with a touch of angst and a generous serving of sensationalism.

Let’s talk autobuy authors. Julia Quinn is on my list and has been since her pre-Bridgerton days. While I certainly like some of her books better than others, I can’t imagine not reading one. Once an author is on my autobuy list, it takes several major missteps for me to remove her/him. Do you have autobuy authors? What makes you delete an author from your list?

Tuesday Review: The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After

The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After

By Julia Quinn

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: April 2, 2013

In June 2006, before the ubiquitous presence of ereaders, Julia Quinn released two novellas, “second epilogues” to two of her popular Bridgerton series: The Viscount Who Loved Me and It’s in His Kiss. The second epilogues were available only in digital format. Quinn’s publishers announced that a second epilogue for the other Bridgerton books would be forthcoming and that sometime after the eighth and final book in the series was published, the novellas would be available in print, all eight together. On the Way to the Wedding was released June 27, 2006; the full Bridgerton series became available in digital format in October 2009, and next Tuesday (April 2) all eight second epilogues plus the bonus story of the Bridgerton matriarch’s great love will be available in print, digital, and audio formats.

Quinn gives readers a prefatory note to set up each epilogue and then offers a look at a moment in the continuing, although sometimes complicated, happily ever afters of the Bridgerton clan. The second epilogues are presented in order of the publication of the Bridgerton novels, which means that they are not in chronological order.

The second epilogue to The Duke and I shows Daphne and Simon at mid-life with twenty-one years of marriage behind them, three daughters concerned with dresses and beaux, a sixteen-year-old heir, and a surprise. A visit from Colin and Penelope brings another complication.

The second epilogue to The Viscount Who Loved Me shows the Bridgertons and spouses in another fiercely competitive Pall Mall match with Kate and Anthony, who after fifteen years of marriage are each determined to win the match, no matter what dastardly trick is required. 

The second epilogue to An Offer from a Gentleman shows Sophie and Benedict, now married three years, delighting in their country life and their two young sons and avoiding London since Sophie’s birth still renders her unacceptable by the sticklers, despite the Bridgerton influence. The focus on this story is Posy Reiling, Sophie’s decidedly not-wicked step-sister. Posy is twenty-five and still unwed, and Sophie’s happiness would be complete if only Posy could find the kind of happiness Sophie has. Then Benedict has an idea.

The second epilogue to Romancing Mr. Bridgerton follows closely after the events of this novel and the one that immediately followed it, To Sir Phillip, With Love. Penelope and Colin are still in the honeymoon stage, the Bridgertons set off for Eloise’s wedding at Sir Phillip’s estate, and Penelope is faced with telling Eloise, her best friend forever, that Penelope has kept the secret of her Lady Whistledown identity from her. 

The second epilogue of To Sir Phillip, With Love is a first-person tale told from the perspective of Eloise’s stepdaughter, Amanda. Eloise is now forty with three children in addition to Phillips twins who think she’s the best mother ever. Amanda, having refused a season because she prefers the freedom of country life, must deal with Eloise’s efforts to bring eligible young men to Amanda’s attention. Amanda accepts her mother’s maneuverings with grace but little interest until Mr. Farraday.

In the second epilogue to When He Was Wicked, Francesca and Michael are still childless four and a half years into their marriage. Sadly, they have accepted the fact that their marriage may never be blessed with children and have determined to enjoy the astounding number of nieces and nephews that Francesca’s Bridgerton siblings have given them. Francesca arrives in Kent for the christening of Hyacinth’s baby daughter, already missing Michael who has been detained in Edinburgh but will join her soon. Francesca is surprised by how much she has missed her family, especially her mother, who shares Francesca’s sorrow even as they rejoice over baby Isabella and the pregnancies of Eloise and Lucy.

The second epilogue to It’s in His Kiss shows Hyacinth paying for her raising, as my mother would have said. Isabella, whose christening was the occasion of the family gathering in the preceding second epilogue is now nineteen and very much her mother’s daughter in looks and temperament. Gareth is securely wound around his daughter’s finger, but Isabella is giving Hyacinth a new appreciation of Violet. Then there’s the matter of those jewels that Hyacinth still hasn’t found and Isabella still hasn’t told her parents about her discovery.

The second epilogue to On the Way to the Wedding has Hyacinth visiting Gregory and Lucy for the birth of their eighth child, which turns out to be the birth of their ninth child as well when Lucy is delivered of twins. Gregory and Lucy are blissfully happy with each other and with their brood that now exceeds even the original Bridgertons in number. But life is never perfect, and in a moment, the very center of Gregory’s world is in danger.

The novella “Violet in Bloom” takes us on a journey through the life of Violet Bridgerton from the time she was a mischievous eight-year-old determined to get the best of that horrid Bridgerton boy to the ballroom where Violet and Edmund fell in love to their wedding to Edmund’s death after twenty years of marriage to the birth of her eighth child whom she names for Edmund’s favorite flower to her seventy-fifth birthday forty years after Edmund’s death.  

I’m sure the epilogue haters will have their usual snarky comments to make about the redundancy of epilogues, the price watchers will complain about the cost, and the cynics will sneer at the sentiment. But I don’t belong to any of those groups. I am an unabashed Julia Quinn fan who has happily read every book she’s published, beginning with Splendid, her debut novel, and I love having all the second epilogues in one book. Quinn has said that she wrote these for fans of her Bridgerton novels, often in response to specific questions they asked. Readers who have not read the Bridgerton novels may be frustrated by the second epilogues or they may view them as appetizers preceding the banquet of Bridgerton books, but they cannot approach these stories with the joy they afford the true Bridgerton aficionado. 

I suspect that I’m typical of the latter group in that I have my favorites among the eight novels. I expected to find my favorites among the second epilogues matched my favorites among the novels. That was not always the case. While I loved seeing Daphne and Simon again and delighted in Eloise’s wedding and Posy’s romance, I laughed hardest at Hyacinth coping with a daughter cut in her own pattern and sobbed over Gregory and Lucy’s near tragedy even though It’s in His Kiss and On the Way to the Wedding are the Bridgerton novels I like least. And the second epilogue to When He Was Wicked vaulted to the top of my favorite epilogue list when I first read it several years ago.

Each second epilogue added a moment I could appreciate to the overall Bridgerton story, and collectively they allowed me to return briefly to a fictional world where I spent some of my most cherished reading hours, a world where true love is forever and families banter, badger, and bear one another’s burdens through the years. As for Violet’s story, it was the perfect ending. Quinn says Violet became her favorite character over the course of the series and that writing “Violet in Bloom” was a “labor of love.” I think that shows as Quinn gives us a look at almost the full span of Violet’s life, a life well-lived with long joys and deep sorrows but overall a life that proved happily ever after, even if it denied Violet the conventional HEA. 

One quibble: I wish the second epilogues had been presented in chronological order, or, failing that, that the chronological order had been provided. I’ll figure it out since I want to reread the full series in order, but it would be easier if someone else had done the work. Nevertheless, I’m so thrilled to add this book to my Bridgerton collection that I’m buying the print version in addition to the digital copy I have. I want the pleasure of seeing the full Bridgerton story on my bookshelf.


What’s your favorite Bridgerton story? How do you feel about Violet never having a second chance at love story? What’s your opinion of epilogues generally?

Tuesday Review: A Night Like This

A Night Like This
By Julia Quinn
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: May 29, 2012
A drunken challenge gone awry forced Daniel Smythe-Smith, Earl of Winstead, into exile. Roaming over Europe, he tried to stay one step ahead of the hired assassins of the Marquess of Ramsgate whose son, Hugh Prentice, Daniel shot. Three years after that misbegotten night, Hugh finds Daniel in Italy and tells him that it is safe to return to England. Hugh has his father’s promise to end the vendetta against Daniel. Eager for England and family, Daniel arrives home earlier than expected on the day of the annual Smythe-Smith musicale just as the concert is about to begin. Not wanting his return to upstage the performance, he observes from a back room. To his surprise, the pianist is not a Smythe-Smith, and Daniel is definitely interested in learning who she is. In fact, one look is all it takes for him to know he must kiss her. And one kiss leaves him intoxicated and wanting more: “She smelled like England, of soft rain and sun-kissed meadows. And she felt like the best kind of heaven.”

The mystery woman is Anne Wynter, governess to Daniel’s Pleinsworth cousins, Harriet, Elizabeth, and Frances. Anne enjoys her charges, and she places a high value on comfort and stability, experience having taught her how grim life can be without them. Anne has been on her own since she was sixteen when her father disowned her.  The Earl of Winstead may be handsome and charming, but Anne is determined not to risk her hard-earned security by becoming involved with him. But she has no idea how persistent a smitten Daniel can be. When violence disrupts the outings Daniel engineers, he thinks his past is putting them at risk, but Anne has a dark past of her own and the threat may be from her old enemy. Dragons must be disposed of before a happy ending can be achieved.

The second book in the Smythe-Smith series is one of the feel-good romances of the year. It picks up where the last one left off, at the annual family musicale first made famous in Quinn’s beloved Bridgerton series. Once again Quinn does what she does best: she takes a standard Regency plot—governess with a big secret that puts her at risk falls for gallant aristocratic hero—and adds the touches that makes the story uniquely and delightfully hers. Anne is an immensely sympathetic and likeable heroine. Because of a mistake in judgment made when she was very young, she has been barred from all she has known and loved and forced to depend upon her own resources to survive. Life has made her cautious but not bitter, and it has not destroyed her sense of humor. As is common with Quinn’s books, the secondary characters are wonderfully drawn. Anne’s charges are particularly appealing. The scene with Harriet’s play is laugh-out-loud funny, and young Frances is key to the happy resolution.

But Daniel is the star of the book. Horrified by the results of the absurd duel, he accepts responsibility for maiming his friend, although his shooting him was an accident. His affection for his family is unmistakable, and he is the very pattern of a man totally blindsided and inebriated by love. Attracted to Anne from the moment he sees her, every meeting, every touch intensifies his feelings for her. He is euphoric just thinking about their first kiss.

He nearly bounced right off his feet, just thinking about it.

It had been splendid. Marvelous. A kiss to deny all previous kisses. Really, he didn't know what he'd been doing with all those other women, because whatever had happened when his kips had touched theirs, those had not been kisses.

Not like last night.

And the reader believes in the love that grows between these two because she sees them spend time together. They talk and laugh and share pieces of their lives with one another, and attraction deepens into a love that includes passion and liking and respect.

If you are a Julia Quinn fan, you will not want to miss this one. If you’ve never read Quinn and you like light-hearted romance that is more than froth, romance that leaves you with a smile on your face and a sigh of satisfaction, read A Night Like This. Then, glom her backlist. I’m already looking forward to the next Smythe-Smith book and hoping that Hugh Prentice will be the hero.

 What's your favorite Julia Quinn book? Who else do you count on for feel-good books?