I am a John Logan Girly hands down and that is mostly due to the fact that Antonio Cipriano plays him in the Off Campus series and is my current Celebrity crush. I absolutely fell in love with John Logan in the first book and season of this series so after I finished I immediately hoped into his book “The Mistake”. I know my review won’t do his character enough justice but I am glad that I was able to read his story.
He’s a player in more ways than one… College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance. Now he’s going to need to up his game… After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.
I have never been a big fan of second chance romances in books so I was a tad bit worried to hear that was the main trope going into this one. However, most of the second chance romances I have read have been high school sweethearts who drifted apart only to find love again years later. This one I could hardly count as a relationship before they “broke things off” and so few months passed before they were trying to make things work again so I didn’t end up having any issues with the main trope like I expected.
I really enjoyed the additional background information that we received on Logan’s life. His story was really heartbreaking. To have your life predetermined for you and ultimately feeling like you have to give up on your dreams just to help your family make ends meet is such a hard fate to accept. I could feel the anguish this was causing him but I could understand why he felt as if he had no choice. His story felt really personal and that’s why I really enjoyed it.
Grace felt really relatable in her own ways. Throughout the story you get to see her really grow and find her path and I really appreciated that in her character. I loved that she was able to find her voice and learn to stand up for herself. I don’t always feel like you get to see such a strong character arch in these romance books.
As for Logan and Grace’s romance it honestly felt kinda insta lovey for me and I think that is why I had the biggest issue with their relationship. I thought it was cute all the things Logan was willing to do to get Grace back but after only knowing the girl for a few weeks and then being hell bent on getting her back despite the obvious radio silence in my mind is a bit creepy. I am not sure I would have ever spoken to him again as he clearly doesn’t understand that silence is a boundary in of itself. But if I can get past that I do think they were cute together.
I heard so much about Logan’s poem to grace before I read the book that I was very let down by that part in the book. I thought it was going to be something very profound but in reality it was just meh. I almost wish it wasn’t so easy for Grace to take him back. I at least would have liked to see more of the 6 tasks she made him do instead of brief descriptions.
What I really loved was at the end of the book when Graces dad calls Logan Son and Logan just started bawling. It gave off a found family moment and I appreciated that. I adore when In laws are so accepting.
Honestly, I am not sure I will be continuing with this series as I don’t know if I care about the rest of the characters. The writing is ultimately not my favorite either so I am just not compelled to continue. But who knows. Maybe Ali and Dean’s season in the TV show will convince me other wise.
“Babe, you’ve gotta stop revealing all your crazy up front. Seriously. Save all that stuff for later, when you’re in a relationship with the guy and it’s harder for him to run away.”
This series has been sitting on my shelf for years and to be honest with you, I told myself if I didn’t pick the series up by the end of the year I would be unhauling them. I mean why let them collect any more dust and take up much needed shelf space if I was no longer interested in reading them?
The TV series is what brought new life to these books, I am one who sadly suffers from FOMO so I guess these books were given a second chance at life. Only time will tell if they will earn a permanent space on my shelves or if this was just a “phase”.
“I want to murder him in his sleep, A. No, I want to murder him when he’s awake so he can see the joy on my face when I do it.”
She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date. …and it’s going to be oh so good!
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
For someone who is a huge hockey fan I am honestly shocked it took me this long to get to this book. This hockey romance was one of the first ones to ever be added to my collection when i found this Sub Genre yet I kept passing over it. I had heard a lot of hype over the years for this series so I think I subconsciously held off on reading it as I was afraid it would not live up to the hype. As the years went by I started to hear people say it felt a little YA in the writing with the biggest complaint being how much swearing was in the dialogue. I can agree with those points now that I have finished the book.
I may not think that this book was the most well written book I have ever read but sometimes its not always about the skill of the writing but the vibes that the plot brings out. I had a fun time reading this book and that’s what matter the most to me by the end of it. I read this book really quickly which is always a great sign to my overall enjoyment.
Our main female lead, Hannah, has a past trauma regarding being Raped when she was in high school so if this is a trigger warning for you I recommend being cautious picking this up. While the book doesn’t go into too many details regarding this, the trauma is mentioned quite often and ultimately plays a big part in the characters development both personally and in relationships. This is a trope that I often try to avoid myself but I didn’t have too many issues with this topic in this particular book. I liked how the book handled this sensitive topic for the most part. The over arching theme is that your trauma does not define you but that it is okay to allow yourself the time and space to heal. I really enjoyed how her friends and family reacted to her story and didn’t beg her for further information that she wasn’t ready to share.
“And the most important lesson I learned is that I’m not a victim—I’m a survivor.”
I am a sucker for fake dating so I was really excited about that factor of this book but lets be honest.. it never really felt like fake dating to me. You could tell these two were head over heals for one another all too quickly so that pay off just wasn’t there for me. With that said their chemistry felt off the charts and that is what I loved about them the most. They were really able to lean into the trust aspect really easily and that had me falling hard.
Garrett Graham became a top tier book boyfriend for me by the end of the book but at the start I was honestly a little iffy about the whole thing. I just don’t love a reformed playboy but lets be honest… that is literally all of these men in this series so I just need to get over that I guess. Someone who is so cocky just gives me the ick, and he was beyond cocky at the start of this book so I was happy that that seemed to quickly dissipate as the love started to bloom. The hottest part of his character was that he truly fell first and that will always cause me to be wrapped around a book boyfriends finger.
I ultimately loved all the side plots and characters in this book and that makes a strong story for me. I WANTED to know about each of their passions, friends and family. I found myself looking forward to the music writing scenes or the ones where they were just hanging out with their group of friends. When we got to go to Thanksgiving with Garrett’s Dad I was so exciting cause we got to dive farther into his past when it felt like we mostly heard about Hannah’s and not his. Just overall the plot of this book was fun and interesting and I can’t say that about many romance books.
After finishing this book I immediately wanted more so I downloaded the second book “The Mistake” so I could learn more about the characters in this universe. When a book leaves me wanting more that is a great sign!
“How did I go so long without noticing you, damn it? Why did it take seeing a stupid A on your midterm to make me notice?” He sounds so genuinely upset that I scoot closer and kiss him. “It doesn’t matter. You know me now.” “I do,” he says fiercely.”
Okay, this is going to have spoilers for both the book and TV series so if you have not read and watched the show I suggest skipping this part. There may be spoilers for book two “The Mistake” and Book three “The Score” so keep that in mind.
I have a love hate relationship with the book and series now that I have finished both (at least the first two books of the series so I could be missing some fundamental plot lines for the TV series). I know I have some controversial opinions so just remember that we are all allowed to think what we want and we can agree to disagree if we need to. I am happy to have a health conversation about our opinions.
Casting
Lets start out with what I think is the easiest category for me to discuss, Casting. I have only read the first two books so I don’t feel like I can get the most accurate feel for characters who show up later but we will cross that path as we go.
Overall I enjoyed the casting. I only had a few minor issues which I feel is pretty promising! This will not be a comprehensive list.
Garret Graham: Belmont Cameli
Belmont was probably my favorite casting choice in this show so far. I think his acting was really great. He felt right for the role in my opinion. He was good looking, able to make me feel his emotions and ultimately gave off the right vibes for his character. I felt as if he understood his character really well going into the show and that is the most important part.
Hannah Wells: Ella Bright
Oh man, Ella was probably my second least favorite casting choice which is probably the first controversial opinion I am sharing. I just was not convinced by her acting. Her character has a really emotional arc and her acting just didn’t really let these emotions shine through for me. Don’t get me wrong, there were times where I felt like “Hey, now that’s Hannah.” But most of the time I just wasn’t connecting to her character.
Ali Hayes: Mika Abdalla
I love Ali’s character in the first book, I have not yet gotten to book three which portrays her story so I feel like my opinion on her casting might not be the most valuable insight. TV show Ali did not entirely match my expectation of the Ali I know from the book but despite that I think Mika is a good actress and really embodied the screen character she was playing. I feel like If I do end up reading her book that her on screen character will make more sense to me.
Dean Di Luarentis: Stephen Kalyn
Again I have not read Dean’s book yet so I don’t know his character all too well. I mentioned above in my review of the book that I don’t love a reformed fuck boy but by the end of season one I was really enjoying Dean’s character. I think Stephen will do his character justice and make the next season a good one.
John Logan: Antonio Cipriano
I am an Antonio super fan so I am probably bias when I say that I absolutely loved his acting in this series. The puppy dog yearning eyes get me every time. I feel like Antonio shows his emotions really well when acting and that’s very important to me when connecting to characters. I can not wait for his season as I feel like it might be my personal favorite of the show.
John Tucker: Jalen Thomas Brooks
Tucker is such a fun side character and Jalen was a lot of fun to watch during the show. You don’t get to know him all too well so it can be hard for those characters to shine but Jalen really steals some of his scenes and I really loved that. I am excited to see what he does with his character as the show goes on.
Justin – Josh Heuston
Lets be honest, my least favorite character by far. His acting was fine I guess… All I can say is not my Xaden Riorson ….IYKYK…
Plot Changes
In my mind I almost have to separate the TV series from the book. In my personal opinion, I feel like there were too many changes or adjustments for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that in order for us to an adaptation for any of our favorite books there will have to be changes but that doesn’t mean we have to like that, we just need to accept them in order for us to enjoy the show. So with that said the changes made did not make me dislike the show it just made me a little frustrated.
The biggest change that bothered me was that she was no longer doing the show case because she was a singer. She was a musical composer which is close enough I suppose, But for some reason this really bothered me. By the time we got to the end of the show where she was able to overcome her writing block it did make up for some of that frustration but man the song she wrote was not good… Sorry not sorry.
Related to the Show Case change was having Justin and Cass’s Characters be morphed into one character. I really enjoyed the Cass plot line in the book, it gave me a character to hate without making him a huge part of the story line. It made the show case actually interesting in my opinion. One good thing about this change is that her liking Justin actually made sense. She is a musician and so is he it felt natural for her to form a crush on him rather than a football player. Also they only had 8 episodes so to find time for two characters instead of one would have been much harder. We do get a glimpse at Cass in episode one or two I believe when she shares her musical composition with her class to get their opinions, which I appreciated.
This one really pissed me off and honestly I might move it to my number one spot. But Garrett breaking up with Hannah? Excuse me?! The Garrett I knew would have never let his ego get in the way of his relationship. The third act break up did not make sense to me in the show. In the book I can understand why Hannah called things off with him due to his horrible father but the show literally did not give me a good reason for this. Well okay except for maybe helping Hannah over come some of her traumas and given her something to write about I guess… But I think this could have been done no matter who broke up with who.
Ali in the book felt like such a better friend than in the TV show and I think that is because again we were only given 8 episodes to work with and they moved up Ali and Dean’s season to season two so they had to rush their story line which I feel like caused them to lose focus on the best friend aspect between her and Hannah and hoped that we could just sense the strong bond between the two of them and I felt like I didn’t feel it as much as I should have. I hope that as the seasons progress we will get to see their friendship deepen.
John Logan has an older brother in the books and as far as I can remember not a younger sister. Jules was kinda just thrown into this show and it threw me off a bit. I am curious how this will affect Logan’s back story. In the books it is also his dad who is an alcoholic and not his mom but I am not sure this will make too big of a change for the shows plot, but we shall see.
One that makes me sound super nit picky is that Della’s Dinner and Malone’s Bar was combined into one location. I understand this on a filming aspect but again story wise I just didn’t love it.
A change that after reflection I didn’t mind was that Hannah’s Attacker was on the opposing hockey team and Garrett Beat him up on the ice. In the book it was just one of the attackers friends who defended him when everything went down who happened to be at the St. Anthony’s game and Hannah saw him so Garrett attacked him in the concessions. I think plot wise the change makes more sense and made for a more convincing fight scene.
Where was the car sex scene after Thanksgiving?
One that I actually liked was that Hannah had a bike instead of borrowing someones car every time she needed to go somewhere. That detail in the book just felt really weird to me, she practically had possession of that poor girls car more than the girl did.
Dean and Beau sharing a birthday party was one that I didn’t mind but it also made it so there was one less party for Hannah and Garrett to connect at. It made sense for the shortened timeline we had with 8 episodes though and it really helped Beau and Dean’s friendship shine through which I think I didn’t really get in the book.
The campus wide hands off law was one of the greatest things in the book. It felt very “Garrett” coded. but because of the way the break up happened in the series just didn’t allow the Off hands law to make as big of an impact and felt like it was just tossed into the show for the readers.
Now that I am done ranting about the changes I know it sounds like I hated the show but that’s not true. I did enjoy the TV series quite a bit but I can’t let myself compare it to the book. My husband was sick of hearing me say “This is not how it happened in the book.” He would just roll his eyes. And I am sure I missed several other changes but these are the ones that really stuck out to me.
“Living well and being happy is how we get over the shit in our past.”
Now that I have gave you a review for the Book and my thoughts on the TV show I guess it is time to tell you my thoughts as a whole. I had a fun time with the book and the series really brought the characters to life. I see myself continuing to watch the series as new seasons are released but I am not sure if I will continue with the books. I finished book 2 “The Mistake” (review coming soon) but I don’t know if I care enough about the characters who are left in the series to finish reading them. While the books happen to read very quickly I just have so many other books that I am actually dying to read. However, this would not be the first time I eat my words.. I am almost positive that after watching Dean and Ali’s season I will wish I would have read their book. So I make no promises.
I hope you all give this book and TV series a try and I hope that you love every second of it.
“Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.”
This TV show took the world by storm. Anyone and everyone was talking about it and frankly still are. Not only to escape the major FOMO, but to also appease my bestie Syd, I finally got around to reading this book.
I did watch the Show first (Against my will, kinda), mostly because my husband couldn’t wait for my books to arrive so I could read the first and second books in this series, which honestly was for the best because I am just now getting finished with my end of that bargain, sooner than I expected of myself so there’s that.
I am very excited to share this review with you all. I just hope I can put my thoughts into a cohesive review for you cause currently all I can think is “OHHHH That was cute!” and “Damn!”, Not much to those thoughts if you ask me. So here we go!
“He wanted to tell Shane that the closest he felt to home was when he was with him.”
Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.
Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.
As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option.
I feel like giving this book a 4 star rating is a bit controversial. Most everyone who I have talked to about this book gave it a raving 5 stars. Maybe I would have as well if I hadn’t watched the TV Series first.
The TV Series in my opinion was a near perfect adaptation of the book which is rare to find. But the actors is what really made it perfect in my eyes. They really made this story come to life. And because I felt like it was a near perfect adaptation, while I was reading the book I just found myself wishing I was watching it instead of reading it.
The other thing going against this book for me is that I have just not been in a romance mood lately. I found myself skimming the spicy scenes more often than not so that I could get to the dialogue. This feels like a bookish Sin so I apologize for my behavior, but it just felt like their was a spicy scene every few pages and I was struggling to want to pick this book up at times because of it so skimming felt like a pretty good option to me. I probably read this at the wrong time for me to truly appreciate the book but I really did enjoy the dialogue and growth that these characters had outside of the spicy scenes.
Anytime Ilya spoke I was enraptured! Whenever her opened his mouth you didn’t know if you were going to get some kind of witty come back, a surprisingly sweet compliment or a shockingly deep revelation. He is for sure my favorite character in this series this far so getting to read his book felt like getting to know him on a personal level. I really adored how Ilya professed his sincerest thoughts in Russian to Shane so he could get those feelings out in the open without the risk of rejection or judgement. Ilya just has the purest soul and I am so glad that his character came into my life.
As for Shane’s character, I enjoyed how he seemed so opposite of Ilya. He is more soft spoken and cautious. Having this character dynamic at first was a bit jarring to me but it ultimately grew on me as the characters developed.
I may not have been drawn to Shane’s character as much as Ilya’s but I wouldn’t have wished for anyone else to be in his place. These two make an unlikely pair which made this story that much more enjoyable.
Ultimately I fell in love with them as a couple and I can’t wait to see where their story goes.
“Does it…does it feel like agony for you too?’ Ilya started to nod, then stopped. He shook his head slowly instead. ‘Not anymore.”
I have owned this book since the day it was first released. I have been wanting to read it since I laid my hands on the beautiful cover but kept putting it off as I didn’t want this five star prediction to let me down. I am glad I waited as I think I picked this book up at the perfect time. I had just finished reading book six of the Bridgerton series and got fully caught up on season four of the TV Adaptation. I even went to a Bridgerton styled event on a local book store. So picking up this book and falling right back into the Regency Era felt like coming home but with a twist.
“Sometimes I feel like one day every other girl was given instructions on how to grow up, and I missed the lesson.”
London, 1848—For four hundred years, England has been under the control of an immortal fae queen who tricked her way onto the throne. To maintain an illusion of benevolence, Queen Mor grants each of her subjects one opportunity to bargain for their deepest desire.
As Ivy Benton prepares to make her debut, she knows that not even a deal with the queen could fix what has gone wrong: Her family’s social standing is in shambles, her sister is a shadow of her former self, and Ivy’s marriage prospects are nonexistent. So when the queen announces a competition for Prince Bram’s hand, Ivy is the first to sign her name in blood. What a bargain can’t fix, a crown certainly could.
Ivy soon finds herself a surprising front-runner—with the help of an unexpected ally: Prince Bram’s brother, the rakish Prince Emmett, who promises to help Ivy win his brother’s heart…for a price. But as the season sweeps Ivy away, with glittering balls veiling the queen’s increasingly vicious trials, Ivy realizes there’s more at stake than just a wedding. Because all faerie bargains come with a cost, and Ivy may have discovered hers too late.
I picked this book up during a busy time in my life and that is what I regret the most. I could not stop thinking about this book, I was trying to sneak a chapter in where ever I could. It even got to the point where the characters started to sneak themselves into my dreams. That is how I know I am truly obsessed with a book.
I believe that if I had more free time on my hands I would have finished this book in one sitting. The writing had every ounce of my brain power turning over the plot and trying to figure out any hidden secrets that might have been seeping through the pages.
The characters in this book were a little hit or miss for me at the beginning but I started to appreciate them more as we got to know their background a bit more. The way Sasha formatted this book, sprinkling in different POV’s as we went along, really helped this story build a plot with a lot of depth.
The different POV’s gave us as readers insights into the book that we would have never of gotten from our main FMC. I am not saying Ivy was an unreliable narrator but she truly did not have all the insight into what was happening around her and why. So the little added tidbits we got from the other girls POV’s really helped our characters grow in my eyes.
My favorite character is Emmett, I mean come on, when is the MMC not my favorite character in a book? Emmett has a tough exterior and a reputation that precedes him but there is more to him than meets the eye. I adored getting to see him from Ivy’s eyes as she was forced to be in his proximity but you could feel his attitude changing as we moved through the story. Even though we see him mostly through Ivy’s eyes the little tidbits from Faiths storyline that we were given gave us enough information about Emmet’s true character to know when he started to fall for Ivy. A man who falls first will always make me melt.
The family dynamics seemed to play a pretty big part in this story. Each person had a different relationship with their families that shaped their individual characters and their motivations. I think this is a big reason why I ended up caring for each character in their own way. Everyone seemed to be facing their own battles internally so by the time you finally read first hand what issues they were facing you could grasp why they were saying and doing the things they did. I really appreciated that part of the story telling as it really felt integral to the plot and didn’t just get swept aside like they so often do in these kinds of books.
Sasha really had me trying to guess how this story was going to go, it felt like she was leaving me little bread crumbs that had me thinking one thing but then by the next chapter I was second guessing everything I had came up with. There were a few plot points that I caught onto pretty quick while others left my mouth gaping. I am so glad I waited to read this book until closer to the release date of the second book as I am not sure I can wait to find out what happens.
“I’ve spent my whole life on my hands and knees, clamoring for crumbs of love. I don’t know if there will ever come a time I am not hungry for it.”
This series was recommended to me by my best friend Syd before this series ever got popular. I sadly kept pushing the books off till after the TV series started and I immediately had FOMO. On top of that it was near impossible to get my hands on a physical copy and no way was I paying Amazon kindle for a 16$ E-book when I could get it for the same price physically at my local Indy Book Store.
“What’s wrong with the closet? It’s a wonderful place crammed full of professional athletes.”
Pro hockey star Scott Hunter knows a good thing when he sees it. So, when a smoothie made by juice bar barista Kip Grady precedes Scott breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic…and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.
Kip knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon, nevermind touched everywhere all at once. When it happens it’s red-hot, incredible and frequent, but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.
Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career…like introducing the world to his boyfriend. Kip is ready to go all-in with Scott—but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?
I watched the TV series before reading this. And while the Show really only focuses on this couple for one episode they somehow got enough of the story in for you to fall in love with them anyways.
While the book does expand a bit more on their relationship I did feel like the one episode encapsulated the whole book, while rushed I didn’t hate it. Watching the show first also gave me the cast to visualize which helped me grow more invested in their characters.
I truly regret reading these books after they gained all the hype. I wish I would have been fan girling before it was the cool thing to do but oh well.
While I thought their story was cute I did feel like it was rushed. They start dating super fast and honestly I think I am more of a slow burn girlie. I just wanted more of the will they won’t they at the coffee shop or a few more gala’s that Scott attends and Kit works at. The tension I wanted was spent waiting for a third act breakup.
While I am someone who hates a third act break up I was actually thankful for this one. I knew it was coming and because of that the breakup truly needed to happen, even if it was more of a separation rather than a breakup. I think both characters needed time to realize what was the more important thing in their lives and what they were willing to give up for it. So I guess you could say I liked the ending better than the beginning.
I loved that Ilya was mentioned several times in this book. His small portions made me crack up! I love him and can’t wait to get to his books!
“He could only imagine what it would be like to not be burdened by his…otherness. He wished he could just magically be what people expected hockey players to be.”
It has been a while since I have picked up a Bridgerton Book but with Season 4 about to Air on Netflix I decided this was the perfect time to dive back in. Mostly because I heard that Eloise starts a bit of her journey this season and so I would like to be overly caught up.
“Men. The day they learned to admit to a mistake was the day they became women.”
“. . . I do not tell you often enough, dear Mother, how very grateful I am that I am yours. It is a rare parent who would offer a child such latitude and understanding. It is an even rarer one who calls a daughter friend. I do love you, dear Mama.”
Sir Phillip knew from his correspondence with his dead wife’s distant cousin that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster, and so he’d proposed, figuring that she’d be homely and unassuming, and more than a little desperate for an offer of marriage. Except . . . she wasn’t. The beautiful woman on his doorstep was anything but quiet, and when she stopped talking long enough to close her mouth, all he wanted to do was kiss her…
Eloise Bridgerton couldn’t marry a man she had never met! But then she started thinking… and wondering… and before she knew it, she was in a hired carriage in the middle of the night, on her way to meet the man she hoped might be her perfect match. Except… he wasn’t. Her perfect husband wouldn’t be so moody and ill-mannered. And he certainly should have mentioned that he had two young – and decidedly unruly – children, as much in need of a mother as Phillip is in need of a wife.
Eloise is my favorite character in the Netflix adaptation but to be honest I haven’t felt the exact same way throughout the books. Getting to read her specific story really did help that picture adapt in my mind though.
I have a hard time seeing the Eloise from earlier in the series becoming the Eloise this Book depicted but I think that is an important part of typical character growth as she goes from not wanting to be married to finding the right man and finally finding a place she truly belongs.
I love that their romance starts with the exchange of letters as that is the one main thing I have always linked Eloise to. This is a very common aspect sprinkled throughout the book and that helped me really grasp her character. Another thing that felt a lot like her character was when she ran away to officially meet this man. She makes split decision without thinking of the consequences and that felt absolutely correct for her.
I absolutely adored the interaction with her step kids. She never really treated them as step kids and truly accepted them as her own. Getting to see this dynamic felt extremely refreshing. I also loved the playfulness she allows these children to express. The kids should get to feel like kids while they are young and she really embraces this.
Overall, I found the romance was really cute! I really enjoyed how easy it was for Phillip to lean into her family and accept them, it felt very seamless. Her brothers over protectiveness was probably one of my favorite scenes as the Bridgerton Brothers will always be my favorite characters.
I can’t wait to watch the adaptation!
“I had to do something,” she said. “I couldn’t just sit and wait for life to happen to me any longer.”
World of Bai 