The Duke and I: The (Bridgertons Book 1)

This could have been a good book. At first, I enjoyed it. Loved the large family, the love. And then it started to go downhill. (spoilers) The Duel: what a stupid plot twist. Best friends in a duel to the death. Really? One willing to die, one willing to KILL in stupid duel. Is life so meaningless that her brother would KILL his best friend? As the story started going downhill fast, everything started to brother me. They didn't speak for 3 hours on their wedding night, while he pretended to be asleep? before this, the author made her a strong character, knowing how to handle men because she had 3 older brothers. The mother/daughter talking about the wedding night turned out just silly and lame, and seemed to be tossed in for the humor, which i didn't find humorous at all. Could she really be that backward? I hated the rape scene and all the crap around it (excuses, denials, etc) I didn't like the second epilogue at all. I thought it might answer the question about what his father said to his friend - the message that was never delivered. Why bring it up in the first place? was that filler too? Her being pregnant at 43 felt lame too. What's the point? He's going to be a new dad at 50. So fine, but why? What happened to his nanny/nurse from his childhood? It seemed to be implied that she died. Oh my, just thinking of all the loose ends, the lack of communication, the rape, the false conflict, a man who won't grow up and face his demons....this was my first, and most likely my last J. Quinn book. Apparently, many like her, but for me, this book is a GIANT miss. (LIFE IS TOO PRECIOUS TO JUST KILL!) I love to support authors! But I can't support this book in any way. I did finish the book, even though I started to skim and get very annoyed at the plot/characters. I just found out this is part of a new Netflix series and I will skip the series after reading the reviews on the series. Sounded as dumb as this book.

The Duke and I is the first book to Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series. The first book focuses on Daphne, the fourth of eight siblings in the Bridgerton family, and the Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset. Readers will also meet the other Bridgertons’ and other secondary characters that I liked getting to know more than the main characters at times in this book.

Female Protagonist: Daphne Bridgerton is a beautiful young lady who everyone loves as a friend, but nothing more. I liked her character but did not connect with her. She was sweet at first but turned into something else later on, especially after working with the Duke to have a pretend relationship that grew into something more. She’s determined to get what she wants, and she’ll do anything, even do something that I found unforgivable.

Male Protagonist: Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, has to be my favorite in this book. He’s a handsome young Duke that every woman wants to be with, but he has no desire to be with them unless it’s casual. He has his reasons. He is considered a Rake by many, but he changes once he meets Daphne. He has a past that made me feel for him immediately. I loved everything about him. Yes, I have a thing for flawed heroes. 🙂

Storyline/My Thoughts: My thoughts on The Duke and I are that I enjoyed the book, up until one particular scene, which I mention in my review’s forewarning (below). This is the first book I read by Julia Quinn, so I did enjoy the storyline of how Daphne and Simon met in this book. I also love the trope(s) that were in this book. One, in particular, the Fake/Pretend Relationship. You know it’s never going to continue to be fake. One character or both will eventually fall in love. It’s inevitable.

Julia Quinn was very descriptive in details with the events the characters went to in the book, making it feel like I was there with them. I’m afraid I could not live back in a day where marriages were arranged, and women were not allowed to do certain things because it was frowned upon back then. There’s also the issue of wearing dresses every day. Nope, not this gal here. I love wearing my t-shirt and jeans, especially living in a rural area with livestock.

There was so much drama in this book that kept me turning the pages. Daphne has three older brothers who are protective of her. What does she think they will let her marry just anyone? Nope!

This book has a Gossip Girl feel to it, with the gossip papers from Lady Whistledown going around. I may know who she is but won’t give it away to readers who have yet read the book/series.

Forewarning: This book does have a scene that I would consider a rape scene. I will not go into details with it because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the book or watched the show on Netflix. I was disappointed with this scene, so I gave it 3.5 stars instead of 5 stars.

Standalone or Part of Series: Part of Series.

Steaminess: Some steam towards the end of the book.

HEA: Yes.

Trope: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Shotgun Marriage

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I would recommend it to Historical Romance readers out there if you have read any of Julia Quinn’s other books, too. Again, this was the first book I read from Julia Quinn, and I look forward to diving into the rest of the Bridgerton series this year (2021). I’ll need to read them before the next season comes out on Netflix.

I will say this; this will be my first time I loved the show better than the book. I know it’s due to Shonda Rhimes. She’s amazing! (Although I may be the only person who hasn’t seen Grey’s Anatomy, I plan on changing that soon. I did fall for her show Scandal. I loved that show!!) Shonda Rhimes did a fantastic job with the first season of Bridgerton.

Julia Quinn is often described as writing light and fluffy historical romances. this is neither light nor fluffy.

I enjoyed the first half of the book, although a lot of the plot points that were played as being bonkers/ridiculous were actually kind of disturbing (older brother is so protective he’s a psycho, mother cannot bear to explain “marital relations” to the heroine, etc). middle third dragged. AND THEN.

(spoilers ahead, but ones you need to know before you decide to read this book):

It was a bit of a red flag when, during a big argument about the fact that the hero doesn’t want children, the hero basically threatens spousal rape. (they both “know” he wouldn’t really do it, but that’s not something someone in a loving relationship should EVER say).

I had to stop reading when, a few pages later, the heroine starts having sex with the hero when he is drunk AND asleep and then forces him to come inside her because he’s too disoriented to resist once he is sort of awake. This is not consensual, it’s disgusting, and I had to stop reading because i don’t *want* the heroine and hero to end up together. they are both kind of terrible.

There’s rape in this book and no one seems to want to acknowledge it.
I’m so incredibly disturbed that almost 1600 people gave this book an average of 4.5 stars when the main female character not only rapes her husband but also shows no remorse for it or the damage she seems to have caused his mental health. Just because the author decided to gloss that over with a he gets over it and they live happily ever after doesn’t erase the facts.
It’s rape people.
You can find a thousand different ways to justify or explain it away in your brain in order to not hate this but it’s still rape.

And why would you?? This was a pretty poorly written book even before we hit the rape scene. Like conversations between the duke and daphne are so incredibly torturous and long that I wanted to stop reading it altogether. And they’re so so bad. Like at so many points Daphne does something “bold” and it makes the duke flinch or react in such a comically exaggerated way that imagining it happen just made me cringe. Like if the man spent his 20s partying it up and his 30s traveling the world, a sheltered London society girl doing something different shouldn’t garner that kind of reaction at all.
Plus if you took a shot for every time that she mentions how having three brothers means she’s got superior insight into male psyche, you’d be drunk and close to alcohol poisoning in no time.
I just...really hope the Netflix show ends up being NOTHING like this book because it’ll be over before it starts for me.

Not much going on with this book. Plot was dull and predictable. The dialogue was not well written. Zero character development. Not even worth a quick beach read.

It is truly awful. How could anyone be ok with the rape scene? I truly had to stop reading there because Daphne comes off as a genuinely selfish, self centered schemer. Her character is boring, plain and ridiculously narrow minded. He should have never forgiven her for what she did. Its pretty disturbing. I hope the creative license for the adaptation is able to fix the story.

Ever since I heard Netflix was adapting Quinn’s Bridgerton Series, I was stoked and knew I had to read the book. I adore everything about historical period pieces but rarely read them. But I knew I wanted to incorporate more historical romances in my reading this year and going forward. Like most readers, I really wanted to read The Duke and I before I watched the series and thankfully I did. It wasn’t hard because the book had my attention from the very first page.

Initially I absolutely liked Daphne and Simon. They were the polar opposite. Daphne was a respectable innocent lady and Simon a charming rake, their chemistry was undeniable and they just fed off each others’ energy. I was all for their ruse and their faux forbidden courtship. But by the midway point the whole honeymoon stage I had with the book started to peter out. Daphne, our heroine turned out to be quite detestable. First, she basically tricked and forced Simon to marry her knowing full well his view on marriage. Simon also mentioned on various occasions that he did not want children. Daphne was well aware of this and still chose and made sure she took advantage of Simon while he was inebriated. Which is clearly not consensual. Not cool at all and an unnecessary plot device. If the roles were reversed or if the novel was written by a man, there would be raging everywhere.

Without those two aforementioned reasons, I actually enjoyed Quinn’s writing. I loved the humor, charm and witty banter between the Bridgertons siblings. Our two leads eventually had their happily-ever-after and Simon forgave Daphne for what she did. But it still didn’t sit well with me that Simon thanked and was grateful that Daphne did what she did. Would you be grateful someone took advantage of you and took away your choice? I think not. As you may have guessed I will not be continuing with the series. To read more Quinn novels would say what happened in The Duke and I was acceptable when it was not.

Side note: I watched the first two episodes of the Netflix adaptation and it is not good. The actors were poorly cast and the show did not capture any of the humor, charm or clever dialogue found in the novel.

There's nothing like a good bodice ripper when you're looking for entertainment, which, in essence, is what the Bridgerton Series on Netflix provides. I wasn't sure I would like it - especially with that Gossip Girl hook - but who doesn't enjoy an historical romance with good costumes? And if you get the Bridgerton brothers confused, you can watch it again and again, until you have them straight. Just plain fun. I was hoping the book would offer the same, if not more - but no.

I found the film series enjoyable because multiple characters are involved in multiple stories at once; the actors are entertaining to watch; Lady Whistledown makes you feel like an insider, and the production is amazing and quite lovely. In the book, we've got Daphne and Simon, with the rest of the family rotating around them like extras. One story line, no mystery, not a bit of suspense to speak of (no one is even remotely interested in who Lady Whistledown might be, which is a good thing, since she serves as a handy and necessary narrator in the series).

And unfortunately, although the characterization of Daphne as "everyone's friend" is understandable, it's not enough to keep me rooting for her throughout the book - not even picturing her as series actress Phoebe Dynevor did that. Nice that the character is clear-headed and kind, but it's just not involving. And the author didn't write with the trend-setting racial diversity that the series produced, so that's a bit of a hiccup when reading about the Duke. And (I can't stress this enough): the plethora of interactive banter may advance the story - and help maintain that frivolous, frothy air - but it doesn't develop the characters. And character development is what makes us care. Even the Netflix production added more dimension to Daphne, in her interaction with with the Cowper girl, on the estate, and with her sisters, while the duke had his boxing and club. I never thought i would write a review indicating that a film provided more color and depth to key characters than the original book, but here I am.

However, in all fairness, the concepts - our hero so scarred by a handicapped childhood, he makes a vow to never have children; the premise that if one man is interested, all men will be - are truly inspired. And coming up with a large family for the heroine (and fodder for an on-going series) - excellent plan.

I've spent years with my favorite books in a similar vein from Laura London, Rebecca Brandewyne, Laurie McBain, and Jennifer Blake, and that's not including efforts in modern settings. I wish I could say this was one of them, a book I'll turn to like an old friend or a series I'll reread when I need a distraction - but no. Just not a keeper. But the series on Netflix? - awesome job. I hope the author takes a leaf from them.

The heroine rapes the hero. This book is not worth reading. The Netflix series is completely undeserved. She justifies it to herself later and is rewarded for her actions. If I could give less than 1 star I would.

I watched a couple of episodes of the Netflix series but haven't read the book and have no desire to read it.