(Actually, probably 2.5, but Cannonball doesn’t let you give half stars.)
Sophia Beckett, an Earl’s by-blow, has been reduced to being a lady’s maid/scullery maid in her own house after the death of her father. She keeps dreaming of a better life that she believes will never come true. Until the night that the Bridgertons are throwing a masquerade ball, and her fairy godmother fellow servants find a way to get her there. Having only a few hours before midnight, her night is full of…solely Benedict Bridgerton. He is everything she wants. She’s his mysterious “lady in silver”. All they have is one night. Until two years later when their paths cross again. She could never forget him, he could never forget her. Too bad that she knows him, and he can’t pick the lady in silver out of the line up of one maid. But that’s okay, because he’s starting to lust after Sophie. What will happen when he realizes that the “Lady in Silver” he wants to marry and the maid he wants to make his mistress are one and the same? And will Sophie allow anything to happen when her heart is on the line? Cinderella: Regency Bodice Ripper Edition here we come!
A couple of weeks ago, I binge watched all three seasons of Bridgerton on Netflix. (The joy of coming down with my yearly Winter cold.) I actually liked it more than I thought it would (and I lay a chunk of that at the feet of Queen Charlotte; I would die for that woman), and was looking forward to Season Four. Then I read this book. Now, I don’t know if even Charlotte can get me to watch it if the plot is even one tenth like the plot of this book. For the first time in a while, I hit a book that I almost did not finish, it almost broke me that much.
Benedict has to be the worst, most selfish ass (for the majority of this book) that I have read in a Bridgerton book so far, which after Simon and especially Anthony, I found shocking. (And yes, I am one of if not the first to acknowledge that you should judge people in historical situations by modern sensibilities, but really? How does Quinn think she wrote him as a sympathetic never mind desirable character?) What he pulls blackmailing getting Sophie to London, never mind the slamming her to the ground near the pond on his estate, or the feeling she should get down on her knees and thank Providence he’s offering to make her his mistress, or that she owes him because he saved her from being gang-banged (so human decency is now transactionable?) or the whole “the horses are stolen, so how adorably naive of you to think you can lock the barn door”, or the belief that her sense of self is a personal attack on him….let me just say that Benedict gives me plenty of reasons to think either Bedlam or a noose/straight edge razor would have been a better choice for Sophie than a wedding ring. (Or maybe kicking him until he’s sterile; why should she be the one to suffer because of his bad behavior?) Sophie meanwhile, has the problematic habit of trading her self-preservation and self-worth for panting after Benedict. He treats her like crap 95% of the time, but because he’s attractive and one night he treated her decently when the rest of her life was in the toilet, and she just can’t stay away from him. Gurl, learn to love yourself before you try to love anyone else. Rosamund and Araminta (Sophie’s step-sister and stepmother) are so cartoonishly villainous they’re practically caricatures. I do feel for her other stepsister Posy though; it must not be fun to be the other whipping boy/punching bag of the house. I do question why when Muhammad Ali was apparently the girls’ governess he only taught Sophie; with the punches she’s throwing she should have been in “the Thrilla in Manilla”. And when exactly did lady’s maids go through their days doing their household duties in just shoes (or boots), stockings, drawers, and a dress? There were absolutely no chemises or foundation garments in the servant class wardrobe in Regency England? To be honest, the best and most redeeming parts of this book were the women: Violet, Francesca, Eloise, Hyacinth, Penelope; they were the reason to read this book. They were smart, intuitive, insightful, caring, snarky, and got far more done than any of the men could have possibly. And yes, Benedict has some character growth at the end (he loves Sophie because she sees him as he is, not just as Bridgerton Boy #2), but it was far too late for me. Right now, the only reason I’m going to read the next book is because I liked Colin/Penelope in the tv show, and I want to see how Colin is going to get his foot out of his mouth where Penelope is concerned after what he pulled in this book.
