Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

And now a hit Netflix show

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

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My book club chose to read The Duke and I (2000) by Julia Quinn. I wasn’t super excited about this pick because I was pretty familiar with the storyline. I’d already watched the first season of Bridgerton, which was based on The Duke and I. I was also pretty sure I’d previously read the book, but I couldn’t remember when. If I have read it, it was before Cannonball Read started because I couldn’t find a review of it. Anyway, because of the familiar territory, I decided to listen to this […]

“Isn’t it nice,” the older lady said, leaning in so that only Penelope could hear her words, “to discover that we’re not exactly what we thought we were?”

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

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This is a re-read for me, put to the front of the line by a weeklong battle with a sinus infection and certain sectors of my social media intake being flooded with Bridgerton season three promos featuring Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton as Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton. As I am not made of stone, I’ve read all 8 main Bridgerton books, watched the first two seasons of the show (a lack of Netflix subscription prevented my viewing of the Queen Charlotte season), and have […]

You know what this franchise needs? A spin-off!

Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

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Every once in a very great while, I enjoy a romance novel of the Harlequin variety. My mom used to read them when I was a kid (and she had at least one very awkward convo with my precocious-reader-self about how those books were not appropriate for me to read (even if left lying around) (and spoiler alert: her reasons only made me more curious)), and my college roommate would occasionally spend a Sunday procrastinating from all her schoolwork by tearing through some truly ridiculous […]

You’re never going to believe who ended up being my hero.

Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

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When I sat down to compile my best of/worst of list for 2021, Quinn’s books fell on both. I guess you will have to wait until the lists are published in a couple of weeks, but I will say that I credit the Bridgerton series with getting me out of my pandemic reading slump. They were just the page turners to yank me out of my anxiety jumbled brain. Once I dispensed with the “main” books in the series, I had to hunt down all […]

And all for a spot of snow.

The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown by Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, Mia Ryan

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CBR13 BINGO: Old Series (Lady Whistledown Series 2003) BINGO! (The Wilds to Free row) When I finished the Bridgerton books, I snatched up all of the Bridgerton adjacent novels. I figured I would bust them out once the weather got cooler (it will get cooler, right?) and I could curl up with a cup of tea and while away an autumn afternoon with Regency shenanigans. I guess taking advantage of a momentary reprieve of almost 90 degree weather before ramping right back up into the high 80’s AGAIN kinda works? In my […]

I should have known better than to read this book

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

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Content warnings: reproductive coercion I did not like this book, but maybe would have given it three stars if I wasn’t so irate by what I honestly already knew was coming, which is some shady business around one of my “favorite” pet peeves. I also know that general consensus has the latter books are better than this book, and maybe I will get around to reading them. But for now, I am just going to get grumpy and rage-y about this book. First off, a […]



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