Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4)

by Julia Quinn

Everyone knows that Colin Bridgerton is the most charming man in London . . .

Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend's brother for...well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret...and fears she doesn't know him at all.

Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone's preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can't seem to publish an edition without mentioning him in the first paragraph. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same—especially Penelope Featherington! The girl haunting his dreams. But when he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide...is she his biggest threat—or his promise of a happy ending?

• ISBN10: 0380820846
• ISBN13: 9780380820849
• Publish Date: 2 July 2002
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 13 July 2011
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 370
• Language: English

Reviews

[pamela]

While Romancing Mister Bridgerton was the least offensive of the Bridgerton series so far, it still fell into the same toxic tropes of glorifying mediocre men.  But worst of all, the writing in it was so incredibly lazy!  This book was romance by numbers, with the actual romantic parts skipped over in favour of faux drama.

The relationship between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington never actually developed.  We've known since book one that Penelope was in love with Colin, but on Colin's part, his love for Penelope existed for no other reason than the plot demanded it.  His personality had to change for that to happen.  Gone was the sweet, funny young man from the previous books (his character was always a highlight), and he was replaced with a man crippled with toxic jealousy and an almost violent temper to boot!  Former Colin was a romantic hero I could get behind.  New Colin is just another privileged, controlling Bridgerton brother.

The laziest part of Romancing Mister Bridgerton was the Lady Whistledown reveal, however.  That Penelope Featherington is Lady Whistledown made perfect sense to the plot, but what didn't make sense was the first quarter of the book trying to hide that fact.  Much of the conversation surrounding Whistledown is held in Penelope's presence, and she has no reaction during her internal monologues. It's just so, so lazy!  Penelope's Whisteldown identity didn't exist for the first quarter of the book because it would have been inconvenient and spoiled the reveal, but there are ways to have Penelope react in natural ways without making it seem obvious.  Instead, Penelope's own PoV just ignores the elephant in the room and pretends it doesn't exist until the plot requires it to.

Penelope was a sweet character, and Romancing Mister Bridgerton could have seen her develop into a strong woman of independent means.  Instead, like all Bridgerton heroines, she forgave Colin his horrible behaviour, gave up her own dreams to support those of her husband, and gave away a huge chunk of the savings that could have given her an independent living to an emotionally abusive mother. These are all things the novel holds up as laudable traits.  It's always a happy ending when a woman gets married and pregnant.  After all, what else are we good for?

Add to all the above the JQ sex trifecta (boobs, fingers, missionary), and Romancing Mister Bridgerton was an incredibly average read.  It wasn't romantic.  It wasn't sexy.  It wasn't interesting.  

[kimbacaffeinate]

I had such a good time with Colin and Penelope's story. We had quite a few threads, and for those who follow the series, we discover who holds the pen of one Lady Whistledown, gossip columnist extraordinaire.

Colin isn't all happy with the way people perceive him and is prone to travel. Penelope is the best friend of Colin's sister, Eloise Bridgerton,  and has long been in love with him. Unfortunately, he never seems to notice her, but after a slightly awkward situation, he begins to talk to her and discovers there is much more to Penelope than anyone has imagined. The two of them were hilarious together, and Penelope's inner dialogue had me grinning. It was fun learning their secrets.

Penelope at twenty-eight is no longer participating in the season, and despite yearning for Colin, she is quite prepared for life as a spinster. I laughed as she described the perks of no longer being paraded about for the eligible men of the ton. Poor Colin is locked into societies concept of him. He is the "charming and sensible," Bridgerton. Bwahaha...they should see him when dealing with Penelope and Eloise.

I think thus far, Colin and Penelope are my favorite couple of the series. Their chemistry, banter and the delicious heat that followed felt genuine. These are people I would enjoy spending time with, and I can assure you the conversation would never be dull.

Rosalyn Landor continues to narrate the series, and while her male voices will never be favorites, she does manage to give them all a unique voice, capture the period and enhance the story. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Angie]

Much like the previous three books, Romancing Mister Bridgerton is super adorable! Colin has been off traveling through Greece, but now he's back home much to Penelope Featherington's delight. She's been in love with him for the past decade, but is resigned to being a spinster and simply his little sister's best friend. But then things change. Colin and Penelope keep running into each other, and he finally starts seeing her as his own friend, and then something more.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton is full of secrets! Not that it's very dramatic, because it isn't, but Colin and Penelope are both hiding things from each other and from their families. Of course, both of them find out about the other and I think that helped bring them even closer. Penelope has a big secret and I loved it! Colin's secret isn't very juicy, but for him, it's something that he wants to keep close for fear of rejection or criticism. However, Penelope is super sweet and supportive and just amazing. It's no wonder he fell for her.

In addition to the romance and the secrets, Romancing Mister Bridgerton unveils the mysterious Lady Whistledown! I really enjoyed how this all played out. Lady Danbury offered up a thousand pounds to whoever discovers who the gossip columnist is. Obviously everyone starts pointing fingers at everyone, there's a false confession, and general hooplah! Everyone wants to know who's been writing about them for all these years! I have to say that I was very happy with how their identity was revealed.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton was just another very enjoyable addition to this series. The romance is a bit more subtle, since Penelope is already in love and Colin has this random "ah ha!" moment in regards to his feelings toward her. But they're super cute together!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Amanda]

March 2015 reread: I stayed up until 3am reading this book, and I'm happy to say it's just as amazing as the first time around. *flails*

*pauses* *basks in the glow of this book* *basks some more* *stares lovingly at it*

If it's not obviously by the above, I loved this book. L.O.V.E.D. So many of you said how amazing this book was, and I believed you, but it wasn't until I read it for myself that I believed you believed you. You were right. SO RIGHT.

And yes... if you want to experience this book in all its glory, start from the series beginning. Everything BUILDS to this moment. And it is well, well worth the wait. I wanted to reread Romancing Mister Bridgerton before I was even finished with it... it's that good.

We finally learn the identity of Lady Whistledown and even though I thought I knew who it was, Julia Quinn had me second guessing, and that's the sign of a gooooooood mystery. "But... but... I thought it was..." And just when I gave up on my guess... I found out who it was.

And, you know, I adored Penelope. She was smart and funny and I was cheering for her and Colin. I liked Colin's secret. I liked the way he fell for Penelope. Just talking about it makes me want to reread the book. It was everything I was expecting (which is saying something since it was recommended so highly) and more. I laughed out loud more than once.

The Bridgerton family didn't disappoint, either. I love this family. Hardcore. It's one of the reasons why I love Julia Quinn so much---the families. Can't wait to dig into the next book. (And probably reread this one too.)

[nitzan_schwarz]

3.5 stars

I loved this book, but I lowered half a star on inconsistency; we spend half the book in Penelope's mind before we find out her Secret, but never once had her thoughts indicated as such. There is one thing as misdirection, and then there is something completely different as, for the shock value, neglecting the issue all together. She should've thought about Her Secret, or we should've never been in her POV when others were talking about it to see her reaction.

[rakesandrogues]

I liked seeing another side of Penelope. After hearing so much about her unsuccessful seasons, I am glad that she got her chance at a happy ending.

I have to say that I never would have guessed who Lady Whistledown turned out to be.

As much as it was interesting to see another dimension added to Colin's character, I must say that I missed his charming self. I felt that he was just so frustrated and angry a lot of the time.