An Offer From a Gentleman {#3 Bridgeton series} - Julia Quinn| Book Review
- Book Info.
- Synopsis.
- Personal Summary.
- Personal Review.
Worth Noting: if you are a fan of Cinderella romance tales and would love to be taken back to the regent era, this book is for you.
Book Info
Book Title: An offer from a gentleman
Author: Julia Quinn
Date of Publication: 3rd July, 2001
Pages: 390
Genre: Historical Romance.
Theme: Servitude.
Author provided Trigger Warning: none.
Rating: 3.9/5 (Goodreads) and4.6 (Amazon)
Will she accept his offer before the clock strikes midnight?
Sophie Beckett never dreamed she’d be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton’s famed masquerade ball—or that “Prince Charming” would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.
Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid’s garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love?[1]
The book starts with an introduction to the Penwood household, an introduction to Sophia Beckett, the bastard daughter of Earl Gunningworth and her two stepsisters- Rosamund and Posy who are the biological daughters of the countess Araminta who had married the Earl.
Sophia is a lover of books- all kinds, and a diehard fan of Lady Whistledown, an anonymous columnist with publication of London's juicy gossips. Though she had been taking in by the Earl as a ward in her tender years, after his death, her stepmother forces her into the role of an unpaid lady maid which is equivalent to being a slave. At the start of the book, Sophia has a Cinderella moment, where she sneaks off for a ball the rest of her family had been invited to with the help of another servant wearing her own stepmother's shoes, stolen gloves and gown.
At the ball, she has an encounter with Benedict Bridgeton, the second son in the Bridgeton household whom she has only ever read of in Lady Whistledown's publications and both of them have a moment that impacts the both of them forever. Just when Benedict thinks he has found the woman of his dreams, she runs away from him at midnight leaving him nothing to identify her by except one of her hand gloves which he had taken off during the heat of their moment.
Sophia's stepmother discovers her secret after Benedict pops by their house in search of a certain woman and in the horrible turn of events, Sophia is thrown out of her home. She decides to steal from the awful countess and find a new life elsewhere- somewhere outside London.
Sophia and benedict reunite at the home of Cavender, an acquaintance to Benedict when he rescues her from getting raped and then employees her right off the bat and whisks her back to London, to his cottage which is named 'My Cottage'. That night, Benedict goes down with a bad cold and fever and Sophia, still harboring feelings from ever since that night, nurses him back to health.
Over the course of a few days, Benedict begins to realize his own feelings towards Sophia and decides that he cannot lose her the way he had lost the other woman and proposes the idea of her being a mistress to him. Sophia understands that making her his wife is impractical in a society like theirs and tells him that despite the reciprocated feelings, she absolutely cannot be his mistress. Eventually, he comes to find out that she herself was a result of her mother being a mistress, thus her strong conviction against being a mistress.
Benedict blackmails her into returning home with him saying she is unfit for the life of a regular servant and gets his mother to employ her as a properly cared for lady maid and still does his best coaxing her to be his mistress, but even after breaking her oath of never sleeping with him, she refuses to take the offer from the gentleman,
Eventually, her stepmother finds out that she is back in London and decides to throw her into jail for the theft of her shoe clips and wedding band {the latter was a false accusation} the same day she leaves the Bridgeton home partly due to self-loathing because of her affair with Benedict. In the end, Benedict and his mother comes to bail her and marries her as well while they welcomed Posy, her equally maltreated stepsister into their home.
The book wraps up with us finding out that she has three kids, all male and is even expecting yet another child.
This book was an amazing read and I do not regret spending my entire afternoon and early evening consuming its contents.
Before I dove into the book, I had reservations about it since it was part of the Bridgeton series and I DNF one of its series [as a movie], because I noticed the trend of movie adaptations falling short of reader's expectations. However, the moment I opened page one, I was sucked into the regent world of an amazing romantic Cinderella retelling.
I'll start by listing a few of the things I loved in the book:
- Lady Whistledown's publications.
- The amazing Bridgeton family.
- The amazing writing style.
- Benedict Bridgeton and his 'I get what I want' mindset.
All the summaries and reviews are my personal uninfluenced opinion of the book.
Amazing! Way to go girl!
ReplyDeleteThank youuu
Delete