A review by brookiet1220
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

For someone who doesn't read a lot of romance, I will not say if this is a top-tier friends to lovers novel.  What I will say is that Penelope and Colin's story hooked me from the Prologue.  While both Penelope and Colin have to grapple with different levels of feelings for one another, their love ends up being built on accepting one another.  Colin and Daphne's conversation about "Love" is when Colin realizes the depth of his feelings for Penelope.  The moment when his book arrives and he tells a pregnant Penelope "You shouldn't be on your feet for so long" is a sweet moment.

Colin's jealousy makes him a hard hero to root for at times.  While he knows this trait is unattractive, he bottles it up and in turn makes her think he's repulsed by her.  This makes the reader's heart break for Penelope who has been told that she's undesirable by her family and society.  Colin clearly knows more about sex than Penelope does which makes him more powerful during these moments.  The scene before he moves the wedding date up while he asks her if she's was okay, he does not wait for her to tell him otherwise; he continues based on his desires and her sounds of pleasure.

Portia is just as infuriating in the book as she is in the Netflix series.  Her delusion that Colin wants to marry Felicity not Penelope is aggravating.  His response to this suggestion is that it would be like marrying Hyacinth is funny.  The resolution to how to deal with the Lady Whistledown problem was a bit drawn out. 
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