An Offer from a Gentleman – Julia Quinn

Will he ever find his masked girl?

Title: An Offer From a Gentleman
Author: Julia Quinn
Series: Bridgertons #3
Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
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.

Who was that extraordinary woman? 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?

Thoughts:
An Offer From a Gentleman is a some-what Cinderella retelling. We have our lead woman, Sophie – trapped in a house with a wicked “mother” and her evil (well at least one of them) daughters. Sophie is the bastard daughter of the count that lived there before, although she herself is not aware of this. Cue the drama.

Of course in a Cinderella retelling, the lead should have a Cinderella moment. This is where our lovely Benedict Bridgerton comes into the picture. You know, the second eldest brother in the Bridgerton family. Sophie and him meet at a masquerade, have a love at first sight moment together, and then Sophie disappears. Ultimately breaking Benedict’s heart… 😦

They end up being separated for a year (if I remember correctly) and during this time a lot of things have happened, at least for Sophie’s part. She’s been kicked out of her home after the lady of the house (read wicked stepmother lol) finds out that she borrowed her shoes (which she had borrowed, unknowingly to the step-witch, for the ball). So the next time we meet Sophie she’s working for another family, and this is when Benedict and her meet for the second time. Although, Benedict doesn’t realize it’s her… *crickets* u dumb? The way they meet for the second time isn’t ideal. Benedict has to save her from a tragic fate (won’t spoil why – but gawd.. can men just stop?) which leads him to whisk her away to safety. He’s very intent on taking care of her from that point on, even though he doesn’t recognize her – something Sophie does. DRAMA.

I really like how their relationship grows from there. It’s very cute. It’s very gradual as well, their growing feelings for another. I mean, yeah, Sophie’s been crushing on him for quite a while but during this time she actually gets to know Benedict for a longer period – you know for more than a couple hours lol. The problem for the two is that Benedict can’t let go of his mystery girl – Sophie, that is, but he doesn’t know that. Ahhhhh, why do things have to be so complicated? Because it’s a BOOK. Darn it.

Another thing I really liked is that Benedict took Sophie home to his family and got her a working place at Violet’s home – I really do adore the entire Bridgerton clan. They’re just so sweet! I really enjoyed meeting them all again – Eloise, Hyacinth, Penelope (I know she ain’t family really but she deffo feels like one). And it was really nice to see the way they treated their staff as well. They really took on Sophie and I found it very heart warming.

Buuuut if we’re being honest here, the romance is definitely what caught me. I do love me some love lol. But gawd if I didn’t feel frustrated over their will-they-won’t-they drama. THERE WAS JUST SO MANY THINGS PULLING THEM APART! All trivial of course, but what did I really expect from a romance novel?? Yeah, I’m always falling into the trap. Damn it Alva.

I did really love the ending though as well! It was so adventurous and angsty – aMaZING. It took a whole turn I did NOT see coming – and Quinn I just have to say thank you for that. This installment is definitely one of my favorites of the entire series!

I somehow ended up posting something Bridgerton related near Christmas time this year as well. Or you know, during Christmas, since it’s for me TODAY (the 24th) already – inSANE! In Sweden we celebrate on Christmas Eve ❤

However, if we ignore that it’s Christmas for a sec and get back to the Bridgerton world – I am insanely excited for the upcoming second season of the Bridgerton series on Netflix. Hopefully it will be out very very soon. Therefore, I found it appropriate to continue with my reviewing of the Bridgerton novels, so hopefully more people can find themselves emerged in the Bridgerton world *big smile*. Historical romance novels can never really go wrong, am I right or am I right?

I will also take this opportunity to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all that celebrate it! And to those of you who don’t I wish you a happy day, and Friday, as well!

Hugs!

A Touch of Darkness – Scarlett St. Clair

A Modern Hades and Persephone Retelling

Title: A Touch of Darkness
Author: Scarlett St. Clair
Series: Hades & Persephone #1
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist.

Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever.

The bets does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows – and it’s forbidden.

Thoughts:
I begun reading this novel because it has been raved about. Like rAVED. I noticed that a lot of people spoke about it, and this of course made me feel a need to read it. So here I am. Finished with it. Lol.

I thought it was good and I liked it, but nothing really more than that. I assume I had different expectations of the novel – perhaps I’d expected a bit more mythological vibe since I happen to love greek mythology. However, A Touch of Darkness is set in “our” time period – I’d almost say that it’s set in a lot more modern world then the one we live in. There’s phones, bars, a lot of partying, (all 3 which we have lmao) but here there’s also gods wandering around having special gardens etc. I guess I just sort of expected a more ethereal vibe, and, I’m just gonna say it, this was not the novel I thought I’d be reading haha. But I did like the dynamic between Hades and Persephone – they’ve always been one of the parings in greek mythology that has intrigued me the most. Since, like some of you probably knows, Hades is sort of Persephone’s uncle actually? Yeah, that will be the gods for you.

Anywayssss, I liked that you slowly got to know the character’s in the novel through their actions, and that they’re not really what you believe they are – especially Hades. I also really enjoyed following Persephone on her journey to connect with her powers, something that she’s had a struggle with. The dynamic between her and her mother probably inflicted on that, and reading about their relationship was very interesting. It definitely wasn’t as I expected, but that seems to be the entire novel lol. I do have a feeling though that there is more to their story than we know, and that Persephone’s mother, Demeter, isn’t telling us everything. I also really enjoyed reading about Persephone’s friendship with her best friend Lexa – a name that reminds me of Lexa in The 100 series 😦

My favorite thing about the novel was probably Hades and Persephone’s relationship. Figures I’d enjoy the romance most haha. I liked the suspense, angst and emotions between our two main character’s. A warning for sensitive reader’s are that there is some mature content.

So now to the big question, since this is a series – will I read the upcoming novels? And the answer is, yeah most likely. This didn’t end on a cliffhanger, but I still have this vague urge to see what will happen to our goddesses and gods.

I hope you will have a wonderful day!

Hugs!

The Guinevere Deception – Kiersten White

There is nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Title: The Guinevere Deception
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Camelot Rising #1
Rating: 3,5/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution – send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife… and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name – and her true identity – is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old – including Arthur’s own family – demand things continue as they have been, and the new – those drawn by the dream of Camelot – fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

Thoughts:
Merlin, a BBC series, is one of my favorite series ever, and since I was a kid (around 8 years old) I’ve loved the Arthurian legend. This was one of the primary reasons for why I was so excited to read The Guinevere Deception. Arthur has always been a favorite of mine (in the series at least), and to read someone else’s view of him was incredibly interesting.

First of all, let’s just take a moment to admire the cover’s beauty. *silence* It’s beautiful isn’t it? I completely love the coloring – the dark blue and gold mixed together. Everything about it just screams ethereal, doesn’t it? And let’s not even begin with how beautiful Guinevere is on the cover (I think it’s her haha at least).

Aaaaanyways, let’s get back to the actual reviewing of the novel.

So, the not-really-Guinevere is the person we get to follow throughout the novel. We first get to meet her while she is making her way to Camelot with her entourage. There we meet her lady-in-waiting (I think?) and Mordred. For those who have seen Merlin you know who Mordred is (but if you don’t I won’t spoil it for you). Later on we get to meet Arthur. The LOVE of my LIFE. He wasn’t perhaps my favorite in this novel, but in Merlin he ALWAYS is. Although, Arthur was as I pictured him when he was described physically. But, I suppose since I’m under the influence of the BBC series I expected a bit more personality, and perhaps the same banter I’m used to? So I was a little disappointed about that. Otherwise I did like him. In the novel to say.

I think my favorite character in the novel is not-really-Guinevere (she is not referred like that in the novel haha). I think there was a lot of character in her, and she just intrigued me with her magic and so on. The novel actually begun with quite a few intrigues, and questions. There was a lot I didn’t expect, which was very fun to read about. The relationship not-really-Guinevere had with Arthur, Merlin, Mordred, Lancelot etc. were interesting to follow. Lancelot’s story was really intriguing, and fun to read about – it was definitely not as it seemed. I was also very happy that there was some LGBTQ+ representation. Since this is played out in a time where it isn’t so common/much spoken about it was nice to see that the author didn’t neglect that same-sex relationships could very much happen as well.

One of my biggest questions regarding this novel though is that I’M STILL not particularly sure who the black-haired girl is (mentioned in the synopsis). I mean yes, I have my suspicions, but I’m not entirely sure who it is. I can tell you that I have two potential candidates haha.

I notice now that I’ve forgotten to mention Morgana! How awful of me! For those of you interested, yes, we do get to meet her through snippets in the novel. Her story was a bit unclear in the beginning, but after a couple of chapters you began to sort of understand haha.

The ending of the novel was okay. I would’ve wanted, and sort of expected, a more “spectacular” ending. I felt like it just sort of ended. Sure there was twists and turns, but they could’ve been explored in more depth in my opinion. Hopefully this is what Kiersten White will do in the second novel in the series.

All in all, it was a good book and if you like history, magic, fantasy, and some romantic hints etc. this is most likely a novel for you! I would recommend it.

Thanks for reading this review! Hope you have a nice day, and that you’ve had a wonderful New Year’s! 😀

Hugs!