⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

TW: death of parent, grief, trauma, injury detail

Although I didn’t love the first book in the Bridgerton series as much as I had hoped, I heard good things about the second book and I am really glad that I continued with the series.

The second book in the Bridgerton series follows the eldest Bridgerton son, Anthony, as pressure rises for him to find a wife. However, Anthony is not as straightforward as other characters may view him to be, there is a lot beneath the surface, and I loved delving deeper into his character to understand more about him.

This novel also gives us the Sheffield family, a new family to the series consisting of Kate, her sister Edwina, and their mother Mary. I liked this new family and look forward to seeing them portrayed in the Netflix series.

So, when Anthony decides it is indeed time to marry, he wants to find the finest girl of the season. That girl is Edwina, but Kate has learned a lot about Anthony via Lady Whistledown and she is not going to let her sister marry such a rake.

Quinn gives us well-rounded and complex characters in this novel, and I enjoyed the exploration of their characters and the events that transpired to make them who they are. In fact, Kate had more of a personal story than I was expecting, but I am glad that she did. Her story was darker than I anticipated, but it kept me reading, added to the narrative and helped to make this a really good read.

Amongst darker moments in the novel, there are also funny and light hearted moments. The games of Pall Mall were particularly amusing.

As with the previous novel, I liked the Bridgerton family relationships and found the elder brothers particularly amusing. It was also nice to see Daphne and Simon again, and I’m glad that they weren’t left behind in the first novel. However, as with the first book, Quinn does focus on two central characters whilst the rest appear but don’t have key narratives.

Structurally, this novel had many of the same key points as the first novel, but I much preferred the narrative and characters in this novel.

Of course, Lady Whistledown is still here to comment on the events of the novel, but even she may not understand the depths of these characters.

Overall, I liked the characters and their complexities in this novel, and I really enjoyed the narrative. I would recommend this book, especially if you can’t wait for series 2 of Bridgerton. Even if you weren’t totally sold on the first novel, I’d say to try this one instead.