Our Hero

Name and rank: Sir Phillip Crane, a Baronet

Age: 30

Backstory: Phillip was a second son who expected to have to make his own way in the world. He went to school and studied Botany and plants are still his first love. When his brother died, Phillip suddenly inherited everything: the title, the estate… and in a way his fiancee. Phillip’s first wife had been engaged to George. When George died, Phillip stepped up and married her for… reasons. We never really get that explained to us. But, Marina had her own issues. Namely, depression that she had had to some extent even as a child. Losing George probably made it worse. And then she and Phillip had children. Twins, in fact. And while it’s never explicitly said, this seemed to have added postpartum depression to the mix. And, since mental health care was not a thing in the 19th century, this condition was left untreated. Which eventually led to her suicide.

While their marriage was not a love match, and rather simply him taking care of the woman his brother had loved, her death still hit Phillip hard. Not at all helped by him being left with two young children to raise by himself. Though, to be fair, he was pretty much raising them by himself, anyway. Marina’s depression resulted in her very rarely leaving her bed. She saw her children only when they went to her.

Further complicating Phillip’s situation is the fact that he was badly abused by his father for his entire childhood. Out of fear of turning into his father and being abusive as well, he mostly stayed away from his own children. Which resulted in them turning into quite the little beasts in an attempt to gain some attention, but he was so emotionally damaged and afraid of hurting them, that he couldn’t see that his way of protecting them was hurting them.

Our Heroine

Name and rank: Eloise Bridgerton. The fifth child and second daughter of a Viscount. Though, by the time our story starts she is now the sister of a Viscount.

Age: 28

Backstory: Eloise’s father died from anaphylactic shock as a result of an allergic reaction to a bee sting when she was just a child. She was actually with him, at the time. Though, that particular trauma doesn’t seem to affect her much, anymore. Certainly not the way their father’s death affected her eldest brother. Though, perhaps that is a testament to Anthony’s willingness to step up and take care of everyone, that none of the others seem to be having issues later on.

Eloise is definitely getting to spinster age, though that is not out of lack of options. She has turned down several proposals in her time on the marriage mart. Though, it is hard to tell exactly what she is looking for. She had eventually accepted spinsterhood, and had nebulous plans for her and her best friend Penelope Featherington to just be spinsters and then old maids together. But, then, Penelope married Eloise’s brother, leaving Eloise once again adrift without a plan for her life.

The Set-up And Premise

Eloise was a distant cousin of Marina’s, and when Marina died, Eloise wrote to Phillip, expressing her sympathies. Somehow, they became pen pals. They spent about a year writing to each other, and Phillip would often send pressed flowers with his letters. Eloise was possibly just looking for a friend. It’s established that she is a devoted correspondent, often writing letters to everyone she knows – even people who live in the same house as her. Phillip, though, was looking for something a bit more. Or at least towards the end he was. He was looking for a wife. Not necessarily for himself, though. He was looking for a stepmother for his children. He wrote to Eloise suggesting that she come visit and they could see if they suit. He would, of course, arrange for a proper chaperone in the form of his aunt.

Eloise never replied to Phillip’s letter. But, Penelope’s marriage left her out of sorts and with a future that no longer looked at all clear. So, one night, she uses a ball that her older sister throws as a way to basically run away from home, and goes to Sir Phillip with little more than the clothes on her back – and no warning that she was coming so he could make arrangements for his aunt to be there.

My Ratings And Review

The Love Story

Okay, here’s the thing. Eloise and Phillip are both interesting characters. I liked them both for their own sakes, as you will see in a minute. But, the truth is, that I never really bought them as a couple. Phillip’s romantic gesture at the end is sweet, and very romantic, but it seems to come out of nowhere. I never really got a sense of them falling in love with each other. They just suddenly were. If anything, Eloise seemed to love the twins more than her husband. And Phillip seemed more interested in a glorified governess than a wife. The romance felt a bit forced, to be honest.

The Hero

I actually liked Phillip. His trauma and his way of dealing with it were believable. I’ve read complaints that he was too whiny and standoffish, but honestly, considering what he had been through, I don’t exactly blame him. He was troubled, and conflicted. He loved his children, but didn’t know what to do with them. He was a man who was trying so hard, but had absolutely no clue what he was doing and just made things worse. I like a good tortured hero in a romance novel. And Phillip was certainly tortured, and reacted to that in ways that honestly made sense for the character.

The Heroine

I also really liked Eloise. She had her own issues, and things going on. She was well-developed. Smart, sassy, and took absolutely no nonsense. The whole premise started with her taking charge of her own life in a way that most women of her station in that time and place would never have dreamed of. And, throughout the entire book, Eloise did not shy away from going after what she wanted. She has spunk. And the way she dealt with Oliver and Amanda was so perfect. There is only one point where she bent to anybody else’s will. And that was when big brother Anthony informed her that unless she feared Phillip being abusive, she was going to have to marry him after basically living with him for a few weeks. Which, that was just how things were back then. And, there was still Hyacinth to consider. A scandal would affect her, too. And, headstrong and independent as she may be, Eloise is still a Bridgerton. Family still comes first.

The Secondary Characters

This is where the book really shines, honestly. There aren’t a lot of secondary characters, since this mostly takes place in Phillip’s estate in the country, far from the social Season of London. But, the secondary characters that are there pretty much steal the show.

Oliver and Amanda Crane are Phillip’s twin children. They are… little beasts, honestly. A good chunk of the book is spent telling of the pranks they play on Eloise, attempting to scare her off. But, I adored those little brats. They were so funny, and honestly, considering everything they had been through, I just wanted to hug them. I loved reading about them, and how they came to love Eloise. Actually, their love for her was more believable than their father’s love for her. By the end of the book you could see how these children just adored her, and it was really sweet.

And then we have the Bridgerton brothers. All four of them descend on Phillip’s home to rescue Eloise, and it’s both heartwarming and hilarious. In their scenes, we get the humor that this series is known for. Everything about them is solid gold. From threatening Phillip – complete with pinning him to the wall – to discussing a certain barmaids… umm… attributes… they are utterly hilarious. And then we get the conversation between Anthony and Eloise, where he has to put away the big brother hat and put on the surrogate father one. Their scene was just so sweet. His love for her, and need to see her taken care of and save her from scandal is so beautiful.

The Story And Writing

I enjoyed the story. Just, maybe not so much as a romance. As mentioned earlier, I just never really felt them fall in love. There didn’t seem to be a proper progression of it, at all. It was well-written, humorous in places, the family dynamics that the Bridgerton books excel at were spot on and interesting. It’s great as historical fiction, I just don’t know how I feel about it as historical romance.

Final Analysis

It’s a good book. The family scenes, whether that be the Bridgertons or the Cranes, are great. The problem is that a romance novel should make you swoon. It should make you fall in love. It should make you root for the main couple. And this one did none of those things. I adored Eloise and Phillip separately. I just didn’t care for them as a couple. Which is, unfortunately, a kiss of death for a romance novel.

3.5 out of 5 stars.