It's in His Kiss: 4 Stars

Making my way through the Bridgerton series with book number seven, "It's in His Kiss" by Julia Quinn. Below I'll give a brief plot and my personal thoughts on this novel.

Plot

This novel follows the story of the youngest Bridgerton sibling, Hyacinth, and Gareth St. Clair soon to inherit the title of Baron. Hyacinth, the spunkiest of the Bridgerton series makes no effort to hide her intelligence and wit to potential suitors. For this reason, as the novel takes place in the 1800's, she remains unmarried.

Hyacinth and Lady Danbury, a favorite in most of the Bridergton novels have developed a close relationship through Hyacinth's daily reading visits. It's during one of her visits where Hyacinth first meets Lady Danburry's grandson, Gareth St. Clair, a known Rake(playboy) among the Ton.

Most of the Ton know Gareth and his Father do not get along to the point where they can't be in the same room together. What no one knows, is why? Hyacinth's and Gareth's relationship begins when Gareth needs help translating an old diary from his Italian grandmother. Hyacinth, being well versed in the Italian language offers to translate.

Throughout her translating, Hyacinth and Gareth develop a friendship and together they piece together the mystery of Garth's past and uncover a secret his grandmother had been hiding for decades.

As the story progresses their relationship blooms only to be threatened by the revelation of more secrets.

My thoughts

The further I get into the series, the more I enjoy the books. Hyacinth has a bit more of a backbone and is not afraid to take a risk, or many. I also appreciate how their relationship had a bit more time to bloom. Not a lot, mind you, but more.

As always, I can't help but get frustrated with the rules and expectations for women. For example, on page 333 in my version at least, I literally cringed when I read the line "When we are married you will not leave the house without my permission." This particular line was in reference to Hyacinth sneaking out alone at night. It's implied that if a woman goes anywhere alone at night or not, she will immediately be attacked. I'll admit, I am not familiar with what the streets of London were like in the 1800s and I'm assuming there was little light on the streets so I'm sure it was dangerous, but I can't help but be annoyed with the view of women as such delicate creatures who couldn't navigate away from danger.

I did enjoy the extra level of mystery that had been missing in the previous Bridgerton novels. Hyacinth and Gareth break the rules, sneak out at night and even do some breaking and entering in order to find something his Grandmother has hidden in his Father's house. I won't spoil it and tell you what they look for but I will tell you that you'll need to read the second epilogue in order to find out if they were successful.

Other than my frustration with the time period, I would recommend this novel. As with the other novels in this series, it's a quick and entertaining read. The story moves along and it's easy to keep track of the characters. I typically like to read these novels in-between a more serious read, it's a great break, and sometimes, knowing there will be a happy ending is what I need.

Thank you for reading my review! I'll be posting my review for the last Bridgerton novel, "On the Way to the Wedding" within the next week.

Leah Lawrence