Upon seeing her best friend become engaged to her brother, Eloise Bridgerton realises that her dreams of growing an old maid with Penelope have been quashed and she must, at long lost, succumb to the pressure of an appropriate marriage. The intriguing pen-pal she has been liaising with seems just the man and so, in true Eloise fashion, she rides straight to him without a moment’s hesitation. Only, her ideal husband turns out to be anything but when she finally meets Sir Phillip in person. 

I truly hated this book. As much as I think it was an interesting look into Eloise’s psyche, reflecting on her views of marriage despite the success her siblings have found in their own matches, and cementing the level of friendship between her and Penelope, I spent the entire novel thinking “she could do way better!” Sir Philip is awful! He’s a terrible father, neglecting his children completely then acting surprised that he has no tangible relationship with them. He’s a terrible husband, assaulting his first wife Marina who was suffering with depression, then expecting Eloise to simply fill the shoes of mother and wife with no consideration of her as a person. He’s another victim of Quinn’s “all men are always angry and mean” characterisation, and even though there’s something endearing about his profession as a botanist, it does nothing to soften his character into anything like likeable. Eloise could have had such a wonderful story of discovering her queerness, or finding a marriage of convenience to support her desire for education, or even just another boring not-quite-enemies-to-lovers story like her siblings. Instead, she landed herself as a glorified replacement, and I hated every minute of her ending up there.