It's In His Kiss
by Julia Quinn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Julia QuinnEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-06-28
ISBN: 006053124X
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Avon
Book Reviews of It's In His Kiss
Book Review: Just OK....Julia had to rush to finish this...and sadly, it shows
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a huge Julia Quinn fan...SO huge that with the release of each and every JQ novel, I read through the entire Bridgerton Series in time to read the latest offering. I have turned many a friend to JQ...and right now I feel egg on my face
YES... I am afraid this is not her best work.
I will not recap the story--there is an excellent recap above, but I would like to comment as to why I--and two of my friends--found this book lacking. (AND btw I loved When He Was Wicked....so I do not see this as a trend...) Granted, this is better than most of the fare out there..but to me..that is not good enough. JQ has been nothing short of brilliant thusfar in her career....and we can all forgive bits and pieces..but not such huge gaps.
*****AND I should add--I do recall reading on her website that with this particular book she had started it..scrapped it after maybe 100 pages/several months (thus she had not read anything as she was busy catching up...) and ultimately she started over.
She had never done this before.
I am disappointed that her publisher and editor did not extend her deadline and allow her to create a complete full bodied book--with plausable motivations and memorable characters. We don't know if she asked for this extention..but ANY good editor or publisher whose job is to guide a shining star such as JQ... SHOULD have the wisdom to send their writer back to fix up a book that could have been fixable...because frankly this book could ruin the reputations of writer, editor AND pubisher...
So..in my opinion, this is more of an imperfect draft that I am sure...if Julia had been given an extention...she would have realized some of the grave flaws I captured below-and exchanged them with some of the full bodies characters and pomp and spark that we so love in JQ books!****
No more interuptions...here are my reasons:
1) No real chemistry. Sure, at the Smyth-Smith concert there are a few flickers..but no real sparks. And as the book progresses--NO flames.
I just didn't CARE if these two ever ever got together. Period.
(BTW I think Gregory should be paired up with a Smyth-Smith--it is about time! And the possibilities here are delightful!)
AND what is this?? After a frank discussion with Violet, Hy wonders about some of the guys she may have turned away? No way! The ONLY guy for her is the hero..yet we wonder if even SHE isn't sure about him--that she has to hold onto this guy as she has already let too many fish get away.
2) Hyacynth is not especially likable--and part of it is JQ TELLS us she is this or that but she does little to SHOW us Hy's attributes. We are constantly reminded that she is smarter than most men and that she is very clever. Yet, when it comes down to it... she seems to have no real personality of her own. Show us how she is clever and diabolical...please. Hy seems more like a character out of Mean Girls than a heroine that we could AND should relate to. IE at the Smythe-Smith concert..it is more of a joke..vs Penelope who had gone because she FELT for these poor talentless women. Hy seems almost smug in her knowledge that she is a Bridgerton and everyone will be beholden to her because of this..vs someone who is more of an individual....and people want to be with her because of HER. Thus, there is not a lot about her to like.
I have found that there was more character developement in JQ's short stories than what was displayed in this book. Readers need to FEEL something for the heroine and sadly, we felt zero.
3) I admire Julia Quinn for trying something new--and in this case, a mystery, but I never found myself waiting for the big reveal. No suspense. No surprise. Again, each character knows a secret that they are keeping from the other..but there is NO feeling! VERY unsatisfactory. In fact, had this been resolved in a satisfactory fashion, I may have a TOTALLY different rating. But the way this book ends really reveals how little the mystery really meant to the story. YET this WAS a romantic mystery...yet there was no romance nor any mystery. Bleh. I just hope this is Julia's last mystery. Or, she needs to read some Agatha Christie before she attempts another. And the last page of the book reveals how little this mystery really had to do with this story.
4) The first sex scene is really..shall I use the word...unnecessary?? Ok the motivations of Gareth to 'bed' her is REALLY weak..and thus it just seems that JQ put that scene in there because 2/3rds of the book went by and there had not been any sort of sex scene. Gratitious. :(
5) The Bridgerton clan is more of a guest appearance...and tired at best. Gregory does not seem more than remotely interesting--and he is the last book. He just seems REALLY dull. :( And Anthony! UGH! Just ruined the Viscount that Loved Me for me...
What I really wonder is why Anthony is written the way he is..when he married a far more difficult woman than Hy..a woman who was not afraid to speak her mind when she had too many years on the shelf and was outspoken as all get out--without any sort of fortune or grand family name behind her. There is no way that after living with Kate all of these years that Anthony would have handled Hy the way he did....
6) Gareth's parentage. I think that having something similar (two brothers/like brothers) two books in a row was not the freshest idea...and this goes back to my rushed idea. I don't have the eww factor that others have..but more that this seems that the writer is out of any sort of fresh ideas.
7) While I am at it, I am pushing for JQ to do a book on Violet's story. Yea, we know it ends sadly, but like Star wars Episode three, we know the outcome, we just want to know how she go there!
Summary of It's In His Kiss
Meet Our Hero . . .
Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth's sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past . . . and the key to his future. The problem is?it's written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.
Meet Our Heroine . . .
All the ton agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She's fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken, and according to Gareth, probably best in small doses. But there's something about her?something charming and vexing?that grabs him and won't quite let go . . .
Meet Poor Mr. Mozart . . .
Or don't. But rest assured, he's spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual?and annually discordant?Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth's every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other . . . and that there is nothing as simple?or as complicated?as a single, perfect kiss.
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