A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

Julia Quinn is the author of the immensely popular Bridgerton series, which follows the eight charming and very attractive Bridgerton siblings. It's been made into a Netflix series, I'm sure you've heard of it. A Night Like This follows a different family also in the Bridgerton universe. The infamous Smythe-Smith family, whose eligible bachelorettes perform in their annual, eardrum rupturing Smythe-Smith Musicale. A Night Like This is the second novel in the Smythe-Smith Quartet and deals with bullying, gun violence, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, kidnapping, and classism.

Daniel Smythe-Smith, Earl of Winstead, has been on the run from his past mistakes for the last three years. After accidentally shooting and nearly killing his friend Hugh, Hugh's father made it clear that if he ever found Daniel - his life would be forfeit. But now, Daniel has been allowed to come home and his safety has been assured. He is so relieved to be able to see his family again, he knows that his mother has been struggling in his absence and his younger sister is not yet married. What he does not expect to find on his return is Anne Wynter, governess to his younger Pleinsworth cousins. He is immediately smitten, but fears for Anne when he is repeatedly thrown into dangerous circumstances. He may not be safe in England after all! What Daniel Smythe-Smith doesn't realize is that Anne Wynter has secrets, and enemies, of her own.

I chose this book because I needed something light and easy. This book delivered just what I was looking for. It was charming and cute. However, there were a few sections that I felt really tense. I can't ever recall feeling that in a Bridgerton book (maybe at the end of On the Way to the Wedding). That being said, I found myself enjoying watching Daniel Smythe-Smith with his younger cousins and it made me laugh out loud several weeks. Is it anything that hits particularly hard - no. But I didn't want that and this book was exactly what it advertised. An easy, engaging romance with a happily ever after with charismatic main characters and likable secondary characters.

I'm giving A Night Like This 4 stars out of 5. It's not the spiciest book, I'm giving it a 1, but it delivered smiles. I am excited for the third book in the series because I think it focuses on Hugh Prentice and I found him to be a favorite of mine by the end of the book, despite his infrequent appearances.

For more from the author, check out juliaquinn.com/

Pairs well with a cornish pasty and taking up the contrabassoon if that's what you're interested in!

My favorite quote:

"She was never going to get out of here. They'd find her dried up and lifeless body years later, flung over a tuba, two flutes making the sign of the cross."

Review of Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn - The Smythe-Smith Quartet book 1