Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Julia Quinn is author of the runaway Bridgerton series of romance novels, focusing on the charming and delightful Bridgerton family as they find love in Regency Era England. I have read the Bridgerton novels and I liked them, the characters always had attitude and snark which I found fun to read about. As I reached the end of the year and needed to finish some of my reading challenges, I needed a cover with a dress featured. Obviously, my next step was to google "books with dresses on the cover" and this came up. Bingo! Focusing on the Smythe-Smith family of terrible musical ability lore, this four part series takes place in the same world as the Bridgerton novels but does not have any of the Bridgertons as a focus. It has a small amount of violence, some blood and medical content, and references of stalking.

Honoria Smythe-Smith is desperate to marry this season. It is her third season and all of her sisters were married by the end of their second. That isn't the reason though. It's because she can't stand to be in the same house with her mother anymore. Ever since her brother Daniel was driven out of England a few years ago, their mother has been despondent and barely functioning. But Honoria hasn't had any great prospects for marriage either, not that any of them ever got around to proposing to her. What she doesn't realize is that her brother asked for one big favor from his best friend, Marcus Holroyd, on his way out of England. Make sure that Honoria doesn't marry anyone terrible. So Marcus, the Earl of Chatteris, has been making sure that all of Honoria's less than ideal marriage applicants have found reasons to go elsewhere. But this year is different. Honoria seems more...intent this season. And when she and her mother help Marcus through a terrible illness and likely save his life, he realizes that perhaps there is one man that wouldn't be so terrible for her to marry. Him.

This book was exactly as I expected: charming and delightful. Honoria may be one of my favorite of Julia Quinn's heroine, she was incredibly loveable. The pace was pretty fast, it did not dawdle, and the characters were all very likeable if not incredibly nuanced or well rounded. And we did get to see a couple of favorites: Colin (being very cheeky) and Gregory Bridgerton make quick cameos, as well as Lady Danbury. The writing, in Julia Quinn's way, was a bit tongue in cheek and sassy. I love it. Not a book with a ton of substance but enjoyable nonetheless.

I'm giving Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn 4 stars out of 5 with a spice rating of 1. Was it a literary masterpiece, no. Was it thoroughly enjoyable, full of fun and quippy characters, and hitting the right vibe, yes. If you're not into romance, this is not going to be the book for you, but if you're looking for something light and airy in between more substantive novels, give this one a try.

For more from Julia Quinn, check out https://juliaquinn.com/

Pairs well with treacle tart and having boots loose enough to slip on and off without assistance.

My favorite quote: "It did not matter that some tragic portion of his ears had died tonight, the rest of him had been awash in happiness."