Bridgerton: An Offer from a Gentleman

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An Offer from a Gentleman, a book review

On to the third book in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn, we focus now on Benedict Bridgerton. Except the real main character in this story is Sophie Beckett, Benedict’s love interest. There is a heavy focus on Sophie and her life before meeting Mr. Bridgerton as well as her thoughts and actions throughout the story. 

Following Sophie’s story takes you on a Regency-Era Cinderella storyline. Born into misfortune and continuing to bump into misfortune no matter her efforts. It isn’t until Benedict unexpectedly shows up in her life, not once, but twice, and drastically changes her world. Both having to deal with conflicting emotions as well as the challenges of social hierarchy they face, shows the challenges and complexities that can come with love. In the end, your favorite characters win and the ones you hate face their karma.

You can purchase the book on Amazon here, or listen to the audiobook on Audible!

Thoughts

After each book I’ve read, I end up loving it more than the last. It has to do with seeing the main characters interact more with other characters, as well as getting to see other side characters’ stories and their personalities.

I do have to say though, I am noticing a trend. The men main leads in these books seem to get irrationally angry. I mean, they seem to lack mindfulness or other’s perspective. I do not really like this trait, but I do have to give Julia Quinn credit, she makes her men realistic in that sense. The anger though, I am going to have to guess that it is them not knowing how they feel, they are just angsty, or the fact that they are spoiled rich boys. I am glad to say that the aggression seems to have waned a bit through each character’s story.

Benedict

When Benedict first meets Sophie, she is in a masquerade disguise. She does not reveal her identity and flees into the night, leaving Benedict smitten and wanting more. It isn’t until he meets her again two years later. He starts to fall in love with her, but he does not know that he has met her before because Sophie did not tell him. So he is torn between falling in love with someone in the servant class, and a mystery lady he met a few years back. The irony is that his conflicted love between two women is actually just one.

It reminds me a little bit of the 80’s TV cartoon called Jem and the Holograms. It’s about a girl named Jerrica who can transform into an alter ego named Jem. Her boyfriend, Rio, loves Jerrica but has become smitten with Jem. So Rio “dates” both of them. Jerrica is heartbroken by it, even though she just doesn’t tell Rio that she is Jem. I just think it is silly and a bit confusing about it as well. I believe Rio was feeling confused as well. If you are interested in watching this cartoon, you can purchase it on Amazon here.

Anyway, I am just glad that Benedict and Sophie’s story did not get as goofy as that.

Sophie

I like Sophie, but there were a lot of times when I was frustrated with her. She kept withholding information and made up little lies instead of just being honest. It truly prolonged the drama and at some points, it felt like it was dragging. I did have to stop myself and reflect. Sophie lived her life making to feel ashamed of who she was. It was drilled into her that if people found out, life for her would get a lot worse than it already was. I think it is silly, but if that is all a person knows or was conditioned their whole life to know that, then it isn’t silly. Sophie is just a victim of misfortune and a toxic culture and environment. Luckily her life turns around and she becomes happy and well-off.

Timeline

Thought about the timeline came up for me in this series. I am starting to see more time jumps, mostly at the epilogue, but this book does have a two-year jump in it as well. I am wondering with so many characters it must be a major challenge to get all the stories to line up to create continuity.

An Austen Moment

I caught a few surnames used that come from Jane Austen’s novels. I found a Bennet, a Wickham, and a few Wentworths throughout the story. Wickham, I will give away the identity, is Violet Bridgerton’s (the mother of all the Bridgerton siblings) butler. If Wickham was mentioned in the previous books, and if he was, it went right over my head. I am surprised because it would have piqued my interest.

I wonder if the use of these surnames could be an indication of tying Jane Austen’s world to the world of Bridgerton?

To read the book, purchase here, or listen to the audiobook here!

Read next: Book 4- Romancing Mister Bridgerton

Previous Bridgerton book reviews: Book 1 and Book 2