Bridgerton: The Viscount Who Loved Me

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The Viscount Who Loved Me, a book review

The Viscount Who Loved Me, Julia Quinn’s second book to the Bridgerton series focuses on the eldest son, Anthony. 

Anthony is head of the Bridgerton clan and renowned Rake, holding a lot of responsibility yet still has plenty of time to be a scoundrel. The time comes around when he realizes he needs to create an heir for the Bridgerton estate. The mission: to look for a wife to be bred, not love.

It was a little unexpected considering his upbringing with being close to his father and also witnessing an endearing and loving relationship between his mother and father. Nonetheless, he is a rake, and he is determined to be that way until he butts heads with a young lady named Kate Sheffield.

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

The Author’s note

Before I delve further, I want to start with the author’s note at the end of the book. Julia Quinn does address criticism of her character Anthony, and how irrational he is in how he views and processes his father’s death and his mortality. I am glad the author did mention this. She noted how much psychology went into developing Anthony’s character. The irrational behaviors and thoughts are normal male behaviors for men and boys who go through difficult times of losing a father.

I want to mention this because there were times when I was rolling my eyes over Anthony and his train of thought. I remember I was doing it with Simon in the first book as well. The author’s note did give me some reflection since I thought a few times that these traits aren’t realistic for people. I was wrong, and thinking about it more, it does make sense. I do find that men often do act like idiots, and Julia Quinn’s writing and research about men, even over 200 years ago, do hold to my opinion.

Netflix

The Bridgertons season two is focused on Anthony and Kate’s love story. At this point, there are so many differences it is worth writing a separate post about the Netflix series. But I want to dive into a few differences from some of the characters and my thoughts about it, while also using some compare and contrast from the book and TV show.

Anthony

Both book and TV Anthony are absolute rakes. Book Anthony, is more intense and aggressive in his approaches. Netflix Anthony, well, first season he was an absolute dick. In the second season, a clumsy wreck around Kate.

If I had to choose the favorite of the two, it would be the Netflix version. But I still liked the book version as well. I had the same feelings of wanting Kate to smack him in the book as in the TV show, and I got a bit more than I wanted in the book.  

Kate

In both the book and Netflix Kate is a headstrong and stubborn woman. The only real difference I found was that in the book, Kate had insecurities that arose due to being plain compared to her younger sister Edwina. In the Netflix show, this was not the case for Kate, but she was a lot more stoic.

Other Characters

I realized that each book now has a main and heavy focus on one couple. However, in this book, I did see more details about the other characters. It was more likely that the main characters did engage with them more. It was something I did like a lot about this second one.

Daphne

I found Daphne to be more amiable in this book. I liked her more in this book than her appearance in the second Netflix season.

Collin

Collin played an influence on Anthony and Kate’s match and also a very charming Bridgerton brother.

Penelope

A lot more was written about Penelope, she spoke and interacted with the main characters significantly in this book.

An Austen Moment

To wrap up this brief review, I want to mention my findings about Jane Austen in this book. It was in chapter five, though I won’t tell you exactly what it is. You will have to read it to find out yourself!

Purchase the book here! Or if you prefer, listen to the audiobook!

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