Just Like Heaven
Charming
Comforting
Refreshing

Just Like Heaven

Julia Quinn2011
After they survive a deadly fever and the world's worst musical performance, Honoria Smythe-Smith, a really bad violinist, and Marcus Holroyd, her older brother's best friend, fall desperately in love.
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Reviews

Photo of Hannah Williams
Hannah Williams@folklorereads
4 stars
Feb 8, 2024

enjoyable period romance

+3
Photo of Safiyah Young
Safiyah Young@safiyahleane
4 stars
Jun 18, 2023

Julia Quinn knows how to do the thing. I can always count on her to create compelling, complex characters who find themselves in interesting and quirky situations. As always, this was such a delight to read.

I'm excited to see how the Smyth-Smiths are explored throughout the series.

Also, the Bridgerton cameos and references are always appreciated. Love that fam.

+5
Photo of Michaela
Michaela@meileen36
3 stars
Jan 18, 2023

This was a cute read! I love that Honoria had a bit more of a modern vibe to her, idk, it made it a bit different. I liked that Marcus wasn't a territorial animal, it was a nice mix of territorial & respect. My only issue was the quartet scene, I had to skim through it because the second hand embarrassment was too much lol

Photo of Lover of Romance
Lover of Romance @addictedtoromance
4 stars
Jan 1, 2023

Honoria, the youngest daughter of a Earl, and part of the Smuth-Smiths quartet, is in search of a husband. Then she meets up with Marcus, the Earl of Chatteris. Marcus was her brothers best friend, and is surprised to see him. Marcus, promised her brother Daniel that he would look after his sister Honoria, and make sure that she doesn't marry foolishly. But when events occur that put them in close proximity, sparks fly, and even though they both resist at first, they start to fall in love with each other despite injury and sickness, but will their love be strong enough when a secret comes out that Marcus has been hiding from Honoria? Just Like Heaven is the first in the Quartet series and I have always had a love for Julia Quinn. I have to say though at the beginning I had a hard time getting into the story, but thankfully as things started to get Really interesting, I started to get really into the story and the characters. I really liked how both Marcus and Honoria have known each other since childhood, and somehow that friendship turns into something way more than either would have expected. It was fun to see the different mishaps that put these two together. Although this book is far from my favorite of Julia Quinn's, I still really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to any romance lover.....

Photo of Connor
Connor @cgbart
4 stars
Oct 5, 2022

This book was just so pleasant. Of the five books of hers I've read to date, this is probably my favorite--the characters remain delightful as always, but the story is more driven by them than plot, and her writing has more coherence than it did in the early Bridgerton novels. (Plus, I'm a sucker for a good childhood-friend romance story. I blame this entirely on Emma being the first Austen book I ever read.)

Photo of Navya
Navya @nico1195
3 stars
Aug 12, 2022

The epilogue should have been better.

Photo of Kelly Casey
Kelly Casey@caseygirlreads
4.5 stars
May 1, 2022

Honoria the youngest in a large family and Marcus a lonely only child make for such a sweet couple in this brother's best friend historical romance by Julia Quinn set in the same world as Bridgerton. I thought that Honoria's character was well balanced between a young and sometimes annoyingly exuberant personality and a strong insightful young woman who adores her family. Marcus was the shy, strong but silent type with a closet humor that I found endearingly wonderful. I thought their chemistry and history was just so perfect. The humor, angst, and steam of this novel was really great. I haven't read the Bridgerton series, but I have watched the Netflix show and I thought it was great to have familiar characters in the book such as Lady Danbury and Colin and Gregory Bridgerton. I would fully recommend this book to anyone who likes the Netflix show or the brother's best friend trope. It was a great read! The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because it didn't give me that giddy feeling I get after having finished a five star read, and I didn't like how after Honoria read the note she mistakenly believed that Marcus felt nothing for her other than responsibility, even though they had kissed and he had said he saw only her. Then the ballroom scene with the Waltz was just the weirdest bit of miscommunication and misunderstanding for the sake of conflict. Essentially, I wish this book had a better conflict or no conflict. I am perfectly happy with reading a story where the romance itself has no conflict, and the conflict is external (maybe an action plot) or nonexistent. However, this minor conflict was brief and didn't detract too much from the overall enjoyment of the book.

This review contains a spoiler
+4
Photo of Preye
Preye@ayebaipreye
4 stars
Apr 29, 2022

This book has a relatively lower rating and I'm puzzled. The Smythe-Smith Quartet series is my best of Julia Quinn's works. I love the easy banter between the leads and how affectionate they are with each other. Yes, they discover their feelings towards the end of the novel but that's a norm with Historical Romance novels. Some scenes had me laughing so bad and despite the level of hate towards the Smythe-Smith musical showcase, I would love to attend one!

Photo of Jaclyn
Jaclyn@romancebookbubble
5 stars
Apr 24, 2022

SO CUTE!!

Photo of Sandra Gomes
Sandra Gomes@xanoquita
4 stars
Mar 16, 2022

Delicioso :) A história é a do costume, no primeiro parágrafo já sabemos como vai terminar. Mas não posso, mais uma vez, deixar de realçar a vivacidade dos diálogos e a credibilidade das personagens. Temos mais uma aparição da memorável Lady Danbury e da sua bengala e pequenas piscadelas de olhos à série Bridgerton. Ri-me muitas vezes e com gosto, os livros da Julia Quinn são sempre um prazer de ler :)

Photo of Kate
Kate@ifibewaspish
4 stars
Dec 6, 2021

4.5, maybe even a 5. We'll see, as I almost always change my mind and my rating a day or two after I finish a book

Photo of Justine Rose
Justine Rose@justineslibrary
4 stars
Nov 17, 2021

4.5*

Photo of Alexis
Alexis @alexisdanielle
5 stars
Nov 16, 2021

5/5 Stars I adored this book. The writing was great, I really enjoyed the characters. The romance is one of my favorites. I loved the transition that they moved slowly to becoming romantic interests. I also just overall really enjoyed our two main characters. I can't wait to continue reading this series!

Photo of Renee Delcourt
Renee Delcourt@booksteaandchocolate
4 stars
Nov 16, 2021

I read this series out of order sooo I can see this isn't really one you have to read sequentially. I had a lot of fun reading about Honoria and how she and Marcus came to be a couple. I think Honoria's love for her family is beautiful and how much she devotes to her family traditions is just so lovely.

Photo of Lucy
Lucy@loony_lucy
5 stars
Oct 19, 2021

So cute! Marcus and Honoria were so cute and adorable. I loved how Marcus was injured and Honoria was there to nurse him. The stolen treacle treat, surviving a fever and the word's worst musicale was so lovely to read.

Photo of Vanessa Bintou
Vanessa Bintou@nessieb
4 stars
Aug 30, 2021

This was different from what I expected. The characters and the romance were great, but the storyline was a little different from her other books. Most of the book took place in Marcus' home, where Honoria took care of him, after an accident he had that put his life in danger. We had very few scenes in ballrooms etc., but I think I liked that. Marcus and Honoria were both very nice and charming, and the time they spent together in his home, made them release their feelings early in the story! There was a scene after the Smyth-Smith concert that features characters from The Bridgerton series, like Colin and Lady Danbury, my favorite Bridgerton and the best lady in all her series, that made me smile a lot. What I have noticed is that every time I start one of her series, I know which of the characters will have their story, this time I didn't care about any other character. I think that is because I didn't feel as strongly about this book as The Bevelstoke and The Bridgertons series. That doesn't mean that I didn't like or enjoy it. I always have a great time reading Julia Quinn's books!

Photo of Lacey
Lacey@laceybooklovers
4 stars
Aug 26, 2021

This is closer to a 3.5 but it’s still cute and fun! Pretty much exactly what you’d expect from Julia Quinn.

Photo of Danika Taylor
Danika Taylor@danikataylor
4 stars
Mar 28, 2024
Photo of Emma Hak-Kovacs
Emma Hak-Kovacs@18emkova05
4 stars
Jul 9, 2023
+2
Photo of Charlotte Helie
Charlotte Helie @charlottehelie
4.5 stars
Jan 31, 2023
+4
Photo of Rina
Rina@rinareads
4 stars
Sep 3, 2022
Photo of Linsey Mombert
Linsey Mombert@linsey
3 stars
Aug 21, 2022
Photo of Erin Wales
Erin Wales@mrswalesreads
4 stars
Apr 10, 2022
Photo of Diego
Diego@diego
5 stars
Nov 4, 2021

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