Name: The Duke and I
Rating: 3.505009451795841 (1058 reviews)
ISBN: 9780062353597

Julia Quinn

By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend's sister--the lovely and almost-on-the-shelf--Daphne Bridgerton.  But the two of the know the truth--it's all an elaborate ruse to keep Simon free from marriage-minded society mothers.  And as for Daphne, surely she will attract some worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable....

The Duke and I

Bridgerton

Nikki Pease

i don’t really like daphne or simon but the book is good and i am looking forward to getting to know the rest of the bridgertons and penelope obviously

Barbara Cartland

it always take me a lot of time to read this because it is so slow at the beginning, or maybe it was the fact that I read this after watching the series, we would never know. 

my other issue would always be chapter 18, because the rest of it, it is pretty decent which it is shame because Simon and Daphne have a fun and cute dynamic overall but yeah.

it always take me a lot of time to read this because it is so slow at the beginning, or maybe it was the fact that I read this after watching the series, we would never know. 

my other issue would always be chapter 18, because the rest of it, it is pretty decent which it is shame because Simon and Daphne have a fun and cute dynamic overall but yeah.

turtle

Bushra Yenice

Pretty good book, it differs a lot from the Netflix show but I believe it is better. You get more of Daphne’s personality and her brother and it truly feels like they are a family. The epilogue and second epilogue were great and I did enjoy learning more about everyone after the events in the book.

Anyaconda

Yes, there's "that particular scene" but I'll still give it 4 stars and that's that.

Duke and I [TV Tie-In]

Vilandra

I’m not that big a fan of romance novels, so the romance-y bits took away some of my enjoyment for me at reading this book. But if you like romance novels, you will probably give this five stars. I find it feels very like the show, so if you enjoy watching Bridgerton, you will enjoy this book. I very much like the characters and the base story, but would have personally enjoyed a more trimmed down novel more.

Beatrix Haase

Update 05-10-2022: As soon as I read 3 other books in the Bridgerton series. I realized that I didn't actually enjoy this book as much as I thought I did. So yeah, I changed my review. Sorry.

Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead

I wanted to read these books because I watched the new Netflix series called Bridgerton. I found out about Bridgerton from Tik Tok and then later found out that it was #1 in the U.S., I was on the flight back to school when I decided to just download it and watch it. I fell in love with the story and the romance between Daphne and Simon. As a person, I tend to research the tv shows that I watch, like the actors who play the characters and the reviews that people have said. I was very happy when I found out that Bridgerton was based on a book called: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. I immediately went to purchase the Kindle book and on a whim decided to also download the audiobook for it as well. I am very glad that I did, this was probably the first book in a very long time that I actually read and couldn’t put down. I liked listening to the audiobook while I was doing a school project. It was a project that took me 3-4 hours to complete so that meant that I was invested in the story for a good 3 hours. 

The story revolves around Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset. Daphne Bridgerton comes from a very big family, her mother being Violet Bridgerton and then her siblings go from A-H, Anthony being the oldest and Hyacinth being the youngest. Simon Basset is the Duke of Hastings, his mother died when he was born and his father is a jerk. Simon’s father is a jerk, wanting the perfect son, but Simon has problem with talking, he stutters and so Simon’s father declares him stupid and basically says that he is not his heir. I won’t go into too much detail because I think you should read the book to get the bigger picture. Daphne and Simon meet when Daphne gets into an argument with Nigel Berbrooke (an admirer of Daphne’s). Simon doesn’t immediately go to her aid but eventually decided that he can’t just leave her alone with him and steps out, only to watch as Daphne punches Nigel in the face and knock him out. Daphne and Simon talk and Simon finds out that Daphne is the sister of Anthony Bridgerton, an old friend of Simon’s from school. Daphne and Simon talk and they come up with a plan for Daphne to get more suitors and Simon to not get thrown into the social circle of eager women and their mothers. So, they begin to court and the story begins. I am not going to spoil anything crazy but that is how the story starts and as the book progressed so did my feelings for it. 

Daphne Bridgerton: I loved her in the series and I loved her in the book. I will be honest, in middle/end of the book, I started to get annoyed at her because of some of her actions. She was witty and had great comebacks, she kept Simon on his toes. Overall, I am a fan. 

Simon Basset: First of all, him in the Bridgerton tv show… Damn. As I was reading the book and then re-watched the series after, I had to applaud Rege-Jean Page, he played the character of Simon Basset incredibly well. Simon came from a tough childhood, and like Daphne, some parts annoyed me with him. Now that I am thinking about it though, I think that if they didn’t have the traits that annoyed me a little bit then it wouldn’t be as great of a story than it is. 

“His mouth captured hers, trying to show her with his kiss what he was still learning to express in words. He loved her. He worshipped her. He’d walk across fire for her. He—
—still had the audience of her three brothers.
Slowly breaking the kiss, he turned his face to the side. Anthony, Benedict, and Colin were still standing in the foyer. Anthony was studying the ceiling, Benedict was pretending to inspect his fingernails, and Colin was staring quite shamelessly.” 
-pg 380-

There were many characters in this book that I loved, I love Anthony Bridgerton, I am currently reading The Viscount Who Loved me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn, which follows Anthony. I got this book as an audiobook, I am not far to give you any kind of review but I can tell you that I am very excited for the next season of Bridgerton which should follow Anthony’s story. I also love Eloise Bridgerton, I am going to be honest and say that I don’t think she was as big of a character in the book than in the tv show but it does get me excited to read Eloise’s book when that time comes. 

‘Anthony sneezed and pushed them aside. “Mother, I am trying to have a conversation with the duke.”
Violet looked at Simon. “Do you want to have this conversation with my son?”
“Not particularly.”
“Fine then. Anthony, be quiet.”'
-pg 121-

My final thoughts are that if you are into romance with a little bit of spice, then I think the Bridgerton series is a really good series to get lost into. I am very happy that I just decided to jump into it on a whim but I am very glad that I did. I can’t wait to give you my thoughts on The Viscount Who Loved Me. 

❤ Bea

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