The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy

So I did really like the ending and how everything worked out happily, however, I disliked Richard for like 85% of the book so that made the story a bit less enjoyable.

Like always, Julia Quinn’s writing is superb. I just had a big issue with the pacing of this particular story. The “secret” of the story isn’t revealed until about the last 100 pages. Leaving only room for a rushed conflict and found solution and a a very rushed resolution all to be crammed in about 100 pages.

The book felt as if it didn’t flow too well because of this. Other than that, the book is great (of course).

I’ve cracked the code on why Julia Quinn is so addicting to me. Her character work, world building, and storytelling are just SUPERB. I’ve never come across a character I couldn’t appreciate (hero’s and villains), I’m so easily transported into whatever historical era and world that she paints, and her writing INSTANTLY draws me into the story. As this is my 16th Julia Quinn novel, I believe it’s fair to say that she’s an icon and legend for a reason.

This was an impulse grab at the library. I passed the new arrivals shelf as I was going to check out and saw this book sitting there. I suddenly felt a craving for some regency romance and picked this up. I've read some other Julia Quinn books and usually enjoyed them. The book started out wonderfully, with a spunky heroine and witty dialogue and just enough sweetness. I was quite enjoying reading a little bit of fluff to balance out the rest of my reading list. Unfortunately, the second half of the novel flat-lined. It was not particularly bad, but it was very disappointing compared to the beginning. The "secret" was fairly easy to guess, but it's revealing was anticlimactic. In fact, the whole ending was anticlimactic. And I was very annoyed that the heroine turns into a bit of a whiny mess in the second half and felt that her character was inconsistent. But it wraps up sweetly enough as one would expect. This book did divert my attention for two days though, so I guess that is something. I wasn't expecting it to be astounding, but it could have been better.

Sir Richard Kenworthy, needs a wife and soon. As he is looking in London, for prospects, he attends the infamous musicale done by the Smythe Smiths, what he doesn’t expect is to find the cello player, to be the woman of his dreams. He is captivated by her, and he knows that she will be perfect. She is passionate and he knows that there much more to than meets the eye and he means to find out what is beneath the surface. Iris Smythe-Smith knows that it can be easy for her to fade in the background and not be seen, so when Sir Richard, starts calling on her and paying attention, she is suspicious at first, but then when his courting proves to be sincere, but then when they are caught in a compromising position they are forced to marry and soon Richard becomes even more mysterious than before, and as his wife, Iris is determined to uncover everything that he is hiding from her, but it isn’t what she expects and she fears it could tear them apart for good. The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy is the forth installment in this latest series by Julia Quinn. I still can’t believe that we are already on the fourth book; I swear time has just flown by; it seems like yesterday when the first book of the series came out. I have had such a ball of fun with this series, and although my heart has always been centered on the bridgertons, there is something so quirky and fun about this series. This book was a hoot, it had charm and elegance and a book of surprises and twists that you never see coming. The “Secrets” of our hero, is not something you would expect, and I enjoyed seeing these two work together to solve a bit of a puzzle. At the beginning of the story, the book is just a sweet courtship, nothing spectacular, just your average regency romance…but that is not the case with this one. I will admit that the first half of the book I had some problems getting fully entrenched in the story, but once I entered the second half, the ball really gets rolling, and I had a hard time keeping up with this one. It really seemed to develop and seemed to contain quite a bit of conflict and sexual tension…and oh boy does the story really heat up. Quinn sure knows how to write a steamy romance, without it seeming to be super steamy, she has a talent of balancing story line and plot with sexual tension, that it blends perfectly into a batch of splendid romance, enchanting characters and a plot to crave. ASTOUNDING!!!

3.5. ALL THE BANTER. ALL OF IT. I love it. (Not enough on the denouement end, though. Come on, Quinn, you're better than that!)

The last third or so of this book kind of ruined it for me. The secret (which I totally should have seen coming) and even more-so what Richard wanted Iris to do about it and the fact that he kept it a secret for so long was pretty awful and made me furious to think of being that trapped. So many romances get So Dramatic in the final act and it is never done to my liking! Especially when the drama involves a profound lack of communication, as it so often does. I prefer romances to be light-hearted and straightforward (which probably why the Bevelstokes are my favorite Julia Quinns) unless they are done really, really well (hi Courtney Milan)

Maybe 3.5* at a push, I really don’t know how I feel about this, especially the romance itself.

This has one of THE WORST heroes I've ever read. I hated him and what he made the heroine do at the end. She deserved way better.