The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

The Duke and I is set in the Regency era of upper class London. It is the first novel in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. I read it recently because there was so much buzz about this series, likely because it was just made into a netfix series. I don't have netflix, but decided to read the novel instead.

Not normally a consumer of "romance" fiction, I was glad that I gave this one a go. Full of witty dialogue, decadent and lush locations and, yes, a love story, I was completely immersed in this book.

This is the story of Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, who has recently taken the title from his father, for whom he feels nothing but contempt. He is expected to marry and produce an heir to his title and finds many single women of marriageable age being thrown at him by eager mothers. Having been the only child of a brutal man, he is not at all interested in marriage, let alone having a family.

This is the story of Daphne Bridgerton, the fourth child in her large, gregarious and loving family. Her mother believes that it is time for Daphne to marry, but while everyone likes Daphne and she is quite popular, she doesn't seem to be "marriage material" and finds herself only being propositioned by the types of men that she could not even slightly envision marrying. She is content to wait for the right man, while her several brothers are overbearing and over-protective and feel that they have a voice in the matter of whom she choses to marry.

Daphne and Simon meet, in a rather comical way, then discover that Simon is dear friends of her brothers. As they talk and get to know each other, they become fast friends They realize that they are both in the same position of being expected to marry and being paraded in front of the opposite sex by parents greedy to marry their children off.  

This leads to an idea. What if Simon and Daphne pretended to be engaged so that all of these folks would stop pestering them? It worked... until an incident occurred that meant they had to marry very quickly. 

This "pretend" marriage is suddenly quite real.

I must say again that while I am not a big fan of romances, I thoroughly enjoyed his book and the sometimes hilarious characters and dialogue. I recommend it. A great escape.