欧宝娱乐

Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Bridgertons #5

To Sir Phillip, With Love

Rate this book
Sir Phillip knew from his correspondence with his dead wife's distant cousin that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster, and so he'd proposed, figuring that she'd be homely and unassuming, and more than a little desperate for an offer of marriage. Except . . . she wasn't. The beautiful woman on his doorstep was anything but quiet, and when she stopped talking long enough to close her mouth, all he wanted to do was kiss her...

Eloise Bridgerton couldn't marry a man she had never met! But then she started thinking... and wondering... and before she knew it, she was in a hired carriage in the middle of the night, on her way to meet the man she hoped might be her perfect match. Except... he wasn't. Her perfect husband wouldn't be so moody and ill-mannered. And he certainly should have mentioned that he had two young - and decidedly unruly - children, as much in need of a mother as Phillip is in need of a wife.

an alternate cover edition can be found here

372 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

15.7k people are currently reading
115k people want to read

About the author

Julia Quinn

164books44.8kfollowers
#1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn loves to dispel the myth that smart women don't read (or write) romance, and and if you watch reruns of the game show The Weakest Link you might just catch her winning the $79,000 jackpot. She displayed a decided lack of knowledge about baseball, country music, and plush toys, but she is proud to say that she aced all things British and literary, answered all of her history and geography questions correctly, and knew that there was a Da Vinci long before there was a code.

A graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, Ms. Quinn is one of only sixteen members of Romance Writers of America鈥檚 Hall of Fame. Her books have been translated into 32 languages, and she lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest.

The Bridgertons, her popular series of historical romance, is currently in production by Shondaland as a Netflix original series starring Julie Andrews, Phoebe Dynevor, and R茅ge-Jean Page.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
66,058 (23%)
4 stars
99,111 (35%)
3 stars
82,863 (29%)
2 stars
24,137 (8%)
1 star
6,638 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 20,608 reviews
Profile Image for Anne.
4,563 reviews70.6k followers
September 26, 2024
Wow. This was a weird one.
I was looking forward to Eloise's book because she always seemed so unconventional and spunky. So, for her to kind of end up getting married off rather quietly to a guy who reallyreallyreally wanted a mother for his children. And all because she suddenly decided she didn't want to be alone? Well, it didn't make my heart go pitty-pat.

description

Plus, Eloise is annoying. Like, so annoying and bossy. She never shuts up and she has an opinion on everything. And we're supposed to find that endearing?
I don't know about anyone else, but I don't personally find bossy know-it-alls charming. In real life, everyone avoids them like the plague. For good reason.
But then at the same time, she acts like this super-proper wife who doesn't want to cause any waves in her marriage. She's willing to take care of all the problems with Philip's kids and estate during the day and be his marathon lover at night.
It's like there were two separate characters. Eloise the Obnoxious Brat and Eloise the Long-Suffering Adult.

description

Philip. Ugh. Philip was so freaking lazy as a father. He was obnoxiously thrilled to let Eloise run everything so that he could dig in the dirt and do his experiments.
I think he was supposed to come off as this lovable absent-minded professor, but he just made me kind of sick.
At first, he seems to have no human feelings. But after a few weeks of sex, and a few dramatic moments, he decides YES! I LOVE HER!
Ok, fine. It's a romance, after all.

description

The way Quinn dealt with Philip's first wife's depression was a tad iffy. There was a lot of (what seemed like) blame placed on her for being mopey & suicidal, and there wasn't a lot of care taken to point out that none of this was her particular fault. But I imagine that's how it would have gone down back in the day, especially since they didn't really have therapists for that sort of thing at the time.

description

However, I did think it was fine to point out how it can completely derail your life to live with someone who has an illness like clinical depression. I'm not blaming the person who is sick, but if you've ever lived with someone who deals with it, you know what I'm talking about. And most people who are involved with someone like that are too busy putting out fires and taking up the slack to get any sort of support for themselves if any even exists. The caretaker is the support system and fuck you if you're not completely thrilled to deal with the aftermath of whatever problems your person is causing. And while I love that people with mental health issues are finally getting more of the understanding that they need, I think a light needs to be shined on the spouses, parents, children, and long-term partners of people with these issues, as well.

description

Again, I find myself torn by Quinn's writing. I enjoy listening to her books because they're light and fluffy, but they are usually lacking that whatever it is that would make me love the story. Perhaps it's because they are Regency romances and stick too close to the way things really would have been, instead of how I would like to see them written. If so, that's my fault.
However, I can't help but be disappointed by Eloise turning out to be so lackluster.
This is definitely readable (or listenable, in my case), but not going down as a favorite.
Profile Image for Jacob Proffitt.
3,248 reviews2,055 followers
November 24, 2018
This is fifth in the series and the couples from the others show up periodically in this one. They aren't terribly important, though, so this one is relatively self-contained. It's probably good if you've read Romancing Mister Bridgerton, though.

Wow was this one a waste of time. I definitely expected better characterization for Eloise but she's mostly just generic Regency girl with a side of "doesn't she talk a lot?" Phillip, on the other hand, is a self-centered snot-weasel and never actually gets past that. He sure loves his plants. And that's fine, I guess. But he neglects his children and seriously expects to spend all day every day at his "work". I'm not sure what that work is, but there sure seemed to be a lot of it judging by how much time he spends doing anything else (i.e. none). I almost threw a fit when (this happens in the first quarter, so I'm not going to spoiler-tag it) it becomes clear that something is wrong with his children and he's all "I'm such a bad father, I'd better make sure I keep my distance. Oh, and if I can find the perfect mother for them, that'd make everything all right. Heck, it'd practically make me father of the year!" So his plan to help his children is a) avoid them and b) find someone else to fix it. I should have stopped reading then because .

And then he shows Eloise his idea of "seeing if we suit" by . I can't even tell you how broken that is and am struggling to come up with some reasonable explanation for what Quinn was thinking for that scene. Personally, it sealed my dislike of Phillip and made me uninterested in him altogether.

I have no idea why I completed this. It literally never got better. Even when they got married, he's still a complete waste of ink. He's all overjoyed that

Don't get the idea that he's the only thing wrong with the story. Warning flags went up when the letter excerpts that were supposed to show them connecting were so banal. And then we have Eloise who talks a good game about how she has a billion siblings and is down to all the tricks. Except the ones the twins play on her, of course. She thinks she manages a stalemate with the eight year-olds but if you actually kept score, they cleaned her clock. Yeah, her kindness won out, and that's a good thing, but so much for the characterization that she's all that because of her background.

Anyway, this is one star and almost all of that is Phillip. Eloise's character issues would have dragged a normal story down a star, but Phillip already tanked this one so deep there was no going deeper.

A note about Steamy: There are three explicit sex scenes. I think. I didn't care enough to keep more careful track. The middle of my steam tolerance at any rate. They're all magically delicious because Phillip and Eloise are so well suited, you know...
Profile Image for Trace.
28 reviews10 followers
March 12, 2012
Fuck off, Sir Philip, fuck off fuck off fuck off.
Profile Image for Hannah B..
1,159 reviews1,983 followers
May 17, 2024
鉁═o Sir Phillip, With Extreme and Utter Disgust, You鈥檙e Tacky and I Hate You鉁�


Hell hath no fury like a person who just read a really bad book. It鈥檚 me. I hath the fury. Okay so I鈥檓 mad, I鈥檓 indignant, and I鈥檓 mad confused about what the hell I just read.

So for about 50% of the book I was making excuses for Phillip and was desperately hoping that he would turn out to be only a tiny dick with a big heart. Unfortunately for me, he ended the book as a massive dick and reverse Grinched us y'all! He got out the ol Uno reverse card and just shrunk the hell out of his heart. He ended the book so low in my opinion I shall quote the best movie of the 21st century, Moneyball: There are well written men, poorly written men, 50 feet of crap, and then there鈥檚 Phillip.


See our Phillip, our Phillip is special:


鉁℉e openly admits that he only wanted a wife to be a mother to his unruly children and to 鈥渢ake over all the annoying little tasks of life鈥濃€攖akes courage.
鉁–learly states he hates and doesn鈥檛 listen when his wife talks鈥攕o bold.
鉁╓ould rather fornicate with a plant than a person鈥攓uirky really.
鉁℉asn鈥檛 had sex in ages so he deserves to just bang with abandon because 鈥渢hat鈥檚 what married people do鈥� even when there鈥檚 a very important conversation trying to be had in regards to the safety of his children鈥攑eak masculinity.
鉁–ompletely steamrolls his wife鈥檚 entire personality鈥攁mazing Bob the Builder energy.
鉁↖nvalidates his wife鈥檚 emotions and feelings about their marriage because he doesn鈥檛 feel the same way and had a 鈥渟ad鈥� wife before, so now he wants a 鈥渉appy鈥� wife to complete the set鈥攁 true collector.


Phillip is not morally grey, no. He鈥檚 morally puce. That color sounds terrible, Phillip is terrible; it鈥檚 a match made in a puce wallpapered hell. There were multiple occasions where consent was assumed, lines were blurry, and he just ~knew~ she liked it. I really couldn鈥檛 stomach it. He was such a dick mountain and I never want to climb that ever again. I simply cannot imagine how this made it through editorial.


WE WERE ROOTING FOR YOU, TO SIR PHILLIP WITH LOVE, WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU. Like many, Eloise was my favorite Bridgerton character in the show so I was super excited for this one. It makes me sad that viewers will go specifically to this book, potentially venturing into historical romance for the first time, and this mess is what they get.


The only thing that redeemed this even slightly was the second epilogue. Now THAT鈥橲 a story I want more of. Barely any Phillip, a cinnamon roll hero, and an interesting heroine.



猸愶笍/5 | 馃尪.*/5



*the plants got more action than Eloise
Profile Image for Mia.
2,728 reviews999 followers
February 25, 2021
Hopefully Netflix makes something out this mess, bye.
Profile Image for Alexis.
224 reviews7 followers
June 17, 2014
This was never going to be more than just a two-star book for me. The plot was lackluster, and the main characters were bland at best. There was neither wit in their dialogue nor sparkle in their relationship, and for an awfully large chunk of the book I was almost bored.

But what really pushed this over the edge was a little blurb at the book鈥檚 climax. Eloise had rightly pointed out some flaws in her and Phillip鈥檚 relationship. Instead of listening to her concerns, Phillip had a nice little tantrum wherein he claimed that, because he had previously had a much unhappier existence with his ex-wife, Eloise had no right to complain about the shortcomings in their current relationship.

Negating one person鈥檚 unhappiness because it鈥檚 not equal to the unhappiness that others have felt in the past is kind of like saying, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care if you have strep throat. Because you鈥檝e never had cancer, you don鈥檛 really know what it鈥檚 like to suffer, so I鈥檓 not going to bother taking you to the doctor to get it fixed.鈥� It was more than a little repulsive that was part of the emotional climax of the book, and represented the characters鈥� happily ever after. I hate, hate, hate it when passionately-delivered stupidity is supposed to serve as a substitute for passion.
382 reviews454 followers
May 24, 2022
The men in this series are so infuriating. Anger issues are not hot. And I do not understand why Julia Quinn feels the need to add in a bunch of obscure words, someone please confiscate her thesaurus. And after you confiscate her thesaurus, give her a dictionary so that she can look up the definition of consent. But I liked the family dynamics and these books are really fast and easy reads, so two stars it is.


Profile Image for Annika.
44 reviews
March 11, 2024
The one with all the red flags
Profile Image for 鈾ワ笌 Heather 鈿�(Semi-Hiatus).
950 reviews3,602 followers
August 23, 2024
I didn't like Phillip so much but Eloise is a gem. FRTC.

Omg. Eloise's story?! 馃槶 I can not freaking wait -


鈥滒潙€饾憭饾搩. 饾挴饾捊饾憭 饾捁饾挾饾搸 饾搲饾捊饾憭饾搸 饾搧饾憭饾挾饾搰饾搩饾憭饾捁 饾搲饾憸 饾挾饾捁饾搨饾捑饾搲 饾搲饾憸 饾挾 饾搨饾捑饾搱饾搲饾挾饾搥饾憭 饾搶饾挾饾搱 饾搲饾捊饾憭 饾捁饾挾饾搸 饾搲饾捊饾憭饾搸 饾挿饾憭饾捀饾挾饾搨饾憭 饾搶饾憸饾搨饾憭饾搩.鈥� 馃き
Profile Image for Isa Cantos (Cr贸nicas de una Merodeadora).
1,009 reviews43.1k followers
August 18, 2021
鈥滿en. The day they learn to admit to a mistake was the day they became women鈥�.

Cuando dije por Instagram que estaba leyendo este quinto libro de la saga Bridgerton, muchos me escribieron dici茅ndome que era su favorito y, para ser completamente sincera, es el que menos me ha gustado de toda la serie.

En este libro nos encontramos con Eloise que, a sus 28 a帽os, ya se considera una solterona y, aunque no est谩 buscando activamente un marido, se siente un poco dejada de lado tras la boda de Colin con su mejor amiga Penelope. Sin embargo, desde la muerte de Marina, su prima, Eloise ha estado envi谩ndose cartas con quien fuera su esposo, Sir Phillip, un bar贸n de Gloucestershire. Llega un punto en el que Sir Phillip le propone en una carta que vaya a conocerlo y que, si se llevan bien, se casen. Y Eloise, abrumada por su ordinaria vida en Londres y por todo el asunto de Colin y Penelope, se escapa a la otra punta del pa铆s para ver por primera vez en persona a este hombre, pero el problema es que quiz谩 no es tal y como se lo imagin贸.

A decir verdad, desde que Eloise lleg贸 a Gloucestershire y Sir Phillip la recibi贸 con la sorpresa de que ten铆a dos hijos y, al menos al principio, de que solo se quer铆a casar con ella para que tuvieran una madre鈥� creo que me perdieron. Con A Sir Phillip, con amor no me sucedi贸 lo que con los otros libros: flechazos inmediatos, Isa amando locamente a los personajes, queriendo saber m谩s de la historia, etc. No, no me pas贸. De hecho, creo que no fue sino hasta el final cuando Sir Phillip me empez贸 a caer medianamente bien. 驴Y Eloise? Sent铆 que su personalidad, al menos como nos la hab铆an pintado en los anteriores libros, se perdi贸 durante el 80% de la trama.

Creo que lo que m谩s disfrut茅 del libro fue cuando aparecieron los cuatro hermanos Bridgerton (Anthony, Benedict, Colin y Gregory) para defender el honor de su hermana y amenazar a Sir Philip con cortarle los鈥� bueno, me entienden. Esos cap铆tulos del libro los disfrut茅 much铆simo por los malentendidos, las bromas y el esp铆ritu competitivo que hab铆a entre todos ellos. Sin embargo, cuando todos se fueron y volvieron a ser s贸lo Eloise y Sir Phillip鈥� como que todo perdi贸 color.

En fin, que ya sab铆a que era imposible que me encantaran los ochocientos setenta y dos libros que tiene la serie de Bridgerton, pero a煤n as铆 me decepcion茅. Eso s铆, tengo much铆sima curiosidad por llegar al libro de Francesca. No s茅 por qu茅, pero siento que oculta algo bastante interesante.
Profile Image for Heather K (dentist in my spare time).
4,034 reviews6,412 followers
January 15, 2021
I don't have the best track record with the Bridgertons series (I know, blasphemy), but I'm making my way through all of my unread books in the series prior to the release of the Netflix series. Yes, I am very excited for the show even if I have had mixed results with the books. It's a show based off of a romance series! I feel like a proud mama.

So where does fall in my Bridgerton scale? Squarely in the middle.

I liked the story, even a lot at times, but I kept frowning at how stupid Philip acted. Why do you keep insisting and telling your wife over and over again how you want her to care for your kids and that's basically it? Stop calling having a wife convenient! Ugh, I wanted to smack him. Hard. He liked how clever and chatty Eloise was when it suited him, but when it didn't, he just acted annoyed. I wanted some good apologies for his behavior, and I felt frustrated with him, even though he sort of redeemed himself at the end. Sort of.

There were some cute moments with the entire Bridgerton clan, and I liked Eloise a great deal, so I left the book feeling reasonably happy. Here's to hoping I have some luck with the remainder of the series.

goodreads|||
Profile Image for Kit.
849 reviews86 followers
June 28, 2020
Argh

Phillip was awful. It's so nice to hear that he had such a difficult time with his depressed wife, who he resented. That depressed people aren't worth it, and make everyone else's lives miserable too. That we're selfish.

He was terrible to Eloise too.

Eloise was great, though. Except when she was excusing Phillip.
Profile Image for Christy.
4,378 reviews35.5k followers
April 17, 2021
4.25 stars 鈥�

I couldn鈥檛 wait to get to Eloise Bridgerton鈥檚 story. She鈥檚 one of my favorite characters throughout the books and I loved this one!

Eloise is a twenty eight year old spinster, and after her best friend/fellow spinster gets engaged, she starts to feel some kind of way. She鈥檚 been corresponding by letter to her distant cousin鈥檚 widow, and when he suggests marriage, she thinks something she never thought before鈥� maybe. Just maybe.

Eloise goes to see Sir Phillip Crane and is surprised to see he has children. Two unruly and wild children. There were parts of this book that were so fun. I loved the kids and Eloise with them. There were also emotional parts looking back into Phillip鈥檚 past. And when the Bridgerton brother鈥檚 show up鈥� that was the absolute best! I think Eloise found her match with Phillip and I enjoyed this one so much! 鈥�

Audio book source: Hoopla (library borrow)
Story Rating: 4.25 stars
Narrators: Rosalyn Landor
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 10 hours and 26 minutes
Profile Image for Jessica .
2,469 reviews15.6k followers
December 31, 2020
TW for child abuse and suicide.

I really enjoyed this one! This might be my second favorite? Maybe third behind The Duke and I. I really loved how Phillip was a single father and how he needed a mother for his children. He was a damaged hero and had no idea how to even be around his own children. As always, the prologue was heartbreaking.

I loved the overbearing brothers and the family scenes in this one! I also adored Phillip's children and how Eloise interacted with them. Eloise was a fun character and it was charming watching her show up at Phillip's house with the intent to marry him.

While I don't have any complaints, there's just something stopping me from giving it a full five stars. I loved it while I was reading it, but when I finished and think about it, there's nothing amazing or that I remember loving or swooning over? So a solid four!
Profile Image for Dana.
77 reviews1 follower
August 14, 2018
As someone who was diagnosed with depression and has a history with physical abuse, I am disappointed with the author of this book that there was no nuance and care in her writing when dealing with these issues. I know and understand that the belief and behaviour of Sir Phillip to his first wife was a reflection of the time period but it was very triggering to read about Sir Phillip's blas茅 attitude towards his first wife and even go so far as to say that she was a burden to him and was relieved that she's gone. After I read that part of the story, I couldn't continue and had to shelf the book as unfinished.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Arianna Mandorino.
176 reviews260 followers
February 3, 2021
Are you effing kidding me? This was so bad. Zero stars. What the f*ck.
First of all, the way Phillip dismisses his first wife's depression and always treats her like a burden for being depressed鈥� I understand that it's not easy to deal with somebody who's dealing with depression, but IMAGINE ACTUALLY DEALING WITH DEPRESSION? There are no words to express how bad this is. Just. Icing on the cake is that he
His whole goal since the beginning is finding himself a wife to bring laughter to his home and in his life, and to be a good mother to his children. This is because, although the children beg him to spend time together, he wants to shut himself in his greenhouse all day, every day, and not care for them. This is because, in his view, he's a bad parent, so there's no use trying. GUESS WHAT, PHILLIP. GUESS WHY YOU'RE A BAD FATHER. So what you're thinking is, well, that's just the starting point. He'll grow and change his ways and attitude towards his life and children. Well, I thought so too. And guess what: Icing on the cake here?
Which brings us to the worst thing about him鈥攜eah, it wasn't any of the horrible things listed above, if you can believe it.
Eloise flattens herself at every turn to accomodate him, and I HATE IT. I HATE IT.
So, to sum up, VERY unbalanced and unhealthy relationship, bad man, the only thing that works in their relationship is sex. And even there, I have some thoughts鈩�, but this is too long already.
Profile Image for Karen.
814 reviews1,200 followers
January 20, 2019


"...any day with you."

Wow. I did not expect to fall in love with this book so much. But that ending... that freakin' ending just blew me away. What a sad existence Sir Phillip lived. And I'll have to be honest, I did not like this man very much. Not until the very end. But boy oh boy did he blow my knickers off at the end. I had planned on taking a break with the series after this book. But now... I think I must move forward. I am humbled Ms Quinn by your ability to spin a story.



Profile Image for Millie.
92 reviews43 followers
February 15, 2025
I鈥檓 afraid I have to be honest with myself in this one, even if it鈥檚 an unpopular opinion: I don鈥檛 hate this book, or rather, I don鈥檛 hate Phillip鈥�. In fact, I liked him. Go on, chastise me for enjoying myself.



Plot
Feeling unsatisfied and terrified of life, Eloise ran away from home to meet a stranger. Well, not actually a stranger. Someone she knew only on paper. They had been corresponding for a year, and he has invited her to his country home to see if they would suit. She came unannounced to Sir Phillips's home, and found out he has children! and is in fact in desperate need of help. Or, more specifically, a wife. Because his kids are鈥o put it mildly, actual satans.



To be frank, I do not know why people hate Phillip. He鈥檚 not the best, sure, but he鈥檚 just a flawed guy. I actually like him more than Colin Bridgerton, no surprise there.

Honestly, I found it baffling that people hated Phillip. He doesn鈥檛 deserve all the hate thrown at him. People call him a rapist, a bad father, a loner, and whatever else. Let me just say, people give Eloise no credit at all. Our heroine is the smartest girl in Bridgerton and you don鈥檛 think she thought this through? The smartest girl, of course, wouldn鈥檛 give her heart away THAT easily. Phillip must have something (and yes, he does).

Lets' transition into #phillipdefensesociety



Let鈥檚 list it, shall we -*spoilers-* : (1)He honoured his brother鈥檚 promise and gave up his life as an academic to marry his brother鈥檚 intended and took up the family鈥檚 responsibility. (2) Honored his vows to his depressed wife he didn鈥檛 pick nor love, never took a mistress (3) Didn鈥檛 take advantage of his wife鈥檚 mental state and actually tried to help her, actually respected her for being the mother of his children, and tried to make her happy despite always failing miserably (4) Despite his abused childhood, he treated his children with respect and sometimes afraid of being too disciplined because he didn鈥檛 want to become his abusive father. (5) He Always apologised when he lost his temper and actually self-aware of his behaviour, that鈥檚 why he鈥檚 always hard on himself. AND LASTLY: (6) He spends lots of time in the garden not because he hated his children, but because he is afraid of being a bad father. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. He was abused. He is SCARED of turning into his father. He doesn鈥檛 know how to do dad things. He is alone in this world for god鈥檚 sake. His first wife is horrid, he got physically and mentally abused as a kid, and when he found his love for botany, his brother had to go out and die, forcing him into a life he didn鈥檛 want. BUT WHAT DID HE DO? He鈥檚 done the honourable thing every time. God forbid a man cannot be the perfect father because he鈥檚 scared shitless! Goodness, He didn鈥檛 know what to do, people! Have some fucking sympathy.



I am so sick of flawed heroes being the subject of hate. Phillip is nowhere near villainous. Actually, when we think about it鈥� everything he did was for other people. His life is terrible ngl. He is the most selfless hero in the Bridgerton series so far. He was not even thirty when his life went to shit. Actually, I think he was rather young (early 20s) when he lost his normal life. Since then, he dedicated his life to other people. Compare this to other Bridgerton heroes (almost all has some rakish qualities). Phillip is just this clueless introverted botanist who knew more about flowers than people. To top it all off, he is honourable. That has to count for something.

The perfect hero doesn鈥檛 have to be brooding, handsome, confident, suave and worldly. We actually get to learn this because Eloise expected Phillip to be perfect. But, at the end of the day, his imperfection is so human that it made Eloise snap out of her daydream and grow up.



Don鈥檛 get me wrong, Phillip is not my favourite Bridgerton hero. But he is NOT EVIL for god鈥檚 sake. We have got to leave him alone and let him be in love with Eloise in peace.

Also, let鈥檚 give Eloise some credit. People actually rant about her deserving better. Better could be referring to a handsome man, lots of fortune, high status, an academic, with no kids. UGh. As much as I dislike Phillip鈥檚 kids, Eloise clearly has no problem with it. She doesn鈥檛 care about the fortune, title, or his introvertedness either.



Overall, I think this one is not bad. I just have a lot of passion because I don鈥檛 think Phillip deserve the hate. God forbid readers have empathy for an imperfect hero! smh.

Anyways, enough of me defending Phillip. All you have to know is that he鈥檚 not my fave but nowhere near the worst.



This book doesn鈥檛 have that fairytale feeling like Benedict, or the easygoing vibe like Colin鈥檚. This book has the struggles of married life. It鈥檚 a step closer to reality, where the hero is not charming. But he is the most "real" person in this series. His struggle is realistic and he reacts realistically because of his backstory. Sue me.

Don鈥檛 expect perfection from this book. Expect a story of struggles; One that ends with love. That鈥檚 it. Good day.

----

Second read:

I revisited this book because I found out Eloise has the same MBTI as me. It's true, I am, in fact, Eloise.

Anyways, as for Phillip since it's what everyone has been talking about. Have I changed my mind about him? No. Sorry to disappoint you ladies. I still like him just fine. In fact I'm gonna bring back #phillipdefenseleague

Julia Quinn wants him to be flawed so bad and that's why you hate him. Literally. Compared to Colin who's an outright ass, Benedict who asked Sophie to be his whore, Anthony who was mean to his girl, Julia Quinn was like "Hmm what could he say that would make him flawed?" And even that clashes with his character.

Come on now.
You're telling me the man who cried when his son asked him to play is a incompetent hateful man?
The one who said time and time again he would kiss the ground Eloise walked on? Or the one ready to beg on his knees for Eloise to be his wife? And said he will give her "all the time she needs"?
The one who sent a letter to his aunt to be Eloise's chaperone immediately when Eloise came alone?
The one who went ballistic when he found out his child was beaten by the nurse?



A lot of people who hate him seem to skip over the fact that he was beaten as a child and has no emotional support from his family. He lacks confidence in being a good father. This is why when for the first time his kids misbehave, with the help of Eloise, he felt confident and handled it well. Bro just needed help.

He is quite literally the damsel in distress and Eloise is the Knight in shining armour.

Also Julia Quinn wanted him to be sexist so bad. I'm genuinely confused because it didn't fit his character at all. Product of his father's doing? Probably. It irks me, sure. But then this quote happened:

- "She even loved the way he told her she talked too much, because he almost always did it with a smile, and because of course, it was true. And she loved the way he still listened to her even after he told her she talked too much."

- "Men makes sacrifices for the women we love," -- "It's the way of the world, I'm afraid.".

-Then another one, when Anthony was telling a pretty sexist joke (not out of character for Anthony), Phillip having heard it, immediately looked at Eloise to see her reaction.

Did those help with the "lack of sense" comment he made? A little. Because, I feel he just says those things to make sense of what he doesn't know (or Julia Quinn wanted him to have a flaw so bad, because it literally goes against his character to be sexist).

BECAUSE LADIES, GET THIS (IMPORTANT!!)

Those other Bridgertons boys, (one of them still fresh out the chappel from his wedding) was objectifying a woman at the pub they met near Phillips home, having a whole conversation of how big her boob was and asking Phillip if he ever hit that. And what did Phillip say? He said he was married, so he didn't want to.



Julia Quinn literally had the chance to make a cute introverted hero who likes plants and flowers and decided he should say a couple of stuff that goes against his character. Sure Julia. I don't buy it. Thanks, goodbye.
Profile Image for Em Lost In Books.
1,004 reviews2,196 followers
October 15, 2018
Another fun read and Phillip was the third hero, after Simon and Anthony, where daddy played a big role in how their life. Sadly it was bad influence here and innocent kids had to suffer. In all three books, this influence played a huge part in some of the vital decisions that our heroes took and it felt a little repetitive
Profile Image for Flo Camus.
202 reviews181 followers
January 9, 2025
[2.8猸怾 饾樇 饾檸饾櫈饾櫑 饾檵饾櫇饾櫈饾櫋饾櫋饾櫈饾櫏, 饾櫂饾櫎饾櫍 饾櫀饾櫌饾櫎饾櫑 es una novela hist贸rica rom谩ntica escrita por Julia Quinn en el a帽o 2003. La historia se centra en Eloise Bridgerton, una joven independiente y de esp铆ritu libre que, tras la inesperada boda de su mejor amiga, decide cambiar el rumbo de su vida. Despu茅s de a帽os intercambiando cartas con Sir Phillip Crane, un viudo que vive en el campo con sus dos hijos, Eloise acepta su invitaci贸n para visitarlo y conocerlo en persona, con la posibilidad de considerar un matrimonio entre ambos. Sin embargo, al llegar, descubre que Sir Phillip no es exactamente el caballero atento y encantador que esperaba, sino un hombre reservado y marcado por sus heridas del pasado.听


Eloise es mi personaje preferido de la familia Bridgerton: fuerte, divertida, ingeniosa y con una personalidad 煤nica que siempre me ha parecido encantadora. Desde el principio, esperaba que su historia estuviera a la altura de lo que ella representa, pero siento que se qued贸 corta en varios aspectos.

Primero, me fue muy dif铆cil imaginar a Eloise como la protagonista de este romance. Su car谩cter rebelde y su decisi贸n de permanecer soltera hasta encontrar algo realmente especial siempre me parecieron distintivos. Por eso, verla enamorada de Philip Crane, un hombre que claramente no sabe c贸mo valorar todo lo que ella es, me result贸 desalentador. Philip es un hombre atormentado por su pasado y sus propias inseguridades, pero no puedo perdonarle lo desconectado que est谩 emocionalmente, tanto de Eloise como de sus hijos. Que no haya sido consciente de que la institutriz maltrataba a sus peque帽os o que no sepa lidiar con ellos es algo que me result贸 francamente frustrante.
Adem谩s, la relaci贸n entre Eloise y Philip no termin贸 de convencerme. En lugar de complementarla, parece que Philip busca silenciarla. Eloise es vibrante, locuaz y no teme expresar sus pensamientos, pero en varias ocasiones 茅l parece exasperado por su energ铆a y hasta molesto por su forma de ser. Para m铆, esto es una gran falta porque uno de los puntos fuertes de Eloise siempre ha sido su autenticidad y ver que su pareja no la aprecia del todo me dej贸 un mal sabor de boca. Considerando que Eloise rechaz贸 como cinco proposiciones de matrimonio para encontrar el verdadero amor, me esperaba un hombre igual de vibrante, encantador, astuto y parlanch铆n, alguien que de verdad la valore por lo que es y saque lo mejor de ella.

Otro problema que tuve con esta novela fue la estructura narrativa. Al enterarme de que gran parte de la relaci贸n entre Eloise y Philip se basaba en cartas, pens茅 que ser铆a una novela epistolar, pero las cartas apenas tienen presencia y solo aparecen al inicio. Me habr铆a encantado que este recurso se explorara m谩s ya que habr铆a sido una forma hermosa y original de narrar c贸mo surge el amor entre ellos. En cambio, la historia se centra m谩s en los encuentros cara a cara, pero estos carecen de la chispa y profundidad que esperaba.

Por 煤ltimo, me desconcert贸 c贸mo Philip abandona constantemente a Eloise, tanto literal como emocionalmente. Hay varios momentos en los que 茅l simplemente se marcha, dej谩ndola sola y lidiando con sus emociones. No entiendo c贸mo Eloise no decidi贸 marcharse tambi茅n en lugar de tolerar este comportamiento tan reiterado. Nada me parece m谩s hiriente que ser ignorada o abandonada y siento que Philip no mostr贸 suficiente consideraci贸n hacia ella en este aspecto.听

Dicho esto, no todo es negativo. Eloise sigue siendo Eloise, con esa chispa que la hace destacar entre sus hermanos y las interacciones de la familia Bridgerton con Philip son bastante entretenidas. La escena en la que los hermanos de Eloise irrumpen en casa de Philip para 鈥渞escatarla鈥� es divertida y nos recuerda el lazo inquebrantable que une a esta familia. Los hijos de Philip tambi茅n tienen sus momentos entra帽ables, aunque siento que podr铆an haberse desarrollado mejor para agregar m谩s profundidad a la trama.


Finalmente, tengo que decir que 饾樇 饾檸饾櫈饾櫑 饾檵饾櫇饾櫈饾櫋饾櫋锟斤拷锟金潤�, 饾櫂饾櫎饾櫍 饾櫀饾櫌饾櫎饾櫑 es un libro entretenido, pero no est谩 a la altura de las expectativas que ten铆a para Eloise. Su historia merec铆a algo m谩s: un compa帽ero que la admirara por completo, un desarrollo m谩s cuidado en su romance y una narrativa que explorara mejor su relaci贸n a trav茅s de las cartas. Aunque no es mi libro favorito de la saga, sigue siendo una lectura ligera que aporta momentos agradables, pero con un sabor agridulce para quienes, como yo, esper谩bamos algo m谩s memorable para nuestra Bridgerton favorita.
Profile Image for Korrie鈥檚 Korner.
1,344 reviews13.3k followers
December 31, 2020
How is it that with each of these books I fall deeper, and more madly in love with these characters. I always knew Eloise Bridgerton was special. This book just took my heart, and meshed it into something beautiful. I have laughed, cried, clutched my chest, and just hugged this book at times throughout my reading journey. The Bridgerton brothers, I can assure you brought on all the chuckles with those protective big brother vibes, and one younger.

鈥淢en. The day they learned to admit to a mistake was the day they became women.鈥�

Eloise is such a special woman, and was so sure of herself. She truly inspired me, making me feel things. She wasn鈥檛 afraid to take the bull by the horns so to speak, and make her own way.

鈥淚 had to do something," she said. "I couldn't just sit and wait for life to happen to me any longer.鈥�

Her and Philip鈥檚 love story was so uniquely different, and perfect. I just want to stay here a little while, and just relish in this feeling.

Anthony, and his talk with his younger sister really pulled on my heart strings. I will end with this quote:

鈥淟ove your siblings. Love them well,
for they are your blood, and when you are unsure,or times are difficult, they will be the ones to stand by your side.鈥�
Profile Image for Aoife - Bookish_Babbling.
382 reviews403 followers
March 3, 2022
I wanted to enjoy this book so badly, the premiss set up in the previous book & the letter writing was a different way in to the story, leaving the London Scene was also refreshing. I liked Eloise's appearances in the earlier instalments and will admit to much of my curiosity for this series stemming from her appearances in the YouTube clips I've seen of the show - what a firecracker...but this was not it! She hardly seemed like the character we saw glimpses of in previous books and in any case...

Sir Phillip ruined this read!
WTH is up with the tempers & tendency towards violence for the men of this world? Perhaps a product of the time & it is becoming increasingly apparent that these are the kind of men this author writes but they are such hard passes...I cannot with them! 馃が Their overbearing reactions are not romantic and should not be glorified as such 馃あ

Poor Marina, my heart broke every time she was mentioned. Not solely because of the circumstances under which we met her but the life she led 馃挃
She deserved so much better, I know the mental health awareness we have gleaned since this was based and indeed probably since this was first published absolutely colours my opinion but it is what it is and I cannot get over it 馃槚

The twins, Eloise (for the most part) & super surprisingly to me considering how much I've bemoaned the Bridger'bois when they are the MCs - their more entertaining appearances as side characters in this stopped me breaking my phone in anger over Phillips macho-man antics & thoughts 馃う鈥嶁檧锔忦煓�
I was also slightly saddened not to see the interaction between Eloise & Hyacinth from the second epilogue of the previous book + the reaction to the reveal therein ... but I guess that was possibly written after this books publication 馃 so 馃し鈥嶁檧锔�

One other thing I liked was the snippets of Eloise's correspondence at the start of each chapter - but even that touching glimpse into her past was not enough to pull my disappointment away from almost every action of Phillips 馃檮

Seeing as the first book & *THAT* scene got a 2.5* rating...Phillips shenanigans in this and the mistreatment (imho) of Marina prob put my "enjoyment" of this read on a par with that one despite the twins adorable antics in attempting to be beastly (an aside but I need to work that word more into my vernacular teehee) & the bro'vention scenes were a reminder why I like reading about this fam despite the male love interests carry on.

Francesca is next and seeing as she has barely appeared in any of the books so far I will admit to being more than a little curious to learn more about her & honestly at this point am not holding out much hope for her love interest but will try to "measure my expectations" (soz YouTube drahmz ref) and limit any propensity I may have towards ranting 馃 *whispers* but I make no promises some things may be beyond my self control 馃馃槄
Profile Image for Maria Clara.
1,172 reviews676 followers
April 15, 2020
Vamos a ver, una intenta mantener la compostura, sonre铆r lo menos posible, no sonrojarse ni suspirar mientras lee este libro, pero es imposible. 饾樇 饾櫒饾櫈饾櫑 饾檵饾櫇饾櫈饾櫋饾櫈饾櫏饾櫒, 饾櫂饾櫎饾櫍 饾櫀饾櫌饾櫎饾櫑, es el quinto libro de la saga Los Bridgeton y, a pesar de que en esta ocasi贸n, la autora no nos regala su caracter铆stico sentido del humor, la historia de Eloise y sir Phillips se te mete en la piel y consigue emocionarte, tanto como las dem谩s.
Profile Image for Giselle Bradley.
808 reviews178 followers
April 3, 2019
DNF'd 25% wow this is a mess. Our "hero" describes raping his wife but he feels really bad afterwards. I don't care if he feels bad. I don't want to read about him what a scummy scummy scum bag. I also don't feel like the depression was handled well in this book. And content warnings for attempted suicide. Which has a horrible pun made about it which was supposed to be romantic??!! Like I said, this is a mess and I hate it a whole lot.
Profile Image for Imme van Gorp.
769 reviews1,642 followers
July 16, 2024
|| 3.0 stars ||

In a way, Phillip was a much better love interest than any of the Bridgerton men. After all, my main problem with those boys has always been how self-important they are; they鈥檙e so arrogant and sure of themselves, they never seem to feel particularly lucky to get the girl of their dreams. It鈥檚 like they expected no less. And that鈥檚 certainly not what I want to see from a love interest.
However, Phillip was very different. He didn鈥檛 think much of himself and truly counted himself the luckiest man alive to have snatched Eloise. He never expected to find happiness, so he was genuinely grateful when he did find it with her.

Still, this by no means meant that Phillip was perfect, because he certainly wasn鈥檛. This author simply seems incapable of writing a truly respectful or healthy hero, so Phillip was no exception to that either.
He definitely had some serious anger issues and he was utterly incapable of communication, but most importantly, he was an absolutely terrible father. He had no excuse for the severe neglect he imposed on his children, and I feel like such bad parenting says a lot about a person鈥�
I also didn鈥檛 like that the sole reason he even wanted to find a wife was because he wanted to find someone to take care of his children, since he refused to do it. Not only do his children deserve more love than that, Eloise certainly deserved a better reason for marriage than that as well.

Speaking of, I was constantly waiting for more scenes between Eloise and the children, but they never really came. I really wanted to see those abandoned little creatures finally find warmth with a maternal figure, and see them slowly open up and learn to love/trust again. I really expected a more heartwarming story with proper development there.

Nonetheless, this was a pretty good historical romance overall. It was fun and engaging, although it could have been a little more romantic, and preferably with a deeper love story.


'Bridgertons' series:
1. The Duke and I - 3.5 stars
2. The Viscount Who Loved Me - 2.0 stars
3. An Offer From a Gentleman - 3.5 stars
4. Romancing Mister Bridgerton - 3.5 stars
5. To Sir Phillip, With Love - 3.0 stars
6. When He Was Wicked - 3.5 stars
7. It鈥檚 in His Kiss - 2.0 stars
8. On the Way to the Wedding - 2.5 stars
Profile Image for Erin.
213 reviews29 followers
March 9, 2012
Wow, how much did I hate this book? I mean, completely fucking hated? Eloise and the children were beyond delightful, and if this had just been a book about Eloise and the children I would have loved it to pieces, but no.

No it was not.

I am ridiculously upset that Eloise got stuck with a piece of shit like Sir Phillip, when all of her siblings get wonderful husbands (I assume). There is literally nothing I liked about Phillip. Nothing. I would like to be able to give him some leeway by saying that everything that he did was a product of the time period except 1) No, and 2) None of it has been in the other books, so why is it suddenly appearing in this one?

I especially liked the scene where Phillip and the Bridgerton men treated Eloise like chattel. Again, period appropriate, but it was never so blatant in the other books. I wish I'd had a physical copy of the book so I could've thrown it across the room.

I guess my most major problem with Phillip was that he let life happen to him, and refused to do anything to change it, and, in fact, blamed other people for his douchiness. Wife suicidal? Oh well he did everything he could and stopped caring years ago, whatevs. Doesn't know how to act around his children? Obvs. avoid them and mope about it instead of doing something.

Also: the bit that really stuck with me, besides the chattel scene, was the bit where Phillip tells Eloise that their marriage was perfection to him, so she couldn't complain about anything. And suddenly it all becomes clear: the other men in the other books understood that a marriage involves two real people. To Phillip, the marriage was all about him.

From a queer perspective: Holy shit Eloise totally only got married because Penelope did, which meant the person she shipped herself with was completely unattainable and she couldn't bear the thought of being lonely for the rest of her life. That is fucked up.
Profile Image for Heidi.
1,328 reviews239 followers
August 17, 2024
I was disappointed with this Bridgerton entry. I've always liked Eloise and wanted the same kind of love story for her that her siblings have enjoyed. While I loved the references to her letters... they weren't enough to capture my attention.

It was one of those stories where the characters live more in their heads-- lots of second guessing which always drives me a little crazy... I missed the charming repartee and funny encounters found in some of the other stories.

I won't give up on the series just hopeful that the others are more like the first two.

(Reviewed 2/12/17)
Profile Image for Sara.
374 reviews396 followers
March 10, 2021
I think this is where i leave this series.
This was my least favourite of the books i've read by far and i have absolutely no interest in the other Bridgerton siblings.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 20,608 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.