The Duke And I, by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons #1) Start Date: January 14, 2013

[Leah]

Can I jump in at the last minute? My book finally arrived. I had planned on having more time to read it, but I'm going to see if I can finish it on time anyway!

[Susan (susayq ~), Moderator]

Sure! Jump in! Don't rush, enjoy it and we'll be here to chat about it :)

[Lisa Kay, Moderator]

Sure, Leah! Welcome to the party.

[Leah]

Awesome!

I finished today! It turned out to be a very easy read for me. One of those books that I can just read all day. (Now onto reading the [booorrrrinnnng] Odyssey for class.)

Here are my answers for questions 1-12:

1. I have never read this series before, and this was also my first book by Julia Quinn. I really liked her “voice” and her sense of humor.

2. I still have a hard time getting over the importance of a son. I get it – if you don’t have a son then your name isn’t passed down, but daughters are precious too! I thought it was pretty ungrateful of the late duke to basically shun his son, especially for such a lame reason. He should have been proud to have a son, and he should have wanted to teach Simon to be very successful to show everyone that his stutter didn’t matter. (At least, that’s my opinion… Although my opinion wouldn’t have made the story quite as interesting.)

3. I could do without Lady Whistledown… I don’t know… I read her little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter, but even though they were relevant, they seemed somewhat out of place and – dare I say – pointless.

4. I really liked Violet. She’s very nice and down to earth, with common sense. I would definitely like to read her story. Daphne’s brothers on the other hand, tended to irritate me. I don’t have an older brother so I don’t know what it’s like, but I thought they were far too overprotective of her. I’m sure it was also partially the time, but still… Give the girl a break!

5. I think that in general, maybe the men who only thought of Daphne as a good friend were looking for a woman more fitting of the stereotype of the time. I think that – as far as appearances go – Daphne is probably just like any other girl her age, but Simon finds her beautiful, and the fact that he likes her personality makes her seem even more beautiful to him.

6. I honestly thought that their first meeting was a little dragged out… My favorite part about it was the beginning, when Simon interrupted Daphne and Nigel’s confrontation. That was probably the funniest part to me too. After that I just wanted the story to continue so I could find out what happened between the two of them!

7. Eh, I don’t know what to say about this one. The fact that a woman’s reputation could be ruined just for kissing a man is a little crazy to me. But, I don’t really care if I get to sample the goods first or not. If I’m in love with their personality (and their looks – looks aren’t everything, but to me they’re something!) I don’t mind if they turn out to be a terrible kisser or something like that… I think you get my drift here. (Although having to be chaperoned would make it rather difficult to get to know somebody!)

8. I think it was definitely a good idea to tell Anthony about their plans, and I was not at all surprised by the rules. Even in today’s society, Anthony was essentially playing a fatherly role as well as a brotherly one, and fathers still make rules! ;)

9. The dinner scene was a good one. I don’t have a large immediate family, but it reminded me of when all the relatives get together. Food all over and more conversations than there are people! I also really like the fact that Simon knew just how to act around the children.

10. I’m afraid I don’t remember the exact details of that scene, but I’ll take your word for it because I know there was a point where it really seemed like they were falling in love. I’ll just assume it was then.

11. Eh, I think I was rather indifferent. I’m going to take some serious convincing (the right man is probably all it will really take) if I’m going to have children some day, so I have a hard time connecting with this scene.

12. Anthony knows there’s something going on. He’s not stupid. But he doesn’t have to be a jerk about it either – which, I think he was.

[Leah]

Susan (susayq) wrote: "Have y'all gotten to Violet talking to Daphne about what to expect on her wedding night? hilarious!!!"

That was one of my favorite scenes! Just trying to picture either of my parents trying to give the sex talk makes me laugh. I think Violet did a pretty decent job seeing as she didn't have school teachers to rely on to do it for her like they do now!

[Susan (susayq ~), Moderator]

I have 5 girls and I don't think I've had the sex talk with any of them LOL I did have the birth control talk with the second one and she assured me she was good ;)

[Lina]

Just finished this! Only 3 weeks late!

[Susan (susayq ~), Moderator]

CaroB wrote: "Just finished this! Only 3 weeks late!"

What's you think?

[Lisa Kay, Moderator]

Leah wrote: "The fact that a woman’s reputation could be ruined just for kissing a man is a little crazy to me."

It is crazy, isn't it? **shakes head in dismay**

[Leah]

How did everyone feel about Daphne taking advantage of Simon when he was drunk? I never really liked her character after that. To me, it seemed like such a selfish thing to do...

[Lina]

I loved it, it was a re-read for me and I'm glad I did, I'd forgotten so many details.

Leah, it seemed extremely selfish to me as well but I thought JQ handled the aftermath - the anger that she still had at him for not being clear that it was HIS choice, the recriminations that he thought she did it on purpose, the self-doubt as to her innocence - did she do it on purpose? - and finally the resignation that she had to leave and see what happened... i liked the way that was handled... I did think he had a massive turnaround that got glossed over though. I would have liked to have seen more of his thought process as he decided that he was willing to try to have a family with her...

[Susan (susayq ~), Moderator]

Leah wrote: "How did everyone feel about Daphne taking advantage of Simon when he was drunk? I never really liked her character after that. To me, it seemed like such a selfish thing to do..."

I didn't like that she did that, but I do like how it was handled after. CaroB said that so well :)

[Lauren]

Leah wrote: "How did everyone feel about Daphne taking advantage of Simon when he was drunk? I never really liked her character after that. To me, it seemed like such a selfish thing to do..."

I also didn't like what Daphne did and it definitely altered my opinion of her. Taken in the context of the story, what she did is understandable although completely unacceptable as well.

[Gisela, Moderator]

I didn't like it either, I understand why she did it but it still doesn't make it right.

[Leah]

I agree that JQ wrapped that situation up well. It definitely smoothed things over quite a bit. I also agree, CaroB, about Simon's decision to start a family. I would have liked to read more about his "reasoning" as well.