This was a pretty good book! I saw the trailer for the movie and was intrigued by it.
The Honorable Jerry Malcom is looking for a Bride. Not just any bride but one that meets all of the qualifications on his list. Julia who feels that she's been spurned by him decides to retaliate by convincing Salina to deceive him and pretend thar she has her own list. But, Salina and Jerry find themselves falling in love which infuriates Julia. She tries to retaliate and even pretends to be Salina to break them up. They have to overcome their stubbornness and realize that their love will last. ( )

Super cute and quick read 3.75 ( )

This book had it's good points and it's not so good points. The plot seemed kind of generic, but entertaining enough. Mr. Malcolm initially seemed to have gotten a bad rap for being arrogant and unreachable because he almost instantly fell for Selina when they met and got to know one another. It was clear Julia was a treacherous snake from the start. But as things began to unfold, Mr. Malcolm ended up being the pompous jerk everyone thought. And I wasn't exactly overly fond of him towards the end of the book. I'm actually still a little lowkey mad at him and wouldn't have been as forgiving as Selina. Nevertheless, a happy ending was had by all, so I guess that's all that really matters in a romance. ( )

I wonder what it’s like to have a romance novel change my mind about an unlikeable leading man.

Mr. Jeremy Malcolm a well distinguished, handsome, wealthy and most eligible bachelor is in need of a woman whom he can willfully and gladly call his wife. But not just any woman, she must be well mannered, well educated, can’t be too shallow but also must be good at conversation. She can’t have embarrassing family relations nor can she be too ditzy. So it’s no wonder it didn’t work out with Miss Julia Thistlewaite. She’s cute, kind of funny but a bit of a bore and super full of herself.

Julia can’t let it go and call it bad date. When her cousin Cassie tells her that it’s not her fault, Malcolm just has a list and she didn’t check off every item, the wheels in Julia’s mind start spinning with revenge. Enlisting the help of old schoolmate Selena Dalton, she has a plan to ruin Mr. Malcolm’s list and leave him broken-hearted.

Little did she know that she was actually about to set him up with an almost perfect match. Read the book to find out what check mark Selena didn’t pass on the list.

I can’t with Malcolm. He’s hot, he’s rich and quick witted but there’s nothing else. He makes assumptions about people and twists them to his own liking. Sure, that’s what a lot of people say about Jane Austen’s Darcy but at least he was willing to listen and showed some type of growth before declaring his love for Elizabeth. He didn’t sulk around like a 13 year old rejected incel when she said no. Now I’m not saying Malcolm was that bad but after the third time reading about how upset he was at the love of his life being a deceitful woman when she didn’t even do anything made me question exactly how much did he really love her if at the first sign of something going wrong, he blamed his ruined expectations on everyone else.

I don’t know, Henry Ossory was dreamier and he was as dull but pretty as a cardboard cutout of Henry Cavill. I know I was supposed to root for Selena and Malcolm but Julia was hilarious and I couldn’t help but root for her.

Super cheesy, very quick read, not my type of thing but maybe it’s not meant for me :) ( )

Yes, very Bridgerton. But I found it a little plodding compared with the wit of Bridgerton. I've just read that the 8 Bridgerton novels were published between 2000 and 2006. This came out in 2009, so it could have done better.

I picked it up to read because I'd read that it had been chosen as one of the fortunate romance novels to be made into a tv series or movie. I'd love to see the movie as I think it could work well, maybe better than the audiobook format that I consumed.

My copy went back to the library before I'd finished listening so I must get it out again as I'm curious to know how it finishes. The two leads, Mr Jeremy Malcolm and Miss Selina Dalton, give the reader a merry enough chase. ( )