Review: Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn
Avon (May 25, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0061491894
384 pages
eARC provided for review by the publisher

Synopsis from Amazon:

Ten Things You Should Know About This Book

1. Sebastian Grey is a devilishly handsome rogue with a secret.

2. Annabel Winslow's family voted her The Winslow Most Likely to Speak Her Mind and The Winslow Most Likely to Fall Asleep in Church.

3. Sebastian's uncle is the Earl of Newbury, and if he dies without siring an heir, Sebastian inherits everything.


4. Lord Newbury detests Sebastian and will stop at nothing to prevent this from happening.

5. Lord Newbury has decided that Annabel is the answer to all of his problems.

6. Annabel does not want to marry Lord Newbury, especially when she finds out he once romanced her grandmother.

7 is shocking, 8 is delicious, and 9 is downright wicked, all of which lead the way to

10. Happily. Ever. After.

Annabel Winslow is in the midst of her debut in London and there couldn't be a better time for it. Since the death of her father, a country gentleman, her large family has become increasingly less financially stable. Now her brothers are on the verge of having to leave school and her sisters have already lost their governess. However, her noble grandparents have deigned to take her under their wings, despite the fact that they had disowned her mother twenty years prior for marrying down. Lord and Lady Vickers, Annabel's grandparents,  aren't a patient pair and they have pretty much zero faith in Annabel's ability to attract a suitor. They've decided to take the matter of her marriage into their own hands and have all but accepted a proposal from a desperate widower friend, the disgusting Lord Newbury. Annabel struggles with whether or not to go ahead with the marriage and, to add to the difficulty of her decision, she happens to meet and develop feelings for Newbury's handsome nephew and heir presumptive, Sebastian Grey. Of course, Sebastian has no idea who Annabel is. Hijinks ensue.

Going into this read, I definitely had high expectations. That has often proven to not be a good thing for me when picking up a book but, alas, it was unavoidable. I've read five books in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series and, though I have my favorites, I have enjoyed them all. Don't get me wrong - Ten Things I love About You is a cute romantic comedy of a Regency. There are some great moments and memorable characters (unfortunately they happen to be the more detestable ones and not the hero and heroine). I even thought the whole "I count in tens too" bit was cute. The romance between Annabel and Sebastian was sweet, if a bit too condensed for my tastes. Overall, I had a really great time reading this one. All of the following minor quibbles are just that - MINOR QUIBBLES.

Sebastian is a charming, rakish fellow. He has a good sense of humor and contributes to a lot of the story's more amusing moments. I especially like his good humor where a certain author, Sara Gorely, is concerned. See, since his return from war, he has suffered from insomnia among other issues. The career that he has developed as a gothic romance novelist (Gorely) has helped him some, but he still struggles. He has cultivated a reputation as a carefree, but pleasant, rogue in order to hide his more deep-thinking writer-ish nature. Obviously the heroine sees right through this ruse where no one, not even his family, could. Aside from the random way that she jibes mentally with Sebastian (despite a 10+ year age gap), Annabel did not seem to have much of a personality. She is a character defined too much by others. Her feelings of obligation to her family and her longing for Sebastian are, pretty much, the only defining characteristics given to Annabel during the course of the story. I think that had Quinn's novel been a bit longer, this issue wouldn't exist. Of the five novels of her's that I've read prior to Ten Things there was no lack of character development in any of her heroes or heroines. If Ten Things had been longer, the problem could have been avoided. We don't get the opportunity to really know the characters as we should (especially Annabel) and their romance seemed to progress too quickly.

I also believe that Sebastian's residual issues with the war and its affects on his sleep were too easily glossed over in the end. Annabel supposedly helped him with this but, aside from recognizing the troubles behind the charm and asking a couple questions, I didn't see how she helped enough. In fact, after the declarations of love and resolution of the main conflict, Sebastian's issues seemed to disappear in their entirety.

Despite my quibbles with the story, it remains an enjoyable one. Julia Quinn has a knack for writing great feel-good romances. The story definitely had its funny moments and lines, especially whenever Lady Vickers was in the scene. Could it have been more? Sure, but any Julia Quinn book is a great read. Plus, I only wish the best books are longer.

Side note: This book contains characters from the previous Quinn novels, The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever and What Happens in London. I haven't read them yet and I didn't feel like it hurt my understanding any. That said, I might have enjoyed it more if I was returning to characters I loved in a previous read.

Grade: B

Check out this really charming trailer for Ten Things:



________________________________________________________________
I'm an Amazon Associate. Feel free to use my links to purchase items - the commission will help me with paying the shipping costs on giveaways. ________________________________________________________________
Content © 2009-2010 Jacqueline Cook, All rights reserved except where credited