Bridgerton: The Duke and I

Bridgerton Family, Book 1

By: Julia Quinn

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

The first novel in Julia Quinn's worldwide best-selling Bridgerton novels, now a series created by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix. This is the story of Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke: welcome to the ballrooms of Regency London.....

Can there be any greater challenge to London's Ambitious Mamas than an unmarried duke? Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1813.

By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend's sister, the lovely - and almost-on-the-shelf - Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth - it's all an elaborate plan to keep Simon free from marriage-minded society mothers. And as for Daphne, surely she will attract some worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable....

Their ruse works like a charm - at first. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, it's hard to remember that their courtship is a complete sham. Maybe it's his devilish smile, certainly it's the way his eyes seem to burn every time he looks at her. It wasn't the plan, but it seems she's falling for the duke, for real. And amidst the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London's elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule....

©2000, 2013 Julie Cotler Pottinger (P)2016 Recorded Books Inc

Critic Reviews

"The Duke and I is rich with author Julia Quinn's trademark humour and engaging dialogue.... Quinn just keeps getting better and better, a fact that's sure to delight readers." (Lois Faye Dyer)

"Light, pacy and full of feisty heroines." (Guardian on the Bridgerton series)

"Quinn is a master of historical romance." (Entertainment Weekly)

captivating

I really loved this awesome price of work...it's soo much realistic like you're seeing a movie!. thanks Rosalyn Landor! I really and specially had no difficulty in listen through the whole time. you're a GEM Julia Quinn

Loved it!

Loved it. The narrator is especially great. The conflict is resolved a bit too quickly, but otherwise it's great. Full of great, engaging characters.

watch Netflix and skip to book 2

great narrator but I think Julia Quinn's Bridgetown series got much better in the later books .book 1 has much fewer witty lines and complex plots. you are probably better off watching the netflix version of the story. better execution of the story line .

Good read

Heartwarming story that makes you laugh. The Narrating is superb! Makes one want to read the other books on the Bridgeton clan.

Smiled the whole way through

I loved this book. The characters are written very well and all have there own personalities. I was smiling and feeling embarrassed through out the book. How society has changed, how the everyday was so different, women couldn’t be out and about without an escort. I loved the storyline and how the relationship between the Duke and Daphne developed. The whole Bridgerton family was a hoot. It was very much worth a read.

happily Surprised

not what I normally listen to but I was pleased. Great narration by rosalyn Landor.

Great hear ! Loved it

Loved how it was read with such emotion I could picture every part of it I enjoyed it very very much

It is enjoyable

I liked it more than the Netflix series. However, the series helped me pictured all the characters.

Thumbs up

I love the actions from Rosalyn, is so relaxing her voice. The story is great, easy to relax with

Beautifull storyteller.

The story is so good, so romantic. You want to listen the whole book fast.

Badly written but good story

These books are so badly written, you can tell from the first chapter that the author is writing about a period that she knows little about. The text is littered with 'Americanisms' and inaccuracies so if you are seriously into your period novels then this will wear thin. All of the lead female characters are bimbo's and airheads despite the author continually telling us they are intelligent, which is incredibly disappointing from a female author. If you are any kind of feminist then these books are not for you. HOWEVER I'm a sucker for romance and I just can't stop buying them. That probably says more about me than about the books.

Utter Rubbish

One of the worst books I have ever read/listened to. I regret wasting a credit on it. Steer clear!

Not Shaken and Stirred. Rather Bored to Tears!

I'm a journalist working on a review of the Netflix adaptation of the Duke and I. The Netflix version has made a silk purse out of sow's ear. Large parts of this book are painfully tedious, dull and lacking any authenticity for the Regency period at all.

I have given up after less than an hour.

although not without fault, Netflix did it better

The style of narration is charming but that's about it. Events seem to be unrealistic and intimate scenes are tedious to suffer through. Usually the book tends to be better than any screen adaptation but in this case I have to say Netflix did it better. In the book there was a lot of attention placed on the comic or dramatic value of a moment but not as much on how that moment contributes to the plot and it's dramatisation.

Dropped out

I couldn't get past the first hour or so. The level of silliness of this story is incredible.

Utter load of tripe

Appallingly badly written. Dreadful delivery. Totally incorrect historically. Many errors in continuity. Example Daphnis daughters in one chapter have brown eyes and in the next have blue. In fact the book was so bad I'm returning it.

If you like Netflix version this might disappoint

I purchased this AFTER binge watching it on Netflix based on the articles I read that there are some story differences which would still keep it exciting enough.
Hands down the Netflix story is way better, characters come to life in more detail as well as the era through additional characters, the scenes, costumes, etc. I was quite disappointed how little description went into this within the book and it will keep me from reading/listening to the other Bridgerton Family books (until hopefully those will come to life through Netflix as well).
The experience is that the book is usually better than the film/series. Here it is the other way around. However, if you just want to indulge into this because you have watched it one too many times and have fallen in love with the Bridgerton family (not really any of the other characters which do get lost/don't exist within this book) I can recommend it as the differences to the Netflix storyline are great enough to keep it in interesting.

Good but not without flaws!

This was a romance with a lot going for it.
- The story was fun and packed with plenty of humour.
- Quinn's writing was engaging and sucked me in from the start.
-There was a few touching moments and it was easy to emotionally invest in the characters.
-The relationship between the Bridgerton family and the family dynamic made for plenty of amusing moments.

It was just hindered by a few annoying flaws.
-Loads of violence. Why is it so hard to find HR books where an inclination towards violence is not seen as an admirable trait?
-The presence of a scene with questionable levels of consent. I could have lived without this scene in the book and been more happy about it as it sort of tainted my enjoyment of the final stages of the story.

All in all I felt like this was more good than bad and I'll definitely move onto the next book in the series. Hopefully in that one Quinn works on eliminating the flaws and concentrating on the stuff that made this one good!

I feel like Rosalyn Landor is always a solid choice for historical romance novels and that she gave a great performance of this one.

Trash, but could be worse

So, the writing was not good. all the reviews that say this is trash certainly have a point. The narration was cringe worthy at time but not helped by the terrible writing. Certainly not very accurate on the historic context, found it particularly funny when the author mentioned crowds at Greenwich in 1813! However, if you listen to it knowing full well it's a trashy light hearted novel and that's what you want, its not bad.

I have seen the first few episodes on Netflix and so far it seems much better than the book.

Fabulous! first of the series

I loved this so well written and narrated.
Loved the sibling interactions, I can't wait to listen to the rest.