Meet Our Hero …
Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth’s sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past .. and the key to his future. The problem is — it’s written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.
Meet Our Heroine …
All the ton agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She’s fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken, and according to Gareth, probably best in small doses. But there’s something about her — something charming and vexing — that grabs him and won’t quite let go …
Meet Poor Mr. Mozart …
Or don’t. But rest assured, he’s spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual — and annually discordant — Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth’s every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other … and that there is nothing as simple — or as complicated — as a single, perfect kiss.
Rating: B+
Julia Quinn is one of my go-to authors when I want a fairly lighthearted, well–written story with a sexy hero, a lively heroine, and plenty of humor, and It’s in His Kiss, the seventh title in her Bridgerton series, certainly delivers on all counts. I also like the fact that this story contains some darker undertones when compared to Ms. Quinn’s other romances, in that Gareth is slightly more tortured and Hyacinth – contrary to appearances – is more insecure than some of her other protagonists. That’s not to say the novel is especially angsty (it isn’t) – just that there is a little grit underneath the fluff. 🙂
Simon Prebble is one of my favourite narrators, too, so I was fairly sure of an enjoyable listening experience, and he certainly did not disappoint. I find his husky tones work really well when revealing the vulnerabilities of the hero, as well as being both soothing and sexy to boot. And he has a very deft touch with the heroines he portrays, never making them sound screechy or ridiculously high-pitched.
Gareth St. Clair, is the son of Richard, Baron St.Clair who, at the beginning of the book, takes great pleasure in informing Gareth that he is, in fact NOT his son, but the result of an affair his mother had with another man whose identity is unknown. This explains a lot for Gareth, who has always been openly detested by the baron, but who is nonetheless legitimate as St. Clair and his mother were married at the time of his birth.
Fast forward several years, and Gareth is openly estranged from his father, living separately and somewhat impecuniously, even though he has been the heir to the barony since the recent death of his older brother. He is utterly gorgeous and has rather a scandalous reputation yet he is devoted to his grandmother, the slightly batty but irreproachable Lady Danbury, whose appearances are among the highlights of the story. Lady D was expertly brought to life by Mr. Prebble, who I know from some of his other work has a really nice line in “elderly dowagers.” He also injects a real warmth and affection into Gareth’s exchanges with her through a subtle lightening of tone so that you can almost hear the smile in Gareth’s voice when he speaks to her.
Lady D dotes on her grandson, and also has a soft spot for Hyacinth, the youngest Bridgerton sibling, who visits her every Tuesday afternoon to read from salacious novels such as Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron. On one of those Tuesdays, Lady D and Hyacinth are surprised by a visit from Gareth in which he asks for his grandmother’s help in finding an Italian translator. His late brother’s wife had found his paternal grandmother’s diary among his effects, with a note indicating she should give it to Gareth; but the diary is written in Italian, and he is not familiar with the language. Having some small facility in Italian, Hyacinth offers to translate the diary for him, and thus, they are drawn more frequently into each other’s company.
Hyacinth is challenging and sometimes stubborn to the point of absurdity, but she is also fiercely intelligent, funny and charming. The problem is that her outspokenness and obvious cleverness seem to have intimidated the young men of the ton, most of whom don’t want a wife who is more intelligent than themselves. The only young man who is able to keep up with her and trade her quip for quip is Gareth, who quickly discovers that he likes her. In fact, he more than likes her, and in a very funny scene, goes down on one knee to propose in front of his grandmother!
Unfortunately, Gareth is still smarting from some of his father’s most recent taunts in which he told Gareth that he could never marry a woman like Hyacinth – someone of good family – because of the mystery of his own parentage. In a move that feels like the only false note in the book, Gareth decides he must make it impossible for Hyacinth to back out of the engagement once she discovers that St. Clair is not his real father. The only way he can do that is by compromising her irretrievably and, in one of the steamier of Quinn’s love scenes, a very thorough job he does of it, too!
I found this to be a very enjoyable book that was brought to life by Simon Prebble’s excellent narration. All the characters were distinct from one another – Hyacinth was softly spoken but her humor and determination were never far from the surface, and in the conversations with her mother, there was never any question as to which of the ladies was speaking. The scenes between Gareth and his father make for uncomfortable listening as the man’s hatred for his “son” is revealed as implacable and absolute. He is total poison – and I thought that the voice Mr. Prebble chose to portray him was perfect – nasal and slimy-sounding, which put the image of a slithering snake into my head. By contrast, Gareth is pleasantly deep-voiced; confident and seductive when with Hyacinth but with an underlying vulnerability that is immediately attractive.
It’s a shame that the first five books in the Bridgerton aren’t available in audio. I hope they are recorded in the not too distant future, and I’d certainly be more than happy if they continue to use Simon Prebble.
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