This is the third book in Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons series. I read the first two a while back, but then never got around to requesting the next ones from the library. Luckily I have an awesome friend named Jenn who is sending me the books in this series as she reads them, so I finally get to go on with them!
Oh and don’t worry – I read them in order because I’m picky like that, but you don’t really have to worry about reading these in order. Each book focuses on one of the eight Bridgerton siblings finding true love 
So, An Offer From a Gentleman! It’s about Sophie, who was the unacknowledged bastard of the Earl of Penwood. He took care of her and everyone knew she was his, but she got pushed aside when he got remarried to Araminta, and her and her two daughters move in. When the Earl dies, Sophie is left with nothing – she grows up as a servant to her stepmother and two stepsisters. But Sophie is able to sneak out in disguise for one wonderful night, attending Lady Bridgerton’s masquerade ball and meets the man of her dreams when she dances with Benedict Bridgerton.
He is one of the older Bridgerton sons, and he’s never shown much interest in romance or getting married – until he meets a beautiful mystery woman at his mother’s masquerade. She disappears at midnight and he’s left pining for her – until he ends up rescuing a beautiful housemaid that seems so familiar…
See the Cinderella element here? I loved that – it was so fun. Poor Sophie – she’s SO mistreated by her stepfamily and ends up working so hard just to survive. And then when she runs into Benedict again, it seems her dreams have come true – until she realizes that he doesn’t recognize her from that one magical night. But he saves her, and they get all romantic and sweet and awwwww.
This book wasn’t as funny as some of Julia Quinn’s newer books – and I really like funny romance. So that was a bit disappointing. And even though Sophie and Benedict were so cute together and of course I cheered for their happy ending, Benedict isn’t my favorite romantic hero. He was definitely a knight in shining armor at one point in the story, but in another later part he kind of demands that she be his mistress and refuses to consider that he could marry a housemaid, and that was a little weak. Of course this is romance so it all works out in the end, but that irked me about him. Oh and for those that really like the sexy bits – there was only one real sex scene in this book. That was actually preferable for me, but if that’s what you mainly look for in romance you might want to skip this one.
Overall though, this was a fun read and I really like the Bridgerton family. Especially the mama I’m looking forward to reading the next one, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, because I think I’ll like Colin Bridgerton more than Benedict.
Sarah Says: 3.5 stars
Benedict has clearly never seen Downton Abbey. I loved Sophie and thought she was such a badass. But Benedict was such a tool. How can you be born in that family and be such a jerk? Le sigh. I am glad Sophie called him out and they got their happy ending.
Sophie was so great! And so was Benedict up until he was like “Be my mistress! I’m going to force you to be my mistress!” What a creep. He lost a lot of points with me there.