A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith Quartet) Paperback – May 27, 2021

All of JQs reads are fab if you are into happy endings. They make you smile, they make you laugh, and you mightbcry in the middle, but you always get your happy ending, the one you have wanted since the first page. Smythe-Smith is at the same level as Bridgertons for sure!

I just adore Julia Quinn's romances. I have yet to finish one that didn't leave me with a smile on my face as I closed the last page. A Night Like This is no different. Daniel Smythe-Smith has been on a self-imposed exile to the Continent for three years after accidentally shooting his good friend, crippling him for life, and causing his friend's father to threaten his life. But after his friend, Hugh (who will be the hero in the next book of this series), finds him to let him know that Daniel is no longer in danger, Daniel returns to his home on the night the infamous Smythe-Smith musicale. He sees his cousins' governess, Anne, fumbling away at the piano and is immediately smitten. Anne is a governess with a mysterious past, one that she does not wish to share. She has had her own eight year exile, but this was an exile that was forced on her by her family and the family of her neighbor after a horrible event when she was sixteen. What follows after Daniel and Anne meet that night is a super sweet romance where friendship is formed and the demons of the past are exorcised.What I loved:Daniel and Anne. I loved these two characters. Daniel was so amazingly perceptive, understanding when Anne needed to talk and understanding when she needed to keep things inside. He was patient and willing to wait for her to be ready to share her history and her struggles with him. He could sense the moments that unnerved her in some way, and he was always careful to protect her in any way that he could, physically and emotionally. Anne had grown up as a somewhat spoiled and egotistical girl, focused on getting whatever she wanted. She was a beautiful girl used to getting attention, but after the tragedy of her sixteenth year she grew and changed into a caring woman with charm and wit. I loved her interactions with Daniel's cousins. But the best part of these two characters were their interactions with each other. There was an ease to their conversations that made their growing friendship obvious. Even though the two of them were physically beautiful, this relationship did not seem founded on purely physical attraction. It was clear that they were friends first, and I loved that.What knocked this down a star:I'm not a huge fan of melodrama in my historical romances. And this story had a huge dose of melodrama at the end. George was just so ridiculous as a villain. Sure, I understand how his scarring would have upset him. I can even see how he might hold an eternal grudge against Anne because of it. Every day that he looked in the mirror he would be reminded of what she had done ... even though it was his own fault that it happened. But (without spoiling anything) his choices at the end of this novel were absolutely over the top. He didn't need to be so melodramatically villainous. He would have been a much more interesting villain if he were not quite so maniacal. If he had been given even an ounce of layer to his personality and not simply portrayed as the 100% bad guy I would have loved to see how Daniel and Anne work to overcome the problems associated with him. As written, he was just just another cardboard cutout of a villain, set in the story simply as a means of showcasing the great love the hero and heroine have for one another.But, having said that, this is still another great Julia Quinn romance. It is a fast read that left me happy in the end. I can't wait to read Hugh's story. He fascinates me as a character. Four stars for this one!

Quinn produces enjoyable stories with interesting characters. Even knowing that all will be fine in the end, the journey from the first page to the last make for a fun escape.

Like all of Julia’s books I have read, I loved this one and couldn’t put it down. This series so far has been just as good as he Brigerton books.

This had a strong, charming, surprisingly progressive (for the times) hero, and a strong, unobjectionable heroine. Really, there wasn't anything significant that I didn't like about either of them. There weren't even those little moments of dislike I occasionally feel for a H/H I like. Throughout the story, I was very consistent in how I felt about both Daniel and Anne: I liked them.Which is why I'm not sure why I wasn't more ... bowled over by the newest JQ book. I mean, I'm happy to put it up on my shelf next to my other JQs (basically next to ALL of the JQs ever written). But my general feeling was, "yeah, that was sweet and nice, meh." And I have no idea why.I liked the cousins just fine. I liked Daniel's weird friendship with Hugh, the guy he crippled in a (mutually) drunken duel. I liked Aunt Charlotte, even when she was doing the traditional "warning off" of the H/H because he's an earl and she's a governess. I love Daniel's family, of course, and we did get a small dose of Lady Winstead, Honoria and Marcus. I didn't mind the setting at all: I happen to adore small-towns-in-the-English-countryside settings as much as I like traditional London settings.I can't put my finger on why I wasn't totally swept away by it. If I have to list a specific dislike, the only one that comes to mind is the scene where the girls make Anne and Daniel help act out Harriet's new play. Like the scene in Just Like Heaven where the girls practiced before the musicale, OMG, it just dragged on and on. I know it was supposed to be funny and cute and endearing, but to me, I was just flipping those few pages like, come on, be done with it already. (Not done with the book; done with that little pointless scene. And I shouldn't even call it pointless because it HAD a point: to be sweet and cute and inject some levity. It achieved that purpose. I just didn't care one bit.)So I really can't say why I didn't love this book. In an odd way, I was a little bored while reading it. Just a little. Not even enough to call the book 'a little boring,' because I wouldn't call it that, but still, several times during my reading, I registered that I was just a wee bit bored.I know, none of this makes sense.

If you are a bridgerton/Julia Quinn fan you need this book. It is whimsical, romantic and sexy.

This series was my introduction to J. Quinn's novels and I can't tell you how much I loved all three books . Each book has well developed characters, a great story line, just the perfect romance with a wonderful historical setting and it grabs your interest from the beginning to the end. If you are like me and haven't yet read her work, start here you won't be disappointed.I have now read ALL of Julia Quinn's books and there isn't one I wouldn't recommend, Give this book a read you will definitely enjoy it!!!

This second book in the series was remarkably better than the first. It's a love at first sight kind of story, full of filtration, passionate kisses and cousins, of course. The Smythe-Smiths are a very large family, they love each other very dearly and I loved that this really transpired in the book.

Boring, reads like a bad play. Other bridgerton novels and caracters fun, but besides the male not very interesting. Skip to next novel

It was good to get the background on how Daniel and Hugh fought over cards, had the dreadful duel experience with Daniel unintentionally shooting Hugh in the leg and being hounded out of England by Hugh's father. After 3 years Hugh visit Daniel in Italy and tells him that he has convinced his father to let Daniel return to England. He returns on the night that Anne Wynter (a Governess) relaxes Sarah on the piano at the String Quartet. Daniel arrives back quietly and see Anne through curtains and is quite captured by her. Anne, who was Analise Shorcross, is Governess to Daniel's cousins. That night is also upset by Daniel discovering his sister kissing his best friend Marcus. Anne has a secret similar to Daniel's she was double crossed at 16 to have a sexual liaison with a man called Charles she thought loved her and marry her, only to find that he was marrying someone else with better financial standing. He then proceeded to seduce her again which she resisted and in an attempt to defend herself picked up a pen knife which Charles rushed into resulting in his face being severely cut. Charles goes crazy and both his father and her father get involved and given women's standing in the world at that time Anne is blamed for at all and banished from her home, becoming and companion and then a Governess under another name. Daniel pursues Anne relentlessly including inviting the cousins to his country seat. Anne has a half day off and goes into the village and Daniel goes after her. It begins to rain he offers to drive her home in his cart. During their return they crash and it discovered to be sabotage. Daniel thinks it is Hugh father to blame and heads to London to check. Realising that is wasn't Hugh he begins to think that it was due to Anne's past. On return to London of Daniel's Aunt, cousins and Anne, Daniel's aunt tells Anne to watch out on Daniel's attentions. Anne has realised that Charles was behind the horse cart incident. She runs to keep the family safe and get away from Daniel. Into a poorer part of London with little money, no reference and no job prospects is discovered by Charles, his intent is to cut and murder her. She manages to escape and goes to Daniel who takes her back to his mother for safety. Daniel visits Charles' wife looking for him and during this time crazy Charles kidnaps the youngest cousin Frances luring Anne into the carriage to save her. They take off and Anne pushes Frances out to save her. Frances goes him and provides Daniel on the coach details and Charles posibble destination. Daniel, his mother, Frances' mother, Frances, Hugh and Marcus chase Charles and Anne to an Inn on Hamstead Heath. Charles is eventually apprehended and is forced to leave the country with his wife. Anne and Daniel are finally able to be together.

I like Julia Quinn's books because of the romance, the adventure, the humour she uses in her dialogues, and her description of characters.