To Sir Phillip, With Love: Number 5 in series (Bridgerton Family) [Paperback]

Instead of Lady Whistledown quotes, each chapter is headed by an extract from one of Eloise Bridgerton's letters: to her mother protesting childhood punishments, to her brothers protesting odious governesses, to her sisters and best friend about men - upon the rejection of each of her first six marriage proposals, nagging her married sisters about their experiences, and letters to Penelope complaining about what poor losers men are.

TO SIR PHILLIP is set immediately after ROMANCING MR. BRIDGERTON, and coincident with WHEN HE WAS WICKED. In broad outline, it has some similarities to Daphne's story in THE DUKE AND I, but with a still more extreme emotional situation for the male lead, in some ways.

Sir Phillip's mother, like Simon's, died in childbirth, leaving him to be brought up by a demanding father, though here prone to physical rather than emotional abuse. Like Simon, Philip found himself in scholarship, taking a first at university (though in botany rather than mathematics). Unlike Simon, Philip wasn't firstborn, and planned to remain at Cambridge as an academic. Philip's no rake, either; he wasn't the sort of "first-tier" bachelor whose status offset his lack of relationship skills much.

After his brother's death at Waterloo, however, Phillip (unlike Simon) opted to do his duty: making the family estate's agricultural aspects turn a profit (with botanical experiments on the side), and marrying his late brother's fiancee. Unfortunately Marina suffered from clinical depression, which only deepened after the birth of twins. Phillip's marriage became an endless strain upon him, effectively a single parent with *no* knowledge of householding or child-rearing, other than an iron determination not to follow his father's lead. Then the final blow fell: Marina's death after a botched suicide attempt.

Phillip receives a letter of condolence from cheerful chatterbox Eloise Bridgerton, a cousin of Marina's whom he's never met. Appreciating the gesture, he encloses a pressed flower with his response, thus beginning a long correspondence with Eloise (who loves writing letters, and had never before received such an enclosure). The story skims over this, as Phillip realizes that the right kind of wife would solve most of his problems: someone who can deal with his out-of-control seven-year-olds, and *not* be suicidal. Heck, a take-charge person who'd run *his* life is welcome to it, if she can straighten out the mess...

So the main story *really* begins when Eloise, in the wake of her best friend's marriage, opts to take Sir Philip up on his tentative invitation to visit with a view toward seeing if they'd suit. Unfortunately, she neglects to give *anyone* - from Sir Phillip with his rowdy children (whom he, in turn, neglected to mention) to her own matchmaking mother to her overprotective quartet of brothers - any warning of her plans.

Yes, Gregory is now old enough to join in one of the Bridgerton brothers' little chats with their sisters' suitors. (Reminiscent of the Pall Mall scene in THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME, the Bridgertons at one point have a marksmanship contest.) On the plus side, although Eloise didn't learn much from Daphne's problems with their brothers, she and Francesca *did* have sense enough to pool their money years ago to bribe a maid into a frank discussion of the facts of life. :) (That doesn't explain, though, why Eloise never passed any information along to Penelope.)

In fact, despite her long-term frendship with Eloise, Penelope doesn't appear. (If she or Kate tagged along, the brothers might behave more sensibly in the presence of a grown-up.) Violet has only one scene. Benedict lives near Sir Phillip, though, so Eloise has Sophie to commiserate with. :)

Eloise Bridgerton has always liked writing letters, so following the death of a distant cousin, it's only natural to send a letter of condolence. When Sir Phillip's reply includes a pressed flower Eloise is intrigued. It seems only natural for them to correspond, but after a year of writing to each other, Sir Phillip suggests the possibility of marraige - and Eloise doesn't know what to think.

At eight and twenty, Eloise is considered a spinster by the ton, but until recently that hasn't bothered her. It's not like she hasn't had the opportunity to marry - six rejected proposals attest to that - she has simply chosen not to. Not that she doesn't want to, but seeing the love her siblings have found, how can she possibly settle for anything less?

So, when her discontent rises up, Eloise sneaks out of London and travels to meet a man she has never met, but might, possibly, decide to marry.

Sir Phillip Crane has become something of a recluse following the death of his wife, he knows that, but in truth prefers the company of his plants to anything people have to offer. And then there are his children.

Eight-year old twins, Oliver and Amanda, are not the best behaved of children, and do their best to drive out any visitors to the house. When Eloise shows up unexpectedly it is soon clear all round that nothing is what anyone else expected.

Then, just as things begin to settle down, four very angry Bridgerton men come to call...

It's difficult to know what to expect from the first post-Lady Whistledown novel, because for me her columns have always been a vital part of what the Bridgertons are about. However, JQ admirably fills the void with excerpts of the many, many letters Eloise had written throughout her life. It's a perfect insight into the way this member of the family thinks.

She's headstrong, tenacious, curious and never afraid to speak her mind. The one thing she truly lacks is patience, and once she's made up her mind about something woebetide any who stand in her way.

Yet this book isn't really about Eloise, it's about Phillip. True, she has her fair share of point of view scenes, and the showdown with her brothers is both hilarious and touching, but she's essentially the same person from beginning to end.

In Phillip, however, we see a hero whose everyday is ruled by his past. He's a father who doesn't know how to treat his children, and only too happy to ignore their misdemeanours because he's terrified of what his temper might do. And yet he wants to remarry for his children's sake. His guilt over the death of his first wife and his reaction to it is so tightly wound within him that he doesn't speare a thought for himself. Until he meets Eloise, of course, and then everything changes.

Phillip's personal journey is what makes this story special, culminating in a beautifully touching final chapter that definitely pulls on the heartstrings.

Not that this book is merely sentimental - this is JQ after all. So we have the inclusion of the Bridgerton siblings, which always produces amusement. One of the best touches is the return of Colin's voracious appetite. Then there's the shooting match. It's also nice to finally meet Gregory again, last seen knocking Simon and Anthony into the Thames in 'The Duke and I'. Violet returns too, bringing that special magic of hers that never fails to make her appearences special.

Away from the Bridgertons, JQ once again introduces a wonderful pair of children - not that 'wonderful' refers to their behaviour. One of the recurring joys of JQ's books is the way she writes small children, and these two are no exception. At times it's almost more important that they get their happy ending than it is for Eloise.

Yet another fabulous tale from Julia Quinn, with delightful characters and an epilogue that is perfectly gorgeous.

This is the 5th book in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series following on from Romancing Mr Bridgerton.

This book deals with the story of Eloise, who runs away in answer to an invitation from a man she has been corresponding with for over a year but has never met.

I did enjoy this book and I found the characters to be believable and likeable although I did find there were instances where some of the things they thought and did seemed out of character based on what we had been told and learned of them. For example, although she had run away from home I found it hard to believe that Eloise would not give a thought to her mother or how she would be suffering not knowing where Eloise was. I was also on occasion annoyed by how dense Philip was being but I suppose that's about par for the course with men in general!!

The sub plot of Eloise dealing with the children also seemed to fade out and become less important as the book went on and I was disappointed that more couldn't have been done to wrap things up together nicely at the end.

Despite all the faults, I genuinely did like this book and I think those who are familiar with the Bridgertons will enjoy it as much as I did.