An Offer From a Gentleman

by Julia Quinn

Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Series

Bridgerton (3)

Tags

FROM: PLCHC (traditional), TYPE: Book, GENRE: Historical Romance

Genres

Collection

SOURCE: PLCHC Branch Loan

Publication

Avon (2001), Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Description

Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML: A New York Times Bestseller From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn comes the story of Benedict Bridgerton, in the third of her beloved Regency-set novels featuring the charming, powerful Bridgerton family, now a series created by Shondaland for Netflix. BENEDICT'S STORY Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball�??or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight. Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other�??except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid's garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers her his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy-tale love… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Sugarbeat
An Offer From A Gentleman is the third book in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series. This book explores the relationship between Benedict Bridgerton (the second born) and Sophie Beckett, an illegitimate daughter of an earl.

At the annual Bridgerton’s masquerade ball Benedict - the second of the
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 Bridgerton siblings - falls in love with a beautiful masked woman who suddenly disappears around midnight in true Cinderella fashion. Benedict searches unsuccessfully for years for the masked woman he fell in love with. One night he rescues Sophie Beckett and starts to fall in love with her.

Sophie is the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood. She is left in the care of Araminta, her “stepmother” when her father dies. Like the storybook Cinderella, Sophie becomes the unpaid servant of the family. One evening the other household servants decide to dress her up and send her to the Bridgerton masquerade ball as a treat. The aftermath of this ball are horrible for Sophie. She is turned out of her own home without anywhere to live and no job to support herself. She lands on her feet, however, and runs into Benedict again years later while trying to fend off the lecherous attentions of the son of her latest employer. (all good Regency Romances have to have a lecher!) After Sophie nurses Benedict back to health from a bad cold, he takes Sophie home to find a position in his family home not realizing that she is his fantasy woman from so many years ago. There is something about Sophie that brings out the best in Benedict. He finds himself drawn to her as he was to his mystery woman from years ago. Lady Bridgerton, being the astute mother that she is, sees the chemistry between Sophie and her son. Always trying to marry her children off, she tries to determine if Sophie would make a good daughter-in-law. Benedict seems to struggle with the class difference between Sophie and himself. When Benedict suggests making Sophie his mistress she shows her backbone and stands up for what she believes is right.

Julia Quinn does a wonderful job of taking this story from such a prickly situation to a wonderful ending. In the end, Love Conquers All, and we end our story with a two Kleenex ending. Julia Quinn not only provides us with a whole host of roll-on-the-ground laughing interactions between the Bridgerton siblings, but a masterful weaving of a true love story between the members of different classes in Regency England.

If you’ve enjoyed the Bridgerton series, there’s no question you’ll love An Offer From A Gentleman. And the mysterious Lady Whistledown, whose Society Papers have opened each chapter in the books, has finally put down her pen. Hopefully, in the next book her identity will be revealed. I can hardly wait.
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LibraryThing member rocalisa
An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn

The Bridgerton family is wealthy, well born, and universally admired. And with six of the eight Bridgerton children already mingling with society, it's no wonder they're mentioned so frequently in the most popular (and accurate) source of social news, Lady
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 Whistledown's Society Papers. But not even the mysterious Lady Whistledown can identify the masked maiden who completely captivated the Bridgerton second son, Benedict, at his mother's masquerade ball -- a silver-clad beauty who vanished on the stroke of midnight. It was a magical night for Sophie Beckett, orphaned, illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood. Attending the ball was a beautiful dream, sharing the evening with Benedict Bridgerton was the stuff of fantasy -- and returning home to her role as unpaid servant to her father's cruel widow and stepdaughters was a nightmare. Then she lost even the small security of that position, and things went from bad to worse. By the time Sophie met Benedict again, she was in truly desperate straits. He made her feel precious, even in rags, but Sophie had grave reservations about accepting.I really enjoyed this addition to the Bridgerton family saga.

At last, I had characters who didn't have to marry because the woman had been compromised, and in fact, it looked like they wouldn't be able to marry at all for most of the book.

Despite it probably being inappropriate for a modern woman to say so, the whole Cinderella-story works for me. And this is very clearly a telling of the Cinderella story, complete with an evil stepmother, stepsisters and a suitably handsome prince in Benedict. At the same time, Quinn doesn't let the fairy-tale direction of her story overcome the setting she has chosen to use.

The title comes from Benedict's not-exactly-honourable offer to Sophie that she become his mistress. Not perhaps what one immediately wants in a romantic hero, but given their positions and the society they live in, exactly what a gentleman in his position would do. Sophie's reasons for refusing are sensible and certain and the story unfolds as they try to find their own balance and resolution.

Of course, there is a happy ending. Perhaps the way it comes about is a little too pat, but not by much. I can easily imagine Violet Bridgerton "convincing" Sophie's stepmother to do pretty much anything she wished, and the hero and heroine are engaging to the reader, so that I wanted them to get their happy ever after in true fairy tale fashion.

A fun read.

An Offer From a Gentleman
Bridgertons, Book 3
Julia Quinn
7/10
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LibraryThing member foreverbklover
I am really enjoying the Briderton's... i feel like one of the character in the book, maybe a distant cousin... LOL... I have laughed, cheered and cried with them so far.
LibraryThing member lina_em
i loved loved loved this cinderella-esque story. the ball at the beginning is totally worth reading over and over.
LibraryThing member Anniik
This is a cute retelling of "Cinderella" - Julia Quinn style. Sophie is the sweet, abused Cinderella character, complete with the wicked stepmother and evil stepsisters. She's dressed up by loyal servants to have one evening at a ball - from which she must return by midnight - and at that ball
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 falls in love with Prince Charming - Benedict Bridgerton. It's cute to see this story played out in Regency England, and with our beloved Bridgertons. Unlike in Cinderella, though, things don't go "happily ever after" quite so easy. For one thing, Benedict doesn't even recognize her when they first meet again - much to Sophie's dismay. I enjoyed this book a great deal!
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LibraryThing member LadyMarissa
This was the first book I ever read by Julia Quinn. It not only introduced me to the Bridgerton genre, but to historical romances, of which I am now an addict. This is a Cinderella-esque story about a woman who grows up serving her stepmother and stepsisters. She sneaks out to a ball and meets
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 Benedict Bridgerton, of the famed Bridgerton family. Two years pass, with her working as a servant and a chance encounter with Benedict renews the relationship. Sophie is a great heroine who overcomes her upbringing and refuses to allow choices to be made for her. Quinn also makes it completely believable that Benedict doesn't recognize Sophie as the same woman he met at the ball.
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LibraryThing member francescadefreitas
Another solid instalment in this series. I liked Benedict, he's the only family member that I had found totally unmemorable - but this fits well with his character as he has sides he hides from his family. Sophie grabbed at my heart form her first scene, waiting for her step family to arrive.
This
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 manages to be a fluffy romance, a retelling of a the Cinderella story, and the third book in a regency series, and yet it is still fresh. I was not entirely comfortable with Benedict's insistence that Sophie be his mistress, but I fell for his apology.
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LibraryThing member theshadowknows
This was just a so-so read for me. I didn’t find Lady Whistledown's columns (the snippets that preface each chapter) or the prose particularly witty or amusing. The interactions among the Bridgerton family didn't annoy me so much this time around however - which is a mystery, but I'm not
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 complaining. As a family they seemed more natural, their banter less grating, their love for each other touching but less saccharine. They were my favorite part of the book.

The romance between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Beckett, however, left much to be desired. In this adaptation of the Cinderella fairy tale, Sophie is the bastard daughter of an earl. After her father's death, she's forced to slave as a servant for her evil stepmother and two stepsisters (one of whom isn't quite as evil as the other). She gets one night of reprieve from her life of servile drudgery and sneaks off to a masked ball. There she meets Benedict and they fall in love instantly. Nothing too exciting there. It's all very sweet I guess, but their big moment together really didn't grab me. She can't reveal her identity to him and runs away at the stroke of midnight. So that we can have a story, she keeps this secret, even after a serendipitous reunion with Benedict two years later. He saves her from a group of evil, drunken louts and gradually falls in love with what he thinks is a servant. The plot and their relationship revolve around Sophie guarding the secret of her identity like her life depends on it. It was mildly frustrating to me. As was the blandness of the hero. He complains about no one knowing who he truly is, of being known only as a Bridgerton, or simply "Number Two" among his many siblings. Sadly, he never manages to show the reader who he is - there's something about his being an artist thrown in, but nothing's really done with it. Being paired with such a nondescript heroine didn't help him much either.

As a Cinderella retelling, An Offer from a Gentleman was disappointing. Sophie was more Disney than Drew Barrymore, and her climactic triumph over the stepmother left me unmoved. (Though I thought Benedict's mother was very cute in rushing to Sophie's rescue.) The stepmother herself was one-dimensional, as was the righteous, long-suffering Sophie. It seemed that the author was trying hard to give Sophie some spunk while under her stepmother's thumb, but it never rang true and I could tell where the story was going from the first page. I’ll still be reading more of Julia Quinn, if only to try and see what makes her so popular, but I couldn’t get into this third installment of her Bridgerton series.
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LibraryThing member kayceel
- An impoverished bastard of nobility, Sophie Beckett gets her only moment of fairy tale at a masquerade ball, where she meets the dashing and handsome Benedict Bridgerton, who immediately falls in love with the mystery woman. However, when he meets Sophie years later, he doesn't recognize her as
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 his mystery woman, and is torn between his love for that unknown woman, and the desirable one in front of him. Very romantic, again, delightfully straight-forward and charming characters.
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LibraryThing member halo776
I suspect it must be difficult to write a series of 8 books about one family, occuring in the same time period, without being at a loss for inspiration. Julia Quinn's apparent answer was to recreate the classic Cinderella story. Although I found this story very predictable, it was also quite
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 delightful. Ms. Quinn is such a talented writer that even this tired story line seemed refreshing with these characters. It did not bother me when Benedict suggested Sophie become his mistress. When you consider his social status and the rules of society at the time, it was all but impossible for him to even consider marrying her. He made the only offer he thought was reasonable to assure they would be together.

All of the Bridgertons are in high form in this novel. Lady Whistledown still continues to offer interesting observations at the beginning of each chapter. Fans of the Bridgerton series will enjoy this light novel and charming love story.
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LibraryThing member Jen7waters
A Cinderella inspired Bridgerton book! OMG!!! *dances around the room* I don’t think I have to explain the plot, right? Cinderella inspired says it all. Yes?
Oh, I loved it! Loved it! The couple is so cute, and the heroine Sophie is one of my favorites of the series so far. Actually it is not fair
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 for me to say so because all the previous heroines are great, and in my heart they’re all favorites, it’s just that Sophie had such a harsh life compared to them, and still she can be funny and brave and held her chin up high, so I'm declaring her a favorite among favorites. Go Sophie!
And Benedict, the most low profile Bridgerton brother since the beginning of the series managed to be the hero and still keep is inconspicuous status, which was fine by me since that gave more room for Sophie to shine. Of course I got mad at him when he put his asshole suit on and insisted upon making Sophie his mistress, when she kept telling him NO, but alas, they got their happy ending! :D
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LibraryThing member B.J.O.
4.5 "Cinderella Bridgerton" Stars for the Story and Narration!

The Bridgerton family love stories continues in An Offer From a Gentleman, book 3 of the Bridgerton Series, with the second son, Benedict Bridgerton's story. Moreover, this fabulous updated audiobook edition which was recently released
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 in 2017 includes both epilogues--one of which had been separately released years after the original publication in a separate book. Additionally, this Recorded Books edition includes the talented narration of Rosalyn Landor.

Sophie Beckett had the misfortune of being born out-of-wedlock. Even worse her mother died at childbirth, and while her father (an Earl) took her in, he never formally acknowledged her (merely noting that she was his ward). Even under these circumstances though she was treated relatively well and was even educated like a lady until her father married. His wife despised and marginalized Sophie, including by distancing her from her own two daughters that she brought to the marriage. Then the Earl dies, and though he leaves Sophie money (that is tied to her step-mother sheltering her until she reaches majority age), she is treated like a lowly servant by both her step-mother and step-sisters.

Then in classic Cinderella style, one day with the help of the other servants, Sophie is able to slip away to a masquerade ball at the Bridgerton's estate. That is where she meets and falls in love with her Prince Charming: Benedict Bridgerton. But she doesn't reveal her name, and slips away at midnight only to be discovered and banished. Many years later, neither has forgotten the other. Benedict, for example, still remembers the one lady who saw him as his own individual (rather than merely a Bridgerton), and who he started to give his heart to on that dance floor. However, try though he might he was never able to find the unidentified woman who gave him hope for HEA.

Then one day Benedict encounters a maid about to be compromised, and he comes to her (Sophie's) rescue. He doesn't know who she is (though Sophie remembers him) but what he does know is that this new woman makes him feel things he never thought he would feel again. Therefore as a new attraction builds, Benedict chooses not to deny his feelings a second time. But what future could a Bridgerton and a maid possibly have? Moreover, old hatred in the form of the Dowager Countess (the evil step-mother) still reigns, does Sophie possibly stand a chance against this noble woman who will stop at nothing to see her ruined?

Rosalyn Landor is such a talented narrator. You can always count on her to deliver distinguishable, gender appropriate character voices. Moreover, she is even accomplished in varying her pitch sufficiently to sound young or old depending on the character's age. Additionally, Ms. Landor has great timing and I always feel like I can just settle into the story and let it come alive. From the fast-paced more suspense filled scenes to the slower and more sensual ones, Ms. Landor does a good job of bringing it all alive.

I also like that from a series perspective, Ms. Landor has narrated all of the books in the series so far. I think for a beloved series like the Bridgerton's this allows the listener to easily come back to this series, even in between other listens, and quickly fall back into the general background and storyline even helping to trigger prior memories based on the consistency of her character's voices.

There were so many enjoyable things about this romance. First and foremost, I loved the flow. Ms. Quinn has this ability to capture her audience and draw them in with her timeless writing and engaging characters. As if this weren't enough though, I'm now invested in the Bridgerton family which Ms. Quinn does a marvelous job of introducing us to throughout the various books as secondary characters who eventually find their own HEA. I'm also a big fan of underdog love stories and I think this novel illustrates how undeservedly disastrous the circumstances of one's birth used to be in the past. Now I simply can't wait to listen to more of the Bridgerton family's romances and stories in the remaining books of this series!

Source: Review copy provided for review purposes.
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LibraryThing member riverwillow
Enjoyable re-working of the Cinderella story. Sadly she's still got a long way to go to beat Heyer in the comedy stakes.
LibraryThing member LadyIsis
I have always had a great deal of respect for Violet Bridgerton. She has raised eight very kind and remarkable children, mostly by herself. She herself is kind and generous and very crafty. I think she is what all mothers should inspire to be. When she tells Benedict in this story "I would allow my
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 children to marry paupers if it would bring them happiness. They would have to be well-principled and hardworking paupers, of course, no gamblers need apply.", she proves that the welfare of her children are more important than society's idea of the perfect marriage. For the most part I think that Benedict forgets this conversation. Because he can't seem to think of Sophie as his wife just as his mistress. I suspect that part of this is that while he thinks he wants to marry he isn't really ready to make that commitment. I think that he has cared more for Sophie than he might ever admit when they finally meet again. I know that he doesn't remember her but there is a small part of him that does remember her.

Sophie is definitely a product of her environment. Her stepmother has told her for years that she is not good enough for society and having no other parent to stand up for her she believes it. It is a sad commentary that society at this time look down of illegitimate children with such disdain. It is the child's fault that the parents weren't married. They are just a product of a union that didn't include marriage. Sophie is a kind and intelligent woman that has made the best of what life has given her. She should have had so much more and of course in the end she gets it and more. As for her stepmother someone needs to make her a house maid and see how she likes it. I think that she would be living on the streets in a very short time.

Benedict is very much like any middle child I guess. He wants so much for people to see him and not his place in the family. He is more than just the second Bridgerton or a Bridgerton. He is has a sharp wit and a wicked sense of humor. He is a wonderful artist and an adventurer. He is a lover. Benedict is also honorable and decent and very fond of his family.

The last third of this books requires lots of tissues are handy. There are some really sad scenes. It is amazing to me that men can be so hardheaded at times. We get to see and hear from Daphne, Anthony and Colin in this book. Colin opens his mouth in public and upsets someone that he shouldn't but he redeems himself partially when he gives Benedict some very good advise. I loved the scene in the jail although I wish Sophie's stepmother had gotten more humiliation for her treatment of Sophie. I am glad that Posy found her backbone and found people that would care for her. I hope that she finds someone to love her. This is a great addition to this series and I look forward to starting the next book.
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LibraryThing member MrsJoseph
It is a complete Cinderella story, wicked step-mother and all. Not really my thing.
LibraryThing member bookwormdreams
I'm a fan of fairy-tale retellings whether they have fantasy elements or not. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn pleasantly surprised me. It was the most realistic retelling of Cinderella I ever read. This is how it could have truly happened (without fairy godmothers and talking animals).

LibraryThing member LadyWesley
Pretty decent reworking of Cinderella. I do enjoy the Bridgerton family.
LibraryThing member vonze
The Julia Quinn twist of Cinderella! In the beginning, the step-mother and step-sister characters shared a lot of the same similarities to the characters in the movie "Ever After" (I kept an open mind...cause Cinderella-wise there's really nothing new under the sun). But the romance between Sophie
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 and Benedict was great. I think, so far, that Benedict is my favorite Bridgerton character. Which surprised me because he played such a minor role in the previous books in the series, I didn't really feel like I knew his character yet. Best Julia Quinn I've read so far.
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LibraryThing member sammii507
This is a cute retelling of "Cinderella" - Julia Quinn style. Sophie is the sweet, abused Cinderella character, complete with the wicked stepmother and evil stepsisters. She's dressed up by loyal servants to have one evening at a ball - from which she must return by midnight - and at that ball
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 falls in love with Prince Charming - Benedict Bridgerton. It's cute to see this story played out in Regency England, and with our beloved Bridgertons. Unlike in Cinderella, though, things don't go "happily ever after" quite so easy. For one thing, Benedict doesn't even recognize her when they first meet again - much to Sophie's dismay. I enjoyed this book a great deal!
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LibraryThing member grapeapril75
Oh, I do love the Bridgerton Family! Each story is a wonderful romance with plenty of drama. A nice touch of steam to keep things naughty! Love this whole series and the epilogues!! And that Lady Whistledown is a hoot!! Such wonderfully engaging characters! Makes me wish I could be transported to
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 that era!
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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
As the unacknowledged bastard of the Earl of Penwood, Sophie Beckett is raised in luxury for fourteen years. But upon her father's death, her step-mother turns her into a servant, and Sophie sees no end to her drudgery in sight. She gambles on one, single, shining night of fun: a masquerade ball
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 thrown by the popular Bridgerton family. There, masked and wearing her grandmother's gown, Sophie dances the night away with Benedict Bridgerton. Each falls in love with the other, but years pass before they meet again, and when they do, Sophie has become so enveloped in her role as a maid that Benedict doesn't recognize her. Instead, he falls in love with Sophie-the-servant, all the while tormented by feelings of disloyalty to the unnamed woman at the ball, and his knowledge that he could never marry a servant.

This was possibly my favorite in the Bridgerton series yet, mostly because I really liked Sophie, whose pragmatism is constantly at war with her high principles.
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LibraryThing member mrsdanaalbasha
♥ An Offer from a Gentleman:
A Cinderella story. And a very sad one, after I finished part one I didn't think that things could get any worst for Sophie but they did!! I can't believe that Benedict didn't even recognize her after kissing her, I am sure it would feel the same no matter how she
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 looked different from that night years ago. I reached Chapter 15 in one night only, this book would make you stay awake just to see what will happen, I know all romantic books end happily, but I love to see how it will happen! Okay! Could I put 10 out of 5 for this book?! I just loved it!! I am going to read it soon again.

"I can live with you hating me; I just can't live without you."

"I burn for you, every night; I lie in bed, thinking of you, wondering why the hell you're here with my mother, of all people, and not with me."

"Her lips parted and softened, and he knew that he had to kiss her. Not that he wanted to, that he had to. He needed her next to him, below him, on top of him. He needed her in him, around him, a part of him. He needed her the way he needed air. And, he thought in that last rational thought before his lips found hers, he needed her right now."
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LibraryThing member MyaB
An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Audio Edition)
Narrated by Rosalyn Landor
Series: Bridgertons, Book 3

4 stars - A cinderella story. I enjoyed this book even more the second time around. The added bonus of Posie’s story as the 2nd epilogue was a treat. Benedict and Sophie have wonderful
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 chemistry together. I am looking forward to continuing my rereading of this series.

Rosalyn Landor did a fantastic job narrating as usual!

~Paragraphs and Petticoats~
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LibraryThing member Jean_Sexton
The third book in the Bridgerton series focuses on Benedict, the second son. As the "spare" to the heir, he has a bit more latitude in choosing whom to marry.

Enter Sophia. Here is where the book loses half a star. The heroine's story is a tad heavy-handed in the Cinderella theme. Treated terribly
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 by the Evil Stepmother, she is granted one fantastic night at a ball before returning to the traditional horrible life as a servant.

Benedict is the reason for the loss of another half star. While his actions are "sort of" acceptable behavior for the time, they played poorly with me. I won't go further into spoiler territory, but at least the ending was (as in all Regencies) perfect.

Now on to read the next book in the series. If you like slightly steamy Regencies, this might well be your cup of tea.
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LibraryThing member Karla.Brandenburg
I started reading this and recognized the Cinderella parallels immediately. Had it been any other author, I might have abandoned ship, but I know Julia Quinn would not disappoint.

And she didn't.

The four stars only because it started out so much like Cinderella, but once we got past the
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 unfortunate parallels, Sophie and Benedict's story it was drew me in until I couldn't put it down.
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Subjects

England Social life and customs 19th century Fiction
Historical fiction
Love stories

Awards

AAR Annual Reader Poll (2002)

Language

English

Original publication date

2001-07-01

Physical description

384 p.; 6.78 inches

ISBN

0380815583 / 9780380815586

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