To Sir Phillip, With Love

Content warnings: grief over the loss of a spouse, childhood abuse, attempted suicide

Spinster Eloise Bridgerton sneaks off to meet her male pen pal.

Eloise Bridgerton is unmarried in her late twenties and is considered a spinster by English society. She sends her condolences to Sir Phillip Crane after his wife (also Eloise's cousin) dies. They begin corresponding regularly and Sir Phillip asks Eloise to visit his home.

Sir Phillip is recently a widower and cannot control his wild children. He realizes he needs to remarry and provide the twins with a mother; he asks pen pal Eloise to visit in hopes of a proposal when his period of mourning is over.

Eloise sneaks off to Sir Phillip's house, only leaving her family a note to tell them where she has gone. Sir Phillip is shocked when she shows up with no notice, meaning the chaperone he planned to have in place when Eloise arrived is not present.

Eloise is the target of several pranks by Sir Phillip's twins; any other potential wife (and several governesses) have all experienced the twins and have run for the hills. Eloise's large Bridgerton family and her nieces and nephews have prepared her for these crazy children, and she tries every trick she possesses to win them over.

Sir Phillip and Eloise have to overcome not only the children but also the baggage he carries -- Phillip's loss of his wife, his distance from his children, and his fear of the lake where his wife almost drowned. While their relationship is almost a budding friendship rather than a budding romance, the reader will still be interested in their story. Like many of the Bridgerton novels prior, Eloise is forced into marriage because of societal expectations rather than having a whirlwind romance.

The added second epilogue is a treat that gives readers a glimpse into the twins' adult lives.

Recommended for fans of the series.

Julia Quinn studied art history at Harvard. She wrote her first books while waiting to get into medical school, then gave up school to write. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Series: Bridgertons, #5

Publisher: Avon (print); Recorded Books (audio)

Narrator: Rosalyn Landor

Running Time: 11 hours, 10 minutes

Length: 416 pages

Release Date: 2003