What Happens in London

by Julia Quinn

Book Overview

Rumors and Gossip . . . The lifeblood of LondonWhen Olivia Bevelstoke is told that her new neighbor may have killed his fianc e, she doesn't believe it for a second, but, still, how can she help... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061491888
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Avon
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Quinn at her best! Witty, and very entertaining.

MUCH better than its precursor (Secret Diaries...), and surprisingly so. Adorable characters, clever narrative and witty dialogue and a good plot. One of Ms Quinn’s best, and a definite keeper.

Oh yeah... NOW I remember why I love JQ!

I'll be honest: the only reason I bought this book was because I was stuck in an airport with nothing to read and very limited options at the bookstore. I've been a faithful JQ fan for years, but I was so mad at her after the five-book-long streak of disappointments (It's in His Kiss, On the Way to the Wedding, Miranda Cheever, and the horrible failure that was the Dukes of Wyndham experiment) that I had completely given up on her. This book changed things for me. It's not the best JQ book (I doubt she'll ever be able to top When He Was Wicked (Bridgerton Family Series)), but it's definitely one of her better ones. Olivia and Harry are both interesting characters and are actually good people. Neither of them has a particularly haunted past or an undeserved bad reputation or a deep, dark secret or any of the other traits that have become cliches in Regency romances. Harry has some bad memories, true, and he has a secret, but JQ doesn't define him based on these things--they're details, not his whole story. For the most part, the characters don't do stupid things for no good reason. It's a very believable book: the main characters act like real people, and they fall in love slowly, gradually, and realistically. There is something that keeps them from being together immediately, but if there wasn't, it would be a very short book. The humor that was forced or missing in her last books is back in this one, and I laughed out loud several times (mostly in relation to the Miss Butterworth book). The proposal scene was unexpected and fabulous. The perfect ending to a sweet, happy story. Really, the only flaw in this book was that the whole kidnapping sequence was mostly irrelevant and seems to have been added because there would have been almost no conflict without it. If you like your romances heart-wrenching and filled with tears and struggles, this is definitely not the book for you. If you like your heroes tortured and brooding and your heroines stubborn and unladylike, look elsewhere. But if you like light-hearted, humorous, and energetic stories about people falling in love, you will love this book.

A delightfully sweet romance

If you want your romances to be tempestuous and sizzling hot, you probably won't like this book because the romance is gradual, the hero and heroine are nice people, and there is no sex until near the end of the book. This romance is so gradual, it sneaks up on Harry and Olivia, the hero and heroine, just as much as it sneaks up on the reader. They don't have a very good beginning: she spies on him from her bedroom window (next door) and he thinks she is beautiful but cold (and a snoop). But the War Office asks him to keep an eye on her because a Russian prince is courting her and as they spend time together they annoy each other but grow to like each other. I loved the parts where they read to each other (out the windows in their respective houses) from a gothic novel Harry gave Olivia. And then Harry's cousin does dramatic readings from it, which are fairly entertaining. "Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron" is a very clever book-within-a-book addition to the plot. This book won't make you cry with the sheer romance of it, but it will make you laugh and you will feel as if two people became friends and then fell in love. And that's a nice thing for a romance.

Great!! Old School Romance is Back! 5 Stars

I think if you are a fan of the Bridgerton series of Julia Quinn's then you will love this book. It reminds me of the Julia Quinn writing I fell in love with. Simple romance, great familial connections and good friends. The hero and heroine were both so likable and all of the characters were well defined and it made you want to know them even better. There was never a dull moment in the story and I stayed interested in the romance from page one. It is definitely a feel good read and a must read as well. Good to see Julia is back with this one! Hope we see a story for Seb, Edward and Olivia's twin. They will all be good. Glad to see male characters back that are multi-dimensional and not just the typical generic rake.

That's more like it!

I'm not going to go over the plot of this book since a number of other reviewers have already done that. I am going to preface this review by saying that I had really enjoyed the Bridgerton books and had been quite disappointed with the books that came after. I thought The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheevers started off well but ended weakly (I found Miranda to be really annoying in the second half of the book) and I was in the group who felt cheated and angry with The Lost Duke of Wyndham/Mr. Cavendish, I Presume experiment (the latter book being the better of the two IMO). Because of those disappointments I had already decided that What Happens In London was going to be the book that decided whether or not I would continue to read (let alone purchase) Ms Quinn's books. I am certainly glad I decided to give her this last chance because I thoroughly enjoyed WHIL. Ms Quinn pulled me into the story and kept me there with a good plot, a hero and heroine I liked and a number of laugh out loud moments. I also really liked a number of the secondary characters and hope there will be future books about Sebastian, Winston and Edward. Overall, I found this to be a fun and entertaining read. I would definitely recommend this book to others especially those who were disenchanted like I was. I don't think you'll be disappointed with this effort.

Another great happily ever after from JQ

JQ's last couple of books have been--while entertaining--not up to her usual standards. I think that she redeemed herself with the story of Harry Valentine and Olivia Bevelstoke. Lady Olivia is stunningly beautiful and has turned down more than one or two marriage proposals in her three Seasons "out" on the ton's marriage mart. And when she begins spying on Sir Harry Valentine through her bedroom window into his office window, she becomes intrigued when her gossipy friend Mary informs her that Sir Harry murdered his fiancée. When Olivia and Harry finally meet at a Smythe-Smith musicale, it is dislike at first sight. Olivia is cool and condescending, and Harry is stiff and surly. Harry is discreetly working for the War Office, and he's translating documents in Russian. So when a Russian prince shows an interest in Olivia, his assignment is to observe the prince and make sure that Olivia--a well-liked member of Society--remains safe. As they get to know one another, they at first become friends...and their friendship turns into love. When I closed this book, I had to sigh with pleasure. It had an incredibly satisfying ending, and I really appreciated the quick, witty banter between Olivia and Harry. The last JQ book I read was missing the quick dialogue, and in this reader's opinion, that's what makes a JQ novel worth reading. I'll give it five stars quite merrily.