Queen Charlotte: Before Bridgerton Came an Epic Love Story by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes

Kindle edition

I'm a huge fan of Bridgerton and have read all of the Bridgerton books (the main ones that the Netflix series is based on). I'm eagerly awaiting the next edition. Truly can't wait.

I was very excited to watch the Queen Charlotte edition - in fact, I binged it over 2 days. So good! Really loved the flash backs and flash forwards and the richness of the characters.

I got the book version of the show and started reading this on June 16 and finished it on June 26. Love my local library and the fact that I can check out Kindle books! Love it

So, the book pretty much matched the series 100%. I wonder if the book was written at the same time as the script or if the script or book came first. I don't often say that the show/movie edition truly matches the book edition. But this one really did. Having watched the series first, it made the book version all the more colorful and "see-able" since I already visually saw it on my TV. While watching the show I kept thinking about this movie I saw a million years ago (not literally, but it feels like it) in San Francisco at the Bridge Theater on Geary. The movie is called The Madness of King George. It was in 1994 - so not completely a million years ago.

Funny aside... While watching this movie, in a packed theater, my friend and I had the pleasure?? of sitting in front of an alternately housed individual who was also an extremely intoxicated individual. We could smell the alcohol on him. Every 5 seconds he kept laughing out loud (at not-funny parts in the movie), and when we shooshed him, he would shoosh us back and then start laughing again. Pretty hard to concentrate on a movie when you can't hear it. I went out to complain to the manager and then the manager came in and sat next to this individual and every time (and it was a lot of times) that the individual started talking or laughing, the manager would shoosh him and then the individual would shoosh back and start laughing again. So, I don't completely remember this movie because it wasn't the ideal watching scenario. When the movie ended and my friend and I went outside we saw the drunk individual leaned up against a tree on the sidewalk. Peeing. The individual was peeing, not the tree. True story and surprisingly (or not) not the grossest thing I witnessed living in San Francisco.

Ok, so back to the Bridgerton version. So, I thought this story sounded familiar, and, indeed, this Bridgerton King George is the same King George as in the movie The Madness of King George. A brief read of Google results, and my memory was jogged a bit in that the true King George did have some kind of illness, though there is not 100% agreement on what it was that plagued him.

Ok, so really back to the Bridgerton BOOK version. It was really good. Loved the writing, loved the characters. Loved pretty much all of it. It's a fast read (and a fast watch) and won't disappoint.

Post written on July 6, 2023. Publication date reflects date I finished the book.