Rejoice, Bridgerton fans! Lady Whistledown and the Ton will be back for season three soon! Filming for season three has begun. The third season will follow the love story of third-eldest Bridgerton brother, Colin, and Penelope Featherington, Lady Whistledown herself. While plenty of people have watched the Bridgerton series, not as many have read the books. There are nine novels in the Bridgerton series, one for each sibling and a concluding one. Nine is a lot of books so, without further ado, I give you the five best Bridgerton books to read.
5. To Sir Phillip, With Love (Book Five, Eloise and Phillip)
You may be hard pressed to remember Marina from season one, but she lived with the Featheringtons as a distant cousin. Well, she makes her return in this book. Married to the brother of the man she was supposed to marry in season one (ringing any bells?). Without any spoilers, Eloise ends up in contact with Phillip (Marina’s husband), and they begin to write letters to each other. It’s heart-warming, but her character is very different to the Netflix version of Eloise. Once you wrap your head around how different she is, you’ll love this book!
4. The Duke and I (Book One, Daphne and Simon)
The book where it all began. Obviously if you’ve seen the show, you’ll know how this story goes. Daphne, the eldest Bridgerton daughter, is making her debut in this year’s season. To help boost her chances at a proposal, she teams up with the Duke of Hastings (Simon). If the men of the Ton believe Daphne may marry a Duke, it’s more likely they will try to woo her. Simon’s gain is that the mothers who want to marry their daughters off will leave him alone. As you can imagine, the more time these two spend together, the closer they get. This book has romance, humour, and some dark plot lines throughout. It deserves to be on this list!
3. Romancing Mr Bridgerton (Book Four, Colin and Penelope)
No spoilers here, don’t worry. I won’t go into any details on what happens in this book, because we don’t yet know what direction Netflix will take the series in. Netflix have been known to change some plot lines, and it’s likely that they will for this one. Anthony and Kate’s season had a slight change to a few stories, so we can only assume Netflix will follow suit for this one too. Ultimately, it seems Penelope will continue her Whistledown escapades, but will Colin find out?
2. An Offer From a Gentleman (Book Three, Benedict and Sophie)
If Netflix produced Bridgerton chronologically, this series would follow Kate and Anthony. It’s the turn of second eldest Bridgerton, Benedict, to fall in love. One of the main reasons that this book holds a top-three spot is because of the uniqueness of its story. Sophie isn’t from aristocracy, she’s actually a lady’s maid. It’s so nice to see a Bridgerton fall in love with someone who isn’t from their world. This book has a certain edge that the others don’t because of this.
1. When He Was Wicked (Book Six, Francesca and John/Michael)
Francesca has been largely absent from the Netflix series, and that’s because she’s been in Scotland! This book is the best in the series, because it tells the story of a Bridgerton who isn’t surrounded by her family all the time. We get to see how Francesca fares in Scotland, and how she overcomes widowhood to find love. Her story is unique because she has had much more life experience than her siblings. This is my favourite Bridgerton book, and I can’t wait for her series.
Dearest reader, I hope this list encourages you to immerse yourself in the world of the Ton!