The Sum of All Kisses

Julia....u r the best

TSOAK was an autobuy and Julia Quinn did not disappoint. Vastly entertaining and I rank this to be the best of Smythe-Smiths Quartet series so far since I'm a fan of HR fluff with angst & character development. Hugh, the mathematical genius was the reason (leaving off from ANLT). As a beta male, fiercely independent, mysterious & complex as his character was, I was drawn to him. He doesn't feel the need to say much and "notices everything and forgets nothing". Being paired off with a...drama queen, Sarah heightens my curiosity further. Sarah is a bit selfish but i get her. However, she's fiercely loyal, clever & notices things too ..especially being observant to those who are sneaky (which i admired the way JQ points this out about her "narrowing eyes"). First, in ANLT: Sarah senses why her cousin Daniel was eager to see his young cousins, to check out the gorgeous governess, Ann Wynter! Second, in TSOAK, being acutely attuned with her sisters: Frances & Harriet, indirectly matchmaking her w/ Hugh. How Hugh & Sarah first met was a laugh out loud moment. They're both quite vocal about their strong dislike for each other...especially Sarah. Being in each other company during the two weddings, time eventually transforms their mutual dislike to attraction/ lust then love.The supporting characters: Pleinsworth sisters were a tremendous treat! Very real, like how annoying sisters can be but love them all the same. My only complaint was Hugh & Sarah new found love could have been more elaborate towards the end. Nonetheless, kudos to JQ for creating these two engaging characters for each other. Can't wait for the 4th S-SQ to be released!From TSOAK: "It was the way he looks at a person, unwavering and sometimes unnerving. It lent him an air of intensity that was difficult to ignore. And his mouth---he rarely smiled, or rather rarely smiled at her , but there was something rather wry about it. She supposed some people might not find that attractive, but she...Did." Heck, I did! That's hot & their moment scenes when they're falling for each other...took my breath away.

4 out of 5 stars only because ad poster does not match the one that arrived( I got the girl sitting solo blowing a kiss version). I seem to have a hard time collecting the other cover versions of these books(iso the ones that usally have a round stamp image on the cover advertising "also by author of the bridgertons")because often the posters being used for the ad are the wrong ones. The book arrived quickly and in perfect new condition...i just prefer the newer covers due to finding the text slightly easier to read/see compared to older copies is all... but love this series anyways. I had a suspicion it might be the wrong one because of the bit lower price and most of the alternative/publish looks Im looking for other than the bridgerton series are all coming from the UK so they tend to take longer(but not all have been...ive recieved some within a couple days)...but wasn't able to find this book locally at all so went with it regardless as I was desperate to complete the smythe series. I love all julia quinn so I am still happy to add this one to my collection:)

Parfaite suite à ce quartet. Il me tarde de décourvir le 4ème volet en janvierJulia Quinn est définitivement mon auteur anglophone préférée.Ses textes sont clairs, romantique, pleins d'humour et parfaitement compréhensible pour une personne qui n'est pas totalement fluent in english.

Die Story hat mir gut gefallen. Die Geschichte ist witzig geschrieben. Die Helden der zwei Vorgängerbücher sind auch mit dabei und Daniels Exil wird von einer anderen Seite her beleuchtet. Und so kann man Hugh auch nicht böse sein.