Book Review: "Because of Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys #1)" by Julia Quinn

***** - The Bridgertons and the Rokesbys have lived on neighbouring estates for centuries. Their children, through proximity, have grown up together. Billie Bridgerton has always been best friends with Edward, Andrew and Mary Rokesby and assumed she'd marry one of the boys when the time came.

Billie is unlike any other English miss. She wears breeches around the estate, handles her father's management affairs, climbs trees and throws herself at any task with abandon. The eldest Rokesby, George, has always found Billie to be intolerable, and they have enjoyed a long history of sniping and baiting one another.

When Billie inconveniently finds herself in need of rescue one afternoon, she is dismayed when it's George who happens upon her and must provide aid. But so begins their story as they discover that there's more to each than meets the eye.

I adored both of the main characters in this book. Billie is an excellent heroine, strong but soft in places, very relatable. I was surprised that I liked George as much as I did, I tend to find in regency romances the hero of the story is very two dimensional. But his passion, propriety and morality were in perfect combination, and he was charmingly realistic.

This book has passion, it feels romantic, and the whole story is made sweeter by the fact that these two have a history. This isn't some spur of the moment fascination with one another. They know the other's faults before their love story even begins. Finding this sort of foundation in a regency romance is rare, and this story almost feels like it could have unfolded in any era.

I loved it, so 5 stars it is.