An unusual, spirited redheaded American heiress, Emma, takes the London season by storm, including the handsome bachelor duke, Alexander Ridgley. The snare in their love is him considering her a gold digger, even though she’s an heiress. The characters are witty, but not nearly as fun as the Bridgerton books… ( )

American shipping heiress Emma Dunster is pleased enough with moving through London's high society, but never more so than when she attracts the attention of gorgeous Alexander Ridgely, the Duke of Ashbourne. Very sweet, gently funny. An all around good read. ( )

An American comes to London for the season, and she and her cousins get in and out of various scrapes - as of course she falls in love. Amusing dialogue, entertaining subplots, three dimensional characters. ( )

If I hadn't read a lot of Julia Quinn before I got this book, I might not be tempted to read anymore. In her defense, this is her first book, and it's quite obvious she hasn't come into her voice yet. The book is disorganized, filled with anachronism, and undeniably silly in places. Emma is the quintessential Mary Sue - with the red hair and violet eyes to prove it. However, being such a fan of Julia Quinn's, I can't make myself give it less than two stars, if only because of the pleasure I got from comparing it to her later works, and discovering how very far she has come. ( )

Synopsis: Splendid is the first in a trilogy of regency romances by Julia Quinn. The heroine, Emma, is an American gal visiting her aunt's family in London for the Season. Bored with stuffy society rules, Emma longs to free herself from the confines of her role as a proper young lady and decides to dress up as a maid and take a brief shopping trip to the local market (a la the movie Aladdin). There, she meets Alex, the handsome Duke of Ashbourne when she unexpectedly saves the life of his young nephew. Alex is taken with the pretty maid and finds himself fixating on her, only to discover her true identity later that night. What follows is a nice little courtship, where the couple form a sort of friendship and then eventually admit their deeper feelings for one another.

This book was a nice little love story. It is one of Quinn's earlier novels, and you can kind of tell. The language is a bit flowery like you see in romances written the 1970's and 80's; and the story itself is also not quite as enthralling as her later works. However, I liked the main characters quite a lot - especially Emma, her cousin Belle, and their friend Lord Dunston. Emma is a fun character who's game for anything. She doesn't back down from a challenge and is a loyal friend. One thing that kind of bothered me, though, is that Emma's cousin Ned (and as a result, Emma herself) does some rather questionable things. I'm not sure that the interpretation of what was honorable for gentleman that is offered in the novel is particularly accurate. He is gambling and loses an obscene amount of money to a man and then decides not to honor his bet (based on the grounds that the other guy was cheating) and then he and Emma actually plot to steal the promissory note away from the guy. Sure, the guy was cheating, but I'm not sure that the solution the characters arrive at is the best one either.

On the whole, though, it was ok. I liked the secondary characters well enough that I still want to read their stories. Besides, I loved the author's Bridgertons series, so I think the next couple of books have the potential to be really good. ( )