To Sir Phillip, With Love

Sir Phillip Crane, a widowed botanist with two difficult young children, has been corresponding with Eloise Bridgerton and decides that a practical marriage to a spinster cousin of his late wife is the solution to his household's chaos. He does not expect the lively, opinionated woman who arrives at his door in the middle of the night, having acted on impulse. Eloise does not expect the silent, moody man who turns out to be nothing like his charming letters, nor the instant complication of two unruly children who need a mother more than they want one.

Rosalyn Landor has navigated the Bridgerton series' ensemble of strong-willed heroines with consistent skill, and her Eloise is perhaps the sharpest voice in the catalog, reflecting the character's wit and barely-suppressed impatience. The story's quieter, more domestic register is a welcome change of pace from the earlier entries, and Landor handles the emotional nuance of a romance built around two stubborn people learning to communicate. At just over eleven hours, this is a satisfying mid-series entry.