--- description: Find out why 'The Viscount Who Loved Me' made the list. title: 'The Viscount Who Loved Me' Is on TIME’s List of the 50 Best Romance Novels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a5345704f8bc5e4/698a594a09208f6eda41d6db/The-Viscount-Who-Loved-Me-Julia-Quinn.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 01, 2024 # The Viscount Who Loved Me by [Kari Sonde](/author/kari-sonde/) ## Kari Sonde Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  If you’re looking to read just one of the _Bridgerton_ books after watching the immensely popular [Netflix adaptation](https://time.com/6988678/bridgerton-season-3-finale-review/ "undefined"), start with _The Viscount Who Loved Me_, published in 2000\. Second in Julia Quinn’s [_Bridgerton_ series](https://time.com/6978591/bridgerton-season-3-differences-from-book/ "undefined"), the novel showcases the author’s sweet, sometimes silly, and terribly interesting plots. It’s 1814 and Viscount Anthony Bridgerton has it all figured out. He doesn’t want to get married—he’s fearful he’ll die young like his father and doesn’t want to inflict that pain on someone else—but he’ll do it for the sake of duty, and there’s no one better for the role of his wife than Edwina Sheffield. She’s the “incomparable” of the season and most importantly, he’s not in love with her, which would only complicate things. But Anthony can’t seem to stop thinking about Edwina’s spinster sister Kate. Kate, meanwhile, is determined to protect her sister from the so-called “reformed” rake, but realizes that it’s not Edwina she needs to worry about. Unlike the first book in the series, this is the one that truly anchors the reader in the expansive [Bridgerton family universe](https://time.com/6976525/bridgerton-family-tree/ "undefined"), setting the stage for romances to come. **Buy Now:** _The Viscount Who Loved Me_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780062353641 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/45WAjXT "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996635/the-viscount-who-loved-me/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996635/the-viscount-who-loved-me/"},"headline":"The Viscount Who Loved Me","datePublished":"2024-08-01T12:20:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:34:22.352Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996635/the-viscount-who-loved-me/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a5345704f8bc5e4/698a594a09208f6eda41d6db/The-Viscount-Who-Loved-Me-Julia-Quinn.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kari Sonde","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kari-sonde/"}],"creator":"Kari Sonde","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a5345704f8bc5e4/698a594a09208f6eda41d6db/The-Viscount-Who-Loved-Me-Julia-Quinn.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996635/the-viscount-who-loved-me/","name":"The Viscount Who Loved Me"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Romance Authors Share the Book That They Keep Returning To","description":"Romance authors share the book that they keep returning to","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/biTPcLi3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-07-30T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/biTPcLi3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996635/the-viscount-who-loved-me/","duration":"PT47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996635/the-viscount-who-loved-me/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```