"The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After" by Julia Quinn; Avon (2013) 374 pages, paperback, $12.99

Bridgerton fans are in for such a treat, especially those who didn't read the six "second epilogues" released as e-books several years ago.

Again, kudos to Avon and author Julia Quinn, first for utilizing technology and secondly for providing readers with an unique gift - follow up short stories that allow readers to revisit eight books in one of the most popular series of the past decade.

These eight short stories (two new ones) focus on each of the couples who found love matches in the series, which began with "The Duke and I" in 2000 and ended with "On The Way To The Wedding" in 2006. Another new short story features Bridgerton mom Violet, making it a total of nine stories in this book.

Each story recaptures the personalities of the characters, and immediately re-immerses readers into their lives several years later. Such fun!

Quick summaries of each:

"The Duke and I": Colin and Penelope visit and give Simon a reason to read the near forgotten letters from his father. Daphne also gets a big surprise.

"The Viscount Who Loved Me": Perhaps the most fun in a book of fun stories, this shares what became an annual Pall Mall match, started when Anthony and Kate fell in love 15 years earlier.

"An Offer From a Gentleman": This story actually focuses on Sophia's stepsister Posy, who falls in love while visiting Sophia and Benedict.

"Romancing Mr. Bridgerton": Eloise finds out that Penelope was Lady Whistledown on her wedding day, and Colin has fun with it.

"To Sir Phillip, With Love": This story occurs several years later, when daughter Amanda finds love.

"When He Was Wicked": Francesca and Michael are forced to wait several years for children, but find happiness with each other during the wait.

"It's In His Kiss": Hyacinth continues to search for treasure while dealing with a daughter who is just like her.

"On The Way To the Wedding": Lucy and Gregory are forced to delay celebration of the birth of twins, their eighth and ninth children.

"Violet in Bloom": A quick look at the romance of the Bridgerton parents.

Each story is perfectly suited to the characters involved and will have readers clamoring for third epilogues.

HOW IT STACKS UP

Overall: 5 of 5 hearts. Getting to revisit the beloved Bridgertons is such a treat! It almost doesn't matter what Quinn wrote. However, as she is inclined to do, she wrote perfect second epilogues for the fans who fondly remember the Bridgertons 13 years after they were first introduced.

Heroes: 10-pluses. If they weren't all to start with, they certainly are now as happily married men, who are devoted husbands and fathers.

Steamy scenes: XXXX. Devoted.

Happily-ever-after: Awesome. Quinn did a marvelous job of presenting an update on the eight couples without spoiling the previous assumptions they all earned their happily-ever-afters in their earlier books.

ALSO THIS WEEK ...

"A Profiler's Case For Seduction," by Carla Cassidy. 3-plus of 5 (2013 paperback) This Harlequin series focuses on the murder of three men in a small town, which happened on the heels of a mysterious kidnapping. A secret is revealed, one that ties back to another series. This has been a well-written series with engaging characters and an intriguing mystery. A big disappointment, however, is the failure to tie in characters from earlier books in the series with the continuing books. In this story, which solves the mystery, a couple of previous characters are only mentioned insignificantly - and some not at all.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Lezlie Patterson is a former columnist for The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. Readers may send her email at lezlie.patterson@gmail.com.

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�2013 McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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