Lauren's Reviews > The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

As a young girl, Miranda Cheever is insulted at her best friend Olivia’s birthday party by a vicious girl who calls her ugly and poor. Olivia sticks up for her friend, but it isn’t until Olivia’s dreamy older brother, Turner, tells Miranda that one day she’ll grow into her looks and be a truly remarkable woman that Miranda feels better about herself. Though Turner is nine years Miranda’s senior, these kind words are enough to make her fall helplessly in love with him.
A decade later, Turner is burying his vicious, cheating wife after a not-so-unfortunate accident. A widower before the age of 30 and jaded from years of abuse by his hateful wife, he vows to never marry again. Miranda, meanwhile, has blossomed into a Lizzie Bennet-esque heroine with wit, intelligence, and a plain sort of beauty that cannot compare to Olivia’s but isn’t anything to scoff at. It’s the girls’ first (and likely only) season in London, and while Olivia is surrounded by gaggles of smitten men, Miranda can’t help but swoon over her best friend’s older brother as her best friend gets all the attention.

Turner and Miranda are often in each other’s company and get along swimmingly, in a teasing, flirty way. With quick tempers and mood swings, though, it’s hard to tell if they’ll ever be able to open up to each other at the same time. Will Turner be able to put aside his bad feelings about marriage left over from his late wife and be the hero Miranda has always thought he was? Or will Miranda be able to put her girlish fantasies behind her and attract a decent member of the ton?

I always feel odd when rating guilty pleasures. Are they comparable to the great works of literature? No, and for that reason, I often feel like I can’t give them a 5-star rating. This book was thoroughly entertaining and absorbing, and at a time when I seem to be reading 4 books at once, I actually sat down to finish this in one sitting.

In terms of chick lit and comfort reading, this book was a definite 5/5. The blurb on the back of its cover reads: “Jane Austen meets Bridget Jones in Julia Quinn’s delightful Regency-set romantic comedies." I would agree with this statement, recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good Regency novel with humor, wit, and passion, and I look forward to picking up another of Quinn’s books in the future.