The Sum of All Kisses: Number 3 in series (The Smythe-Smith Quartet)

'The Sum of All Kisses' is a corker of a story from the 'Smythe-Smith Quartet' series by Julia Quinn.Lord Hugh Prentice, the ertswhile 'villain of the peace' in the first two books, now has his turn at taking centre stage, and what a lovely and entertaining story this is. Lady Sarah Pleinsworth, a Smythe-Smith cousin, views Sir Hugh as her actual enemy and takes her opportunity to let him know how she really feels. From here, what begins as a mutual loathing, develops into a captivating and wonderful romantic tale.I found this book to be very witty, engaging, endearing and also pulled at my heartstrings more than once. Another thoroughly absorbing and brilliantly entertaining book by this author. Ms Quinn's characters are so likeable, genuine and feel real, and I couldn't help reading with a big smile on my face.

In this book we learn about Hugh who foolishly dueled Daniel (last book hero). his childhood, his youth, the duel and the aftermath.Sarah who are the cousin of Daniel. How she thinks that Hugh ruined her life and how she start to see him in a new light.How Sarah & Hugh relationship really started, moved on, and began again.The things that they shared that he never though he will ever be able to do again.It was a really NICE bookthis time JQ did go in depth into the hero past. she really let us feel his emotions.Like the previous book Harriet, Elizabeth and Frances were really cute and brought out fun dialogues in the book.Those 3 books were really close in fictional timing to each other. but not in real life. being 1 year apart is too much :(Want to guess who is the next book heroine ? will it be close to these stories fictional timing?I think the next one will be about Iris then after that perhaps Daisy. and I also guess that the next one will be after this epilogue smythe-smith musical.

I really enjoyed this book! I got it this morning and I didn't stop reading until I had finished it. I found it a refreshing and fast paced book.The story was well framed and led on from the other books in the series. If you haven't read the other books I wouldn't recommend reading this until you have! I don't think you would get the full depth of the book unless you have read the previous books in this series. The characters were both well written and I enjoyed the banter and conflict between the two characters. The dialogue really sparkled with wit and I look forward to their sparring. Additionally, the secondary characters were all well rounded, I especially loved the arguments and interactions between the Pleinsworth sisters (it reminded me of the arguments I had with my siblings in the back of the car on long journeys).I thought the book was well paced and I really liked the use of the flashbacks and normally this can get a bit stale but I like that fact it was written from her perspective and then his.I really loved this book and I would recommend this book to everyone I'm only sad that I finished it so soon. Hopefully another book in this series will be coming out soon!

What a fabulous read. Loved loved the leading character’s and their hate to love relationship. Lots of banter and lovely happy ever after. Couldn’t put it down.

The Sum of all Kisses was a nice book and the Prologue captured my interest and made me want to keep reading. It was well written and completely drew me into the 1800’s. Sadly I couldn’t stay there and very quickly felt the book fell into the trap so many modern authors do of mixing their life and times.Ms Quinn should certainly keep on writing. Her books are light and funny but don’t ever imagine you will feel totally transported back into the 1800’s in this one. If that doesn’t matter to you, you will enjoy yourself. If, however, you are looking for the gentility and manners of the 1800’s you will be disappointed as the speech patterns, gentlemen’s behaviour and women’s responses are, for the most part, very 21st century.In the first few chapters Sarah ‘gasped’ at almost every sentence (very annoying – glad it stopped). I felt if she was as feisty as we were later to believe she would have seen the funny side of the banter and simply smiled and only gasped perhaps once when someone had appeared to be very rude. She actually came across as being sheltered a bit wet behind the ears. I didn’t feel her grow too much. Although she did come to understand how Hugh must feel I never really got inside her or Hugh. I actually felt Hugh deserved someone with a quiet strength rather than someone quite so shallow and flighty.There was a lot of banter but you never really felt you knew what the characters were thinking. Perhaps my favourite author has spoiled me (no it’s not Austen).Men, in those days, may love their wives and daughters but they were definitely the head of the house and if we are to believe Hugh’s father was the cruel and heartless person he was depicted as, he may have been amused by Sarah at first but he would never have put up with her behaviour for more than a few minutes no matter who else was present to stop him. I imagine he would have risen to her challenge and quite literally flattened her. Once again, it was a scene which would be very believable and funny in the 21st century but for me didn’t work for the 1800’s.I enjoyed Ms Quinn's Bridgerton books and not being a big fan of explicit sex scenes felt that subject was handled relatively well most of the time.It appears that a romance, even of the historical kind, cannot exist these days without the deflowering of the heroine and the way it came about in this book was very contrived and unbelievable. I don’t know if it is the readers or publishers who insist on a bedroom scene but there always seems to be one if not several. This book would have worked very well without one.However, in this regard I don’t believe a lady born in the 1820’s would have done what Sarah did at the end of the book. But then I don’t believe Hugh would have touched her either, even if the door was locked. Consider Darcy and Elizabeth. If Lizzy had done what Sarah did don’t you think Darcy would have kicked her right back out the door out of respect for her - especially if he loved her. He would have been shocked and perhaps disappointed in her boldness. In fact, she would have been no better than the air headed Lydia and we know she had more respect for herself than that.However, a man and woman of the 21st century may quite easily have acted this way. If you disagree then we will have to agree to disagree and perhaps you should read more Austen or Georgette Heyer, two of the most popular romance writers who lived either in or closer to those chaste times and should know what they were writing about. Their characters hardly touched a bare hand.Yes, I know what you are thinking. Not everyone, even back then, waited for marriage but most did. Women were too scared of the unknown and they rarely knew what happened in the bedroom. Owning cats and dogs and horses and sheep didn’t fill the gap in the education because a lady wouldn’t usually have been involved in that side of things but ran the household. They most likely were horrified if they did know and thought they might have to do something similar.You only need to read Ms Quinn’s excellent ‘The Duke and I’ where she got it absolutely right. The heroine was completely in the dark, much to the fond amusement of her husband who thought her mother might have at least have given her some idea of what to expect.If you like this book, you will love the Bridgerton series and see how far short this one falls. I encourage you to read those if you haven't already; all eight of them.

I really enjoyed this book - no irritating Americanisms, very few annoyingly modern turns of phrase. My only quibble was the last 20% was just a bit overly dramatic and wasn’t necessary. It was a lovely, romantic tale with two engaging characters - I didn’t need the silly high drama with the impossibly evil father. In a stressful world sometimes you just want a quiet story about people finding love.

I want what they have

Really enjoyed reading this book would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading

A dynamic full of laughter escapade in the Smyth’s-Smith quartet world. A truly Julia a Quinn novel of romantically nonsensical bliss.

As the third in the series, I must admit that it is my favourite, so far. I was expecting much from this and I wasn't disappointed at all. The infamous Hugh, who had been mentioned in the previous two books and also appeared in the second, finally finds his unexpected happy ending in the most unlikely of women. Because Hugh and Sarah detest each other, for different reasons. But they don't really know each other and they soon discover that their first impressions had been wrong and they really are perfectly matched. Of course, nothing can go quite that easy so there is drama and danger, also, but in the end they confess their love and can be happily together. I really loved that Hugh, undoubtedly the one that paid the highest price because of the duel, finally found his happiness and a woman who truly loved him and that also Sarah found a man capable of challenging her dramatic nature and still love her. Perfect

... drei ... Bücher des Smythe-Smith-Quartetts habe ich jetzt (nicht zum ersten Mal) gelesen, und Hughs Vater spielte immer eine gewisse Rolle. Allerdings nie in dem Ausmaß wie logischerweise in diesem. Auch wenn man sich wünschte, er würde einfach nicht mehr auftauchen, ist es doch die Frage, was er im vierten Band macht... 🤔Manchmal bedrückend, manchmal witzig, immer lesenswert!

Gosto muito da Julia Quinn. Adorei esse livro. Não tem grandes aventuras mas fala de uma história de amor, como vai nascendo entre pessoas que não vão com a cara uma da outra.

Es una historia preciosa, divertida y entrañable, fácil de leer. Muy recomendable para pasar un rato entretenido entre otras lecturas más profundas