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Which book is Netflix's Bridgerton season 3 based on?

We're jumping slightly ahead of the story with the latest season of the streaming hit

Bridgerton season three promotional image
Image credit: Netflix

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If the long wait between seasons of Bridgerton on Netflix has you aching for more, it is worth remembering that the hit show is based on an equally spicy book series by Julia Quinn. If you’ve read the books and are wondering just what stories Bridgerton season three will be adapting, here is what we know so far.

Fans might expect each season of Bridgerton to be based on successive books in the novel series, but for season three of Bridgerton, the showrunners decided to jump ahead to book four, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. This means completely skipping over Benedict’s storyline in favor of Penelope and Colin’s relationship.

This might feel jarring for fans of the books, but it makes sense to try to resolve the romance between Pen and Colin in Bridgerton season three. As showrunner Jess Brownell told EW, “We’ve been watching Pen’s crush and seeing how oblivious Colin is to it. That’s a dynamic that you can only play out for so long before something has to change. This felt like the right time to lean into what’s been set up with them.”

That doesn’t mean that Benedict won’t get to tell his story eventually, of course. He’ll just have a bit more time to have fun before he eventually settles down. No doubt the fan-favorite character will be the focus of future seasons. We already know that season four of Bridgerton has been greenlit by Netflix, so there we’ll probably get to see our boy take care of his business in the next year or two.


Whether its the bane of your existense or the object of all your desires (or both), Bridgerton is back. And as we prepare to once again promenade on the Ton, we come bearing gifts: a guide to how to watch all of Bridgerton (and the spinoff), as well as some recommended reads for all Bridgerton fans.