When He Was Wicked | 
Enjoying the audiobook on this snowy Saturday.
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Premise: Michael Stirling, experienced man about town & notorious rake, falls in love at first sight with the one attractive woman he can‘t have (I suspect the author is confusing lust with love), returns after years abroad & still lusts after her. Francesca, whose husband has now died, desperately wants a baby. Outside Hollywood I‘ve never known of anyone who‘d do anything *just* to have a baby. Ch 6 … struggling on …
pickThe best level of angst in this series so far. And so so so funny.
so-soInvesting fully in Bridgerton fever and bridging (ha!) the gap between the new season with this…(Confession, my enthusiasm for the books is waning. Book five was dreadful, and I had issues with some of this one too. Maybe time to leave it to the TV show, which does it so much better?)
pickI‘m moving through these books so quickly because I can‘t put them down (or shut them off in my case). This was a great love story, but I was often very impatient with Francesca. I understand why she was hesitant, but after her and Michael‘s (ahem), I would be as frustrated with her as Michael was. I think Benedict‘s is still my favorite so far. #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
In every life there is a turning point. A moment so tremendous, so sharp and breathtaking, that one knows one‘s life will never be the same. For Michael Stirling, London‘s most infamous rake, that moment came the first time he laid eyes on Francesca Bridgerton.
so-soFrancesca drove me a little nuts throughout this book.
She was back and forth way too much with what she wanted.
Her fertility issues really touched home for me, I can relate to how she felt.
I love that each book is a little different. Each of the Bridgerton's have a different experience!
so-so4/5 I loved the story but didn't at same time her getting with her husband's cousin after he died was to weird to me. I can relate to how she feels having a miscarriage and going through infertility myself though.
pickI love Julia Quinn and the beginning took a turn that I wasn‘t expecting. I felt so connected to Francesca and her story because if the raw story to start. I say this about every of the Bridgerton books, this one is my favorite. This one will stick because of her emotional journey. Another great one! Only two left!
pickI am moving right along with this book series. I enjoyed reading this book. It is not my favorite of the series. I enjoyed seeing all of the other characters again. I rated this book a 3 out of 5 stars. I read this book for #MarvellousMarchReadathon @Andrew65
My goal for the week is to tackle my Julia Quinn backlist stack. Hoping to finally get around to finishing the Bridgerton series and knock out another series or two, too. 🤞🏻 #backlistreadathon #loveathon #loveathon2023
picka fantastic book to read. The book takes twists and turns all the time and keeps up the tension in a fantastic way. The plot is of course similar to the other parts, but there is still something special in each book that makes you keep reading. This can absolutely be a favorite part of everyone.
pickThis one tool a long while to get to the point. We knew it was to be Michael and Francesca but man did they delay themselves. It was a worthwhile journey though, especially with the addition of the second epilogue. #82-2022
so-soFINALLY finished listening to this.... my love for the Bridgerton series makes no sense....the writing frustrates me and I think Julia Quinn actually lets her characters down by making them fit into a societal box, regardless of their character's personality...and yet, I'm fully invested in the characters and their sagas 🤷♀️
pickI loved it SO much, definitely topped An Offer From a Gentleman for me, which was my current favorite Bridgerton book.
Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4854008985
“This was heaven.
This was bliss.
This was something he‘d never dared hope to feel, something he never could have dreamed existed.
This was love.”
“It was because she loved him.
This thing between them, this bond—it wasn‘t just passion, and it wasn‘t wicked.
It was love, and it was divine.”
“She didn‘t have to love him. But she did have to feel free. Free to be happy.
Because if she wasn‘t happy…
Well, that would kill him. He could live without her love, but not without her happiness.”
“Francesca,” he said, and he had no idea why he was saying it, just that her name was the most important thing in the world right then. Her name, and her body, and the beauty of her soul.”
“He gave his head a little shake. He was turning into a sentimental fool. His heart had always skipped a beat when he saw her across a crowded room. Anything more, and he didn‘t think the organ could take the strain.”
“She felt cherished.
Worshipped.
Loved.
It was humbling.
It was exquisite.”
“He was her husband.
It was so hard to believe, and yet it felt so perfect and right.”
“Why? It‘s because I love you, damn me to hell. Because I‘ve always loved you. Because I loved you when you were with John, and I loved you when I was in India, and God only knows I don‘t deserve you, but I love you, anyway.”
“Michael wanted her—badly, she could see quite visibly. But he would stop if she just said the word.”
I swear nothing is hotter than a respectful man.
“And he needed the yes. He had loved her for years, dreamed about touching her for so damned long. And now that the moment was finally here, he just didn‘t know if he could bear it if she didn‘t really want it. There were only so many ways a man‘s heart could break, and he had a feeling his couldn‘t survive another puncture.”
We love a respectful man.
“Now that it had finally happened, now that he had tasted perfection, he was in more agony than ever before. Now he knew exactly what he was missing; he understood with painful clarity just what it was that would never be his.”
“She stared at him, licked her lips, and waited…
Waited for the moment, the first touch, because as terrifying and wrong as it was, she knew it would feel like perfection.
And it did.”
“Were you watching me?” she asked.
His lips curved, not quite into a smile, not even into the beginnings of a smile. “I‘m always watching you,” he said grimly.”
“Marriage to Francesca. Good God. Everything about it was wrong.
Except he wanted it so badly.
It was hell watching her, hell speaking to her, hell living in the same house. He‘d thought it was difficult before—loving someone who could never be his—but this…
This was a thousand times worse.”
“He would never escape her, this woman. He would never escape her, and he could never have her.”
“Tell me something wicked,” he said again, more slowly this time. “That was it. You rather liked me when I was wicked.”
“It was something in the way she moved.
Something in the way she breathed.
Something in the way she merely was.
And he didn‘t think he was ever going to get over it.”
pickJulia Quinn does it again. I just love the Bridgerton books and Quinn does a great job of ensuring each of the siblings has a very different story. Francesca‘s is definitely one of my favourites though.
pickThis might be my favorite #Bridgertons so far. I might say that after every book though. I think it'll stick this time, Francesca is such a mysterious sibling up until this book. Love this trope though, #ForbiddenLove. #WorkingMyWayThroughTheBridgertons #6 of #8
Starting this next! #CurrentlyReading #6 #WorkingMyWayThroughTheBridgertons #Bridgertons
pickFinally got to the next Bridgerton books. I really enjoy these while I am actually reading them, yet never feel that push to pick up the next book right away. I liked Francesca and Michael, although it took a little too long to actually get them together. A fun fluff read, but nothing here that felt especially memorable. Soft pick.
#SeriesRead2022 @TheSpineView
#19822022 AND #192025 (2004) @Librarybelle
#WeeklyForecast - the windowsill is full again, thanks to the influx of July challenge books!! I'm currently working on my June #LMPBC book (The Color of Dragons), and need to read the tagged book this week as it is due back at the library. Beyond that, I have my #BookSpin (The Hidden Hand), the #PemberLittens' buddy read (Excellent Women), July #LMPBC (A Picture of Dorian Gray), and a nonfiction read (Nudges) all on the go at a chapter-a-day-ish⬇
pick3.6 ⭐
Finally Francesca got her stage, not really my fave though.
My 1st pick would be Benedict and Sophie.
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
