When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons, #6) in Fans of Eloisa James & Julia Quinn

May 06, 2011 Kelly22 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bad-boy-rake-rogue-casanova, marriage-betrothal-of-convenience, gorgeous-handsome-attractive-hero, historical-romance, highland-scotts-medieval, sweet-reunions-second-chances, beloved-favorites, silver-tongued-sweet-talker-hero, julia-quinn, favorite-series

5.00+ stars - Regency/Historical Romance

For me this one was a reread. Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked, the sixth in the Bridgerton series tells a story of a saga that narrates the game played by a seductively charming hero and a vulnerable confused widow in their transition of friends to lover.

It introduces a new style which is thus far exhibited by Quinn in the series. It is a sexy, witty yet serious and somewhat intense historical romance novel. There is no confusion, no perplexity in the mo 5.00+ stars - Regency/Historical Romance

For me this one was a reread. Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked, the sixth in the Bridgerton series tells a story of a saga that narrates the game played by a seductively charming hero and a vulnerable confused widow in their transition of friends to lover.

It introduces a new style which is thus far exhibited by Quinn in the series. It is a sexy, witty yet serious and somewhat intense historical romance novel. There is no confusion, no perplexity in the motive of the writer when it came to the relationship between the H/h.

Michael Stirling, London’s most infamous rake excels in his womanizing and flirting ways with his gift of superior good looks and unblemished charm. He is sorted out by all varieties of women. They completely adore him. He is a laid-back decommissioned army who is happy with his rakish devil-may-care lifestyle and his status as a cousin to John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin. Nevertheless, through fate of irony Michael falls hard in love with his cousin’s bride Francesca Bridgerton on the day of her marriage. Knowing the fact that he could never have his brother’s bride in his existence, he accepts the shortcomings of his destiny and continues to be a merry rake to hide his romantic feelings for Francesca from the world. But destiny and cupid together yet plays another twisted game when Michael finds himself in the position of the new Earl of Kilmartin due to his brother’s untimely death.

Now, Francesca is a widow. And Michael is the Earl and a sorted out bachelor who needs to marry in order to secure the earldom for future generation. What will Michael do? Should he keep ignoring his feelings for Francesca or should he utilize his effortless magic of seduction skills to make Francesca fall madly in love with him for the rest of her life and hence marry him in accord?

The book promises an excellent love story and a truly swoon worthy sexy hero who is quite a lady’s man with a silver tongue and a surprisingly intense ability to love. I was absolutely besotted with the hero! The much adorable Violet Bridgerton and the witty banters of the Bridgerton siblings were not forgotten by the author and were revisited with their usual magnetism (…happy sigh) . The only thing I didn’t like about this book is the heroine Francesca, who proved to be annoyingly frustrating to convince. Francesca, who is the sixth of the Bridgerton siblings turned out to be rather different from her family who is known for their chatty, friendly and connected ways. She liked her freedom and her forlorn traditions. But at times, I felt she was almost always never satisfied and very emotionally cold when it came to Michael who practically worshipped her from in and outside the bedroom throughout the novel. But I couldn’t hold it against the book since I was so taken by Michael and his steamy courtship talents! The love scenes where scorching hot which pretty much manage to set the pages on flame and the hero proved to be just about every woman’s dream of passionate, seductive and sweet lover!

Though both the leads where quite opposite in their person, they found a distinct uncanny solace among themselves, which helped them to build a relationship which might prove to be a stronger one to conquer the journey of life with love and passion for each other.

The book tells a rather simple story with outstanding expressions and sensitivity and is highly recommended.

Once again it is definitely a Julia Quinn keeper!
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Mar 01, 2011 (Nat) Reading Romances rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, hot, must-read, i-love

I don’t have much to say about this story. It’s so touching, so beautiful, SEXY and wicked! One of my favorite books EVER. A romance about really finding love for the first time.When He Was Wicked- The PERFECT title fot this book. Michael was so wicked…*dreams*

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Jul 04, 2011 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, 2012-reads

Another great Bridgerton book! This book was one that I had looked forward to reading. Francesca was one of the Bridgerton siblings that was pretty absent in the previous five books. She was married early and widowed after only two years of marriage. Since that time she spent much of her time in Scotland, so she didn't have an active part in any of the other Bridgerton romances. This book begins during her first marriage to John, but much of the later action of the book takes place simultaneousl Another great Bridgerton book! This book was one that I had looked forward to reading. Francesca was one of the Bridgerton siblings that was pretty absent in the previous five books. She was married early and widowed after only two years of marriage. Since that time she spent much of her time in Scotland, so she didn't have an active part in any of the other Bridgerton romances. This book begins during her first marriage to John, but much of the later action of the book takes place simultaneously with some of the action of the previous two books as Colin and Eloise both get married. That was kind of fun to read. The story of this book was intriguing. Michael fell in love with Francesca as soon as he laid eyes on her, but unfortunately that was a little more than a day before she married his cousin and best friend, John. That creates quite a dilemma for Michael. He spends much of his time with John and Frannie, so he is forced to see their love before him always. Michael is unable to say how he feels about Frannie, and he would never do so anyway because he loves his cousin too much. Michael is just the merry friend to both of them. He earns a reputation for being a womanizer, but this is simply because he is doing everything in his power to forget about Frannie. Then the unthinkable happens, and John dies suddenly. You would think that this would be a great blessing for Michael, but he does not deal with the death well. First of all, he loves John, and his death was difficult to handle because it was so sudden. Secondly, he feels tremendous guilt for the love he has for John's wife, and in the back of his mind he worries that his pining for Frannie led to John's death, like he had wished it to happen. Frannie is desperate for Michael to comfort her because he is the only other person who could understand her grief, but Michael instead runs away from her to India. He just can't deal with the guilt of his feelings for her. Four years pass and then they are reunited.

I won't get into more of the plot. I'll just express my feelings about what I read. I was rooting for Michael all along the way. It seemed obvious that he would be an excellent candidate for marriage once Frannie decided that she was ready to remarry. He was the only one who truly knew and loved Frannie, but he kept fighting against himself, feeling as if he was dishonoring the memory of John. It was frustrating to read about the two of them as they struggled with their feelings. They both obviously loved one another, but neither one believed that the other felt the same way. So many times I wanted for Michael especially to just open up and tell Frannie how he felt. Well, that finally happened, and I have to admit that I did not like how that played out. Michael had been holding those feelings inside for so many years. It seemed as if when he finally opened up and shared his feelings it would be somewhat romantic. Not so much. I thought that Frannie would take a little more time to absorb everything, but she didn't really spend much time thinking about the fact that her bff had been secretly in love with her since the days of her marriage. I was just disappointed that it wasn't better written and explored. Then, more than in any of the other Bridgerton books I felt like there was such an emphasis on sexuality, not as an expression of the love within marriage, but as a more primal passion used as a means to an end. It irked me to no ends that Michael used sex as a method to somewhat trap Frannie into marriage. That isn't exactly what he thought he was doing. I think that he thought that if Frannie could see that there was passion between them then she wouldn't feel bad about marrying her husband's cousin and friend. But it just read like he was just trying to use her passion to trap her one way or another. This was troubling to read because I felt like it was so unnecessary. They had a perfect relationship. They got along wonderfully and trusted one another in all things. They were already perfect friends. And it was also obvious that both of them were attracted to one another, even if they were afraid to face that. The sex in this book was troubling and unnecessary. When Frannie worried that she was becoming wanton, I'm afraid that I had to agree with her. It took away from the possibility of a great love story.

With all of these complaints, though, it was still a great book. I wouldn't list it as one of my favorite Bridgerton books. There were too many things that played out in the wrong way for me. But still, I enjoyed the two main characters of this book, and it was a quick and fun read. I would say that it rated more of a four and a half star book. But, after all my disappointment, I was happy to see that Michael and Francesca could find their happy ending. I was super happy to see Colin, one of my favorite Bridgertons, take an important role in this book. He saved the day for this relationship.

2018 Audio Update - Another wonderful Bridgerton book. This audio version was a bit jarring to hear. The previous five books in the series have been narrated by Rosalyn Landor, and I had grown accustomed to hearing her way of creating these characters and the atmosphere of the books. This book was narrated by Simon Prebble who did a nice enough job, I think. It was just weird hearing the book through a male narrator. Once I wrapped my head around having a man as a narrator, I still struggled with his style. He didn't create the moods of the story in the same way I did in my head when I read the story in print originally. As for the story, Francesca is probably my least favorite Bridgerton heroine, and I have always struggled with her weird aversion to marrying her bff, Michael. I think that this story could have been epic, but the way it all unfolded was not quite as satisfying as a story like this should be. I did love the constancy of Michael's feelings, not only for Francesca, but also for her first husband and his cousin, John. It's a good story. It just doesn't rise to the top of this wonderful series. Four stars. I really liked it. ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Kat ~ Forever Book Lover ♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical

My Review

_When He Was Wicked_ is a quieter, more introspective Bridgerton book—and one of the most emotionally rich. Michael Stirling, known in London’s social circles as a charming rake, has loved Francesca Bridgerton from the moment he met her—two days before she married his cousin. After years of silent longing and unbearable guilt, fate brings them together again, but the emotional weight they both carry makes this romance one of the series’ most poignant.

Julia Quinn masterfully weaves theme ...more

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May 16, 2011 Nana rated it it was ok

Bukan bacaan yang menarik, menurut gue.
Memaksa seseorang untuk menikah lewat sex kayaknya nggak banget deh.
Dan sayangnya ini yang terjadi di cerita ini.

Ga mau cerita panjang lebar karena takut jadi spoiler, tapi beneran deh menurut gue novel ini nggak ada romantis-romantisnya.
Agak-agak nyesel udah baca.
Heu...

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Mar 29, 2011 AG rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites

Rating: 5/5 stars

Without a doubt, this book has the most romantic ending I have ever read in romance novels. I just cried it was so beautiful and touching. I have read many good romance novels, some excellent ones, and on rare occasion, some true keepers. This book is one of them. It was absolute perfection.

A must-read for all.

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