When He Was Wicked: 4 Stars

"When He Was Wicked" by Julia Quinn is the sixth book in the Bridgerton series. Thus far, this has been my favorite book in the series. Below I will give a brief outline of the plot and then go on to discuss my overall thoughts.

Plot

Francesca, the 6th out of 8 Bridgerton siblings is recently widowed when her husband, John Sterling, the Earl of Kilmartin dies suddenly in his sleep. His cousin, Michael Sterling who has harbored a secret love for Francesca since he first laid eyes on her, (a few days before her betrothal to his cousoun) has now inherited John's title and all his possesions.

Overwhelmed with his grief for his cousin and his guilt for his feelings for Francesca, Michael does what he does best and runs away. He spends the next four years in India.

Fast forward, Michael and Francesca reunite unexpectedly in London. Francesca has arrived early from Scotland for the London season and Michael has cut his trip short.

Michael's reputation as a rake (modern-day playboy) precedes him with the London ladies and Francesca's transition from mourning to "out" has all the men and London ready to propose on the spot.

Throughout the book we see the characters go back and forth playing a "will they, won't they?" Both overcome with feelings of guilt and desire the characters finally fall into a passionate love affair. As these books are very predictable, I don't think I'm spoiling anything by telling you they end up marrying and living happily ever after.

My thoughts

As I said earlier, this is my favorite book of the series so far. My reasoning for this is Francesca's character. She comes to the decision of marrying John on her own rather than being forced into it by the man or a male realative as have happened in the previous Bridgerton novels. Keep in mind, this book is taking place in the 1800s.

Another reason I have for liking this book is the love scenes. The love scenes in this book are much more realistic than the others. In the other books, the love scenes take place with a woman who is not only a virgin, but has been taught very little about sex and what to expect. I'm sorry, I have a hard time believing your first time would be as pleasurable as described under those circumstances. However, in this book, Francesca is not a virgin and therefore a passionate love scene makes sense.

Another qualm I have with the novel is the author's use of words like "torment" or "torture" during the love scenes. Maybe it's just me, but it made me cringe. I also feel like the author makes the characters, especially the men, extremely possessive using terms like "you are mine" many times throughout the novel.

I've noticed a pattern in the male characters in the Bridgerton series. All of them are hotheaded and possessive but they do it in the name of love so it's "okay." If you really look at the behaviors of all of the characters, they are not set up to have a long-lasting marriage. If this were real life, they would have a few years of passion and then the fire would burn out. But hey, it's not real life, it's historical fiction so I'm going to end my rant.

If you're looking for a book that's full of twists and turns and mystery, this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you're looking for a nice and easy beach read, this is it! As long as you're okay with being able to predict the outcome within the first few chapters, I'd recommend it.

Thank you for reading my review of "When He Was Wicked" by Julia Quinn. I'll be continuing to post book reviews on my blog so follow along!

Leah Lawrence