TBR Challenge: When He Was Wicked; Julia Quinn

When He Was Wicked is Julia Quinn's sixth book in the Bridgerton family series. This is Francesca and Michael's story. Ms. Quinn also wrote a 'second epilogue' for WHWW which readers can order from her site HERE. The first book in the Bridgerton family group is The Duke & I which is a keeper of mine. The seventh book, the one which directly follows this one is It's in His Kiss. Information for both of these is on Ms. Quinn's website, link embedded in the title above. I read this for Avid Reader's monthly TBR Challenge which is due today. This month's theme is unrequited love or friends to lovers, themes that are among my favorites in romance. WHWW is set primarily in 1824 in England and in Scotland.

Michael and John Stirling were raised together in the same household, despite being cousins they were closer than brothers. John was the heir, though, and to the heir go all of the riches. In this case that would be Francesca. John's wife. Cupid's arrows struck Michael deeply and true. Unfortunately, Michael hadn't met Francesca until two days prior to her wedding to John. Somehow Michael manages to hide his feelings from them & the Earl of Kilmartin marries Francesca Bridgerton. Michael is that unique Romanceland creation: the rake with the heart of gold. He seduces only unhappy, lonely married ladies with whom his dalliances are acceptable and sought after and who are least risky in terms of a bad outcome. Among the Ton he is known as the Merry Rake.

Francesca and John were happily married for two years. Somehow the newlyweds incorporated Michael into their lives and slowly Francesca came to see Michael as her closest friend second only to John. One fateful night Francesca and Michael go out for an evening stroll and return to Kilmartin House to find John dead in bed. Stunned and deeply in shock each say things to the other, expect things of the other, that can't be lived up to. Francesca miscarries their baby. Michael, now Earl of Kilmartin upon John's death, flees for India, not knowing how to cope with all of the losses and changes.

Four years later, Francesca has finally come out of mourning and come down to London for a season. Perhaps it's time to hunt for another husband. She's twenty six now and her biological clock is ticking. Francesca wants a baby and a husband and she knows that she's unlikely to find another man with whom she'll have a deep bond with. Unknown to her, Michael too has returned to face taking up the reins of his title. As soon as he sees her Michael knows he's still deeply in love with Francesca. But how can he cope with feeling guilty about inheriting John's title and loving and desiring Francesca too?

Michael wars with his feelings as Francesca tries to fit Michael back into the box she'd had him in while John was still alive. After four years, though, Michael is definitely not the same man. Francesca can't seem to let go of her preconceived notions about who Michael is & what's best for him. Michael, believe it or not, is nudged into action by Francesca's brother Colin. Will either of them be able to make peace with their conscience and the memory of John so they can embrace happiness again? Michael, for whatever reason, won't tell Francesca how he feels until it's almost too late. Will she hear him?

Later in the book Francesca struggles with feelings of disloyalty to John and struggles with society's expected sexual roles & sexuality of wives. She has some serious issues to struggle with, not least of which is that she's more than willing to enjoy Michael's sexual favors but doesn't want to marry him, and yet she denies (for a while anyway) that she's using him. The other problem is her possible fertility problem. Earlier in the book, I most appreciated and enjoyed Francesca talking to her mother about her mother's widowhood & what Francesca might be looking forward to. Francesca was willing to go after what she wanted, and she was confident enough to discuss it with her mother before setting out what to obtain it.

I've not read any of the Bridgerton books for several years, Penelope and Colin's book was the last one I read. This book felt fresh and new for me since I didn't remember any of the characters other than Violet (Francesca's mother). I really liked Ms. Quinn's attention to the intricacies of the emotional issues involved between two people who loved the same person, now dead. I liked her attention to Francesca's emotional and sexual conflicts. It was an excellent read & I plan to keep it.

TBR Challenge 2009

Title, Author, Publisher: The Ruby Ghost, June Calvin; Signet, January 2006

Genre: Traditional Regency

Series: Not Applicable

Summary:

Miss Penelope Jones desperately needs a paying job because: a) she sent nearly all of her money to her brother at university and b) she is the oldest of eleven siblings and her parents can’t afford to have her come home. Unfortunately, Miss Jones has a problem: she was let off of her former position without a reference because the husband was mad she denied him sex. She has one last interview this morning. If she isn’t offered the job she has just enough money to buy a ticket at the coaching inn to Wales & her family. Miss Jones has been subject to nightmares ever since she was a child, so she’s tired and cranky when the interview goes badly. It doesn’t help that she makes judgements about her employer without actually knowing him, cannot hold her tongue and speak a civil word to her hoped for employer and then faints in his home upon seeing a painting of a castle identical to the one in her dreams.

James Betterton, Lord Silverthorne, is intrigued by Miss Jones and her claims of recurrent longstanding nightmares about the castle in his painting. He remembers her from the Season: prim and proper and good at her duties, refusing to dance at parties in order to better keep an eye on her charges, now obviously too thin and dressed in tattered clothes. What is she going on about with these claims of recurring bad dreams? Is she a schemer or is she telling the truth? Eventually, against the better judgement of Bartholomew the secretary and finally getting Miss Jones to cave in against her common sense, Lord Silverthorne gets them all to Thorne Hall. He hopes to solve the following riddles: is Miss Jones a fraud or does she really have the same dreams as Lady Silverthorne and will James ever convince Penny he’s not as bad as his reputation implies? Throw in missing relatives, precocious four year olds, meddlesome ghosts, preternatural events within Thorne Hall and you’ve pretty much got the gist of it.


Opinion:

I picked this one out of my TBR pile to read for Keishon’s 2009 TBR Challenge over at Keishon’s blog, Avid Reader. This month’s challenge is supposed to be to pull out a category, ie: HQN romance, and review it. However, I don’t read HQN categories because they’re just too short and I rarely read contemporaries anyway. I do love traditional regencies, that almost extinct breed, and so I pulled one out for this month’s challenge. I don’t remember buying it, so I can’t say what got my attention. I like ghosts and traditional regencies, so I guess I must’ve hoped the combination would pay off. I do wish Ms. Calvin had been better able to balance the paranormal/ghost aspects with the traditional regency rules and structure. Among the other problems, this book came across as traditional regency lite, paranormal/ghost heavy. Ms. Calvin's website describes this as "a romp" but I surely didn't find it so.

I’ve never read a June Calvin book before; unfortunately, I’m unsure if I’d do so again in a short format. There are too many plot threads in this little book. The format is too short for so many complicated weavings. I found Penelope Jones presented as a woman who will nearly starve herself to death for her family, yet one who also jeopardizes her chance at employment by making snap judgements about people based on rumors. She’s also shortsighted enough not to see that her own shortcoming, ie: making snap judgements, is reflected in the older Thorne family hangers on and retainers. I felt she was cold and lacked chemistry with James. James on the other hand is a pretty good guy: a little wild in the past, helpful, devoted to his family, loves children, loyal to those he believes in. Yet we are to believe James and Penelope managed to fall in love without having private speech with each other except about the ghosts and/or other family members.

Historical paranormals aren’t very common, particularly in the short and structured traditional regency format. If I were to come across more of these in the bookstore or UBS I’m likely to try them.