When He Was WIcked by Julia Quinn

I have really enjoyed the format of this series of linked romance novels that Netflix has made into a very popular Regency series. The formula is different each time and this one is a pretty classic love triangle. Francesca is the 6th Bridgerton child, and she was married to John, a man who lived a quiet life that she loved. Sadly, she lost her husband, the love of her life, after only two years of marriage. When her husband’s cousin, Michael, isolates himself in India, she feels as if she has nothing left. But Michael only left because he has a secret to hide: he’s been in love with Francesca from the first moment he saw her. As he returns to London, he must face his love for Francesca to find out once and for all if it could ever work, and if he’d ever not feel guilty about loving his dead cousin’s wife. Michael, who inherits John's title as well, does return to face the music, and it goes very much as you would expect. There is a lot more agency for Francesca than any of her sisters had an opportunity show their future husbands before they married--she has run her late husband's estates and they have thrived under her leadership--only Penelope, her sister-in-law, had a chance to shine her light before marriage and have a spouse who loved that about them. That is how you know this is a work of fiction, I am very sad to say. The American right in 2025 is populated by men who want women to shut up, stay home, and do as they say. Francesca is not that kind of woman.