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Imme van Gorp's Reviews > When He Was Wicked

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
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really liked it
bookshelves: 3rd-person-pov, death, dual-pov, friends-to-lovers, hardcover, historical, regency, romance

|| 3.5 stars ||

Oh, this was quite a big twist to what a lot of these books have been like so far. It felt truly very different somehow, and I’m pretty sure it was all because of the difference in who had the upper-hand in the relationship.

I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that Michael was a much better love interest than any of the heroes who came before him in this series. He truly worshipped Francesca and he was insanely in love with her. This man had been pining for her for years, obsessing over every little thing she did or said, yearning for the barest touch or slightest hint of attention. He seemed to think she hung the moon and the stars and never treated her in any way that would suggest he did not.

However, he did try his hardest to never let her discover his amorous feelings towards her, but not for any silly reason; Francesca used to be married to his cousin, a man he considered his brother and very best friend, so naturally Michael felt immense guilt for the way he felt towards the man’s wife. Especially since his feelings towards Francesca had started long before her first husband, his best friend, had died� It made sense why Michael would be wary of trying to “steal� Frannie after the poor man’s death, even more so since Francesca never gave him the impression she felt the same.
And the reason he never got that impression was probably because she genuinely didn’t feel the same. In a shocking twist of events; the heroine was not pining for the hero all this time too. Not only had she fully loved her first husband with all her heart when he was alive, but even after his death, she genuinely only ever saw Michael as a close friend and it took a lot of time for her to see him in a romantic light. Actually, I would go as far as to say that it took her too long. Frannie did want to remarry, and I didn’t quite understand why she refused Michael’s proposal the first time, let alone the hundreds of times he asked her afterwards, and especially after he opened up to her and told her how he has loved her for years! Like, girl, what more do you want??
Anyway, like I said, this book was clearly much different.


'Bridgertons' series:
1. The Duke and I - 3.5 stars
2. The Viscount Who Loved Me - 2.0 stars
3. An Offer From a Gentleman - 3.5 stars
4. Romancing Mister Bridgerton - 3.5 stars
5. To Sir Phillip, With Love - 3.0 stars
6. When He Was Wicked - 3.5 stars
7. It’s in His Kiss - 2.0 stars
8. On the Way to the Wedding - 2.5 stars
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Reading Progress

April 6, 2024 – Shelved
April 6, 2024 – Shelved as: to-read
April 17, 2024 – Started Reading
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: dual-pov
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: death
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: 3rd-person-pov
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: romance
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: regency
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: historical
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: hardcover
April 17, 2024 – Shelved as: friends-to-lovers
April 17, 2024 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-27 of 27 (27 new)

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message 1: by len ❀ (new)

len ❀ men pining over the women for years and yearning for the SMALLEST touches and glances will forever have a chokehold on me. idk if i’ll ever continue with this series but your reviews for them have me curious haha. glad you enjoyed it, or at least found it better than the previous ones! 💜


Imme van Gorp @elena � right!? there’s just something so insanely swoonworthy about a man being the first to fall in love and completely obsess over the heroine, especially if she doesn’t share his feelings for a while but he just keeps loving her😭 but honestly, im not sure you’d like this series cus I have a feeling you would NOT have the patience for any of the previous heroes LOL. Michael might have pined and loved like the best of them, the previous heroes did not🫡🫣


message 3: by adira (new)

adira dude this is so awesome. i’ll take pining over smut ANY DAY, seriously. emotional chemistry is really important. glad u liked this one!


Imme van Gorp @adira � oh yes girl, I’m totallyyyy with you on that!!🩷🩷 I know smut appears to be all the rage in romance books these days, but I personally can’t stand it. It’s so extremely boring to me! Whenever those smut scenes happen in any book, I always just skim or even skip over them entirely. Smut is just not what I want or why I read; I want to feel the emotional intimacy in a romance, not the physical one🙄


message 5: by Krysta � (new)

Krysta ꕤ this one sounds full of angst, especially on the mmc’s side of things with how he was pining after her🥹 i feel like when romances have the death of a spouse or partner aspect, it can get a little messy cause everyone moves on differently or sometimes not at all. great review🩷


Imme van Gorp @Krysta � Yea, you’re absolutely right! This definitely did feel a little angsty cus of his unrequited pining but I fully loved that haha. Sometimes I wish the book would have leaned into that even a little bit more! ;) also, it’s so true that widow books can get messy, and I usually don’t like it when the widow doesn’t move on, but it bothers me less when it’s the heroine who’s the widow😅


message 7: by SK (new)

SK I gotta get through five books to get to Michael but I am determined 😤 I will do it only for him and this review lol. Glad to see you enjoy it ml �


Imme van Gorp @SK � hahah well, that would be quite some dedication😉🤣🩷


Kati *☆・゚ I love surprises like this - when a book turns out different as you suspected and in a good way. 😍


message 10: by Dann (new)

Dann XD I liked when you said that "the reason he never got that impression was probably because she genuinely didn’t feel the same." That's so rare in romance these days, but it would be really cool to read more books like this


message 11: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @Kati � yupp, it’s the best feeling! way too many books nowadays follow the exact path you expect them to, so it’s nice when they divert from that😉


message 12: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @Dann � right!?? we need to see that wayyyy more often😌🩷


Poppyflowerjj This was my favorite book in the series! I think I gave it 3.5 stars too. Did you read the .5 book for this? It was so good.


message 14: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @PoppyflowerJJ � No, I haven’t yet! But I’ll definitely remember I should ;) I was thinking I might read the epilogues after I’ve finished the whole series, but I’m not sure I’ll read them all. I’ll definitely keep in mind that this one shouldn’t be missed😉🩷


Drache.... (Angelika) Awesome review, Imme. I don't remember the plot clearly but you do make this one sound a bit different. Glad you enjoyed it (despite her taking too long). ❤️


Persephone's Pomegranate I have viewed the initial two seasons of Bridgertons and found them quite enjoyable. However, I do not have any inclination to delve into the books. Historical romances are not my thing. Lovely review.


message 17: by allison � (new)

allison ☆ I do love when a mmc pines over the fmc😚. Omg her not loving him back at first would hurt my heart lol😭.


message 18: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @Angelika � hahaha fair enough! I doubt I’ll remember much either after a long while😅😂


message 19: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @Persephone � oh that makes total sense! I’m not really a historical romance fan either, but these books work for me cus of the fun writing style. I think the tv series is just as good (if not better) though, so only watching that is a very fair choice😉


message 20: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @allison � the pining always makes me go absolutely feral, I swear😩😩


message 21: by A (new)

A Mac This one sounds quite good compared to the rest of the series! And I'm with everyone else - the mmc pining is where it's at. Lovely review, Imme 💜


message 22: by Anila (new)

Anila I love the show, but still have not read the books... I have heard it is not as good and for some reason, regency romances don't work for me in book form and only on TV/movies


Jayda 🍉 This book is one of my favorites in the series, I’m curious to see how it’ll be adapted on the big screen


message 24: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @A Mac � I think it’s probably the best book in the series, or at least it shared first place!😌


message 25: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @Anila � That actually makes a lot of sense to me since a lot of regency romances in book form tend to have really toxic heroes and doormat heroines, which I also HATE🫣


message 26: by Imme (new) - rated it 4 stars

Imme van Gorp @Jayda � Yea, I’m curious to see that too, especially now that they’ve gender-swapped Michael🫡


Rania · رانية I absolutely loved this book! I stayed up late reading it, and then I woke up early to finish it. What's your fave book of the series?


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