Out of all the Bridgerton siblings, Francesca is the most elusive and mysterious. Knowing so little about her character, outside of the fact that she feels rather different from her family and appreciates space to herself, I was looking forward to learning more about her, her husband, John, and her relationship with said husband's cousin, Michael.

To start on a positive note with the aspects of When He Was Wicked that I enjoyed:
- The way grief was portrayed, as something continuous but ever evolving, through both Francesca and Michael was beautiful. Grief for men is not something that is touched on enough, and I appreciate that Quinn did not shy away from showing how losing someone so dear to him affected Michael deeply.
- Francesca's continuing relationship with the Sterling mothers despite their the changes that came to their family showed true family commitment and love. I could feel their maternal love for Francesca through their interactions and reactions so thoroughly.
- Oh the Bridgerton brood how I adore you. No matter how many times I see it (six books worth now to be exact), I fall more in love with their banter, care for one another, and ability to truly see their siblings (and children for Violet). I'm almost positive that I have commented on him in every Bridgerton book review thus far, but Colin is absolutely my favorite Bridgerton brother strictly for his ability to insert himself into the happenings of his siblings love stories.

Unfortunately, on to the negatives:
- One thing that absolutely through me was the timing of Francesca's story, being that it is taking place at the same time as Romancing Mister Bridgerton and To Sir Phillip, With Love. I was having a difficult time placing the story in the timeline until more hints at the previous stories was occurring. Not a huge negative, but did take a little adjustment.
- Even though it started slow, I did end up quite enjoying Francesca and Michael's relationship and the pace of their development as individuals and together. However,

what was that love confession from Michael?? It felt unbelievably anticlimactic and out of place in the pacing up to that point. Not to mention the way in which Francesca accepted his proposal - it just felt so...meh.

- The 2nd epilogue -

Francesca...did you really not tell your entire family, especially your beautiful mother that did nothing but support you in your grief for both John and infertility, that you were pregnant AND GAVE BIRTH FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR??? There's no way you didn't converse with them throughout that year via letters and you just thought..."nah, that's okay I won't tell them yet." GIRL WHAT.

Overall, while not my favorite of the series, Quinn does it again with a beautiful love story. Next up is Hyacinth's love story with It's in His Kiss and oh boy I am so ready for to see her in all her hilarious glory.