I have mild depression because I almost didn't continue with this series and I had to get through five books to get here.

I don't quite understand some of the reviews here, maybe this romance was different from what they were expecting. I liked it, it was the most real but touching historical romance I've read. Maybe not my favorite, but the writing is good, Francesca owns her sexuality, and the hero is crazy for her. I guess to an extent I understand how some of it was very push and pull, but I didn't find it exhausting. The tension and angst made exactly the right amount of sense to me. I also like that we skipped a lot of the awkward virgin stuff we usually get in historical romance, that isn't ever really my favorite either. I like the way they handled grief here, because there truthfully isn't a right or wrong answer when it comes to grief.

To me, I don't really understand the criticisms of this being drawn out and boring. It does get a little inside Francesca's and Michael's head a bit, but this is a very different love story than the other Bridgerton books. I really enjoyed it, but if you don't enjoy those types of moments you will probably find this boring.

I really enjoyed this, definitely my favorite of the series. I would own this in print if I could. I may read it like that some day to fully digest the writing, but the audiobook as usual was wonderful.