Lara_costa
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The balcony is empty. The air is thick with summer heat.
Michaela steps closer than she should. Francesca's legs part, almost reflexively, for her husband’s cousin. Michaela slips between them and rests her hands on Francesca's thighs.
She leans in. Francesca can smell the limoncello on her breath. Her nose brushes Francesca's cheek.
"Tell me it's killing you like it's killing me," Michaela whispers against her skin.
Francesca trembles. Her need pulses in her chest, her stomach, lower still.
"Please, Fran."
"We can't."
"I know. I know."
-OR-
Francesca Stirling is a high-powered Manhattan attorney on her eighth round of IVF. Her husband's cousin, Michaela, arrives for the summer and immediately upends Francesca's routines. When her husband leaves for a work trip to London, Francesca is forced to reckon with the woman she has spent years refusing to look at — and with the question of whether she can finally become herself without breaking the man who loves her.
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- English
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- 48,376
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- 8/11
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Bookmarked by Lara_costa
13 Jul 2026
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University AU where Francesca is supposed to be in a perfectly loving relationship with her boyfriend, John, with a sensible future of marriage and children on the horizon, right up until John's cousin, Michaela Stirling, returns from a sabbatical abroad and Francesca finds herself, suddenly, hopelessly curious about another woman in ways that are utterly nonsensical.
Now Francesca finds herself unable to stay away and trying very hard not to think about why telling Michaela she and John are dating feels like it would ruin everything. Surely keeping that little detail about her relationship status cannot be seen as lying if Michaela never asked. Right?
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Or, finding the courage to be yourself before it's too late.
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Doesn't love make us all a little crazy though? Or is that just Francesca?
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 155,760
- Chapters:
- 21/21
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Bookmarked by Lara_costa
16 Jun 2026
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500 Miles by EleanorBridges
Fandoms: Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn, When He Was Wicked - Julia Quinn
04 Jun 2026
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She was funny in a way he hadn't known a person could be. The kind of funny that snuck up on you. She'd say something with that calm little look on her face and he'd be halfway into his answer before he caught she'd been kidding.
He made himself stop noticing. She was John's wife. That was the beginning and end of it.
Standing in her kitchen, he understood he'd been lying.
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A book-faithful, 1990s reimagining of When He Was Wicked—cassette tapes, late-night radio, and all the bad timing that was still possible before cell phones. A slow burn love story about grief, guilt, and falling for the last person you're allowed to want.
Bookmarked by Lara_costa
10 Jun 2026
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As Mr. Finch and Mr. Dankworth began to extol the virtues of Taleggio between themselves, Colin leaned close to Francesca and asked in a soft voice, “You know that you may go if you are not enjoying yourself. I would not be insulted.”
Francesca smiled at him. “No, I find Mr. Dankworth and Mr. Finch to be very kind and ... entertaining hosts. And the cheese is quite nice. I just have a few things on my mind.”
“Like what?”
“Gift giving.”
Francesca asks her older brothers for help finding a special gift, but is being a little dodgy about who it's for and why it's so important. Several Bridgertons come together to try to figure out the mystery.
Series
- Part 1 of Bridgerton Guide to Gift Giving
Bookmarked by Lara_costa
05 Jun 2026