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Sun-Kissed and Unbidden by AFlowerInTheSun
Fandoms: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
21 May 2025
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Summary
Summer of 1817. Penelope is no longer a fixture of London’s marriage mart, by choice, not exile. Society barely remembers her, and that suits her well. She lives in the countryside now, in a small, ivy-covered cottage not far from the Granvilles’ estate, with her faithful maid and friend Rae at her side.
She has long since put Lady Whistledown to rest. Instead, she writes novels that sell well.
She has been part of the Granvilles’ world for two years now, and their parties, their freedom, their belief that art is not scandalous but sacred, feel more like home than Mayfair ever did.
Among painters and poets, natural philosophers and scandalous playwrights, Penelope is no longer the forsaken wallflower. She is simply Pen: a woman with ink-stained fingers and sun-kissed shoulders, who lives freely and speaks her mind. She has lovers when she wishes and none when she does not. Her life is full.
So when Benedict arrives at the Granvilles’ summer gathering, charming, disillusioned, still a little too tethered to expectation, it is not to rescue her, or fix her. It is to find himself increasingly fascinated by someone who has already found herself.