In the prologue, the reader learns that Marcus had a very lonely childhood until he went to school, where he had the good fortune to be Daniel’s roommate. Marcus and Honoria have known each other since they were children. A carriage pulls up and – hello, there – it’s Marcus Holroyd (not a name I advise saying out loud to yourself because it sounds rather like another kind of ‘roid), her exiled brother’s best friend, and one of her favorite people. In the opening chapter (not the prologue), Honoria is stuck across the street from her shopping companions because a downpour has trapped them in a wonderful store while Honoria is stuck under an awning waiting for the rain to stop. But she wants a family because that is something truly, deeply valuable to her. She is looking for someone who would be a good match for her, and is trying not to be desperate or unseemly.

She doesn’t want to marry just anyone, either. She wasn’t an iconoclast, looking to thumb her nose at tradition. I liked that about Honoria: she wanted to get married and have a family. She misses having a family around her – a loud, vivacious family. Honoria’s mother is depressed about it, and Honoria would really very much like to get married and have a family of her own. Her next oldest sibling, Daniel, left England in disgrace some years back.

Honoria Smythe-Smith is lonely, as her older siblings have all married and moved on, and her house is silent and not as fun as it was when she was a child.

So when I learned that Julia Quinn’s next book was about the Smythe-Smith family, hosts of the infamously bad musicale from the Bridgerton series, I was curious. I love the friendly style of the writing, the warmth of the family – and have mercy, the depiction of a sane and loving mother and a family that actually likes one another. If I go near it, I lose two hours because I will reread it again for the three hundred and forty-seventh time. One of my favorite historical romances is “ The Duke and I” by Julia Quinn, which started the Bridgerton series.

Julia quinn when he was wicked summary