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Summary
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.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 48,376
- Chapters:
- 8/11
- Comments:
- 271
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- 1,056
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Bookmarked by riabees
30 Jun 2026
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Composure by ocean19
Fandoms: Francesca Bridgerton/Michaela Stirling - Fandom, Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
02 May 2026
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Michaela plucked a strawberry from the platter. It was deeply red and ripened to the point that was uncommon for fruit in early spring. She assessed it before she bit into it, turning it around in her fingers.
Francesca detected the white of her teeth as her mouth closed on the tip.
She took two bites. When she got to the heart of it, her lips enclosed around the remainder and she drew the last of it into her mouth slowly, sucking at its juices.
Then she looked up.
Francesca was still watching.
Their eyes met and held.
-OR-
Michaela Stirling has returned to Mayfair after two years of unexplained absence. Her presence slowly whittles away at Francesca's carefully maintained composure, until it breaks.Bookmarked by riabees
17 Jun 2026
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Michaela, whilst grieving and overwhelmed with the feelings blossoming in her chest for her cousin's widow, does the only thing she can think to do when asked so sweetly to stay, she flees.
But now, after two years of running, she has returned to London, determined to make amends with the woman she has managed to convince herself she cannot fall in love with, under any circumstances.
Yet her chosen path is not an easy one, for Francesca Stirling, now seething with rage, grief, and a furious current of feelings she neither understands nor can explain, is just as determined to discover the very reason for Michaela's flight in the first place, a reason Michaela is intent on keeping to herself.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 90,126
- Chapters:
- 11/12
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- 1,071
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- 5,156
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- 1,114
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- 172,830
Bookmarked by riabees
07 Jun 2026
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There is something strange about Michaela Stirling.
Francesca cannot quite put her finger on what it is, but it has become clear after three weeks on the road to Scotland that she simply cannot be near her.
And Michaela - well, she is worried that Francesca Stirling née Bridgerton is a little plain. And one will eventually start to feel guilty teasing a plain person.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 146,964
- Chapters:
- 26/?
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- 293
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- 826
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Bookmarked by riabees
01 Jun 2026
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Sickly Sweet by bluebumblebee888
Fandoms: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
18 Jun 2026
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Summary
Francesca character analysis type of story
“Why did you leave me?”
Francesca had long thought of confronting Michaela about it. She had imagined countless scenarios of the fight that would make her scream louder than she had ever allowed her voice to go.
They all contained explosive fights, venomous words, and undying bitterness. A fire she had fed with ire and resentment, at last unleashed.
They were nothing like what she had enabled just now. Her nose was red, and cold. Her boots were wet. Her heart burned with the desire to understand. For a resolution. To be good enough to know Michaela, to be worthy enough to speak the language of her perfectly guarded heart, and even more impassable mind.
or
Francesca is sent away to Scotland to cure her melancholia.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 60,033
- Chapters:
- 16/16
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- 179
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- 712
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- 164
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Bookmarked by riabees
29 May 2026