Hi lovelies,
Happy June. It’s a new month with all that exhilarating fresh energy of a new season. Summer is truly here now. The roses and peonies are in full bloom, I’m devouring watermelon every day and enjoying spending time in the garden. Keep reading for two of my new favorite summertime recipes using herbs from my garden and my thoughts on Bridgerton.
Like many of you, I have become obsessed with Bridgerton. Until this new season, I had only ever read a few of the books. But something about Penelope and Colin’s story called to me — friends to lovers’ trope — and so I watched all three seasons in the span of a week. Whereas with Season One and Season Two I read the books first, with Season Three I actually watched the television adaptation before I read the book (which is actually book 4. Book three is Benedict’s story, but for some reason Netflix decided to release them out of order).
I’ll share my thoughts about the books versus the Netflix series in a moment, but first — a while ago I posted an “ask me anything” to my Instagram story and I was so grateful for all your questions. Since more of you responded than I expected, I decided to answer some of the questions over time through my newsletter. I’ll respond to one question at a time, starting with one that seemed to pair nicely with my newsletter theme for today. If you have any questions you’d like me to respond to in a future newsletter, drop them in the comments, or send me a reply to this email if you are reading through your email inbox instead of on Substack.
Ask Me Anything
1st question:
Which characters are you most like?
Answer:
There are many characters that I relate to in one way or another. Some have been dear to me since childhood and others are new discoveries. Since I am talking about Bridgerton today, I thought I’d share which Bridgerton characters I am most like. Now, I haven’t read all of the Bridgerton books. I’ve only read as far as Eloise’s story, so my perception of the characters is in part due to how they are portrayed in the tv series.
Starting with Francesca Bridgerton! As the most introverted Bridgerton sibling, Francesca is the one I relate to the most as a fellow introvert. Just like Francesca, I dearly love my family but need plenty of time and space to myself. She has a great deal of focus, spending time perfecting her art of playing the piano, which I can relate to as a dedicated writer. The scene in which she leaves the ball because she desperately needs peace and quiet is entirely relatable. She is quiet yet courageous and does things because she must. This acceptance of unpleasant things that she’d rather not do but knows she must is also something I can relate to. I have a tendency to just accept what is necessary and dig in to get things done.
Another character I relate to is Sophie from book 3. I’m hoping we’ll get Benedict and Sophie’s story next. This book is a Cinderella retelling and though Sophie is much feistier than I am, I do relate to her in terms of being a hard worker and an avid reader who prefers life in the countryside.
So, there you have it. Two Bridgerton characters that share some of my personality traits. How about you? Which characters are you most like?
And now for my thoughts on Bridgerton Season 3 versus the 4th Bridgerton book - Penelope and Colin’s story. If you haven’t seen the show or read the books, you might want to skip over this next part as I do share some spoilers.
Overall, I really enjoyed the first part of season 3. I like how we are aware that Penelope is the gossip columnist, Lady Whistledown, as early as the end of season one. In the books, we don’t find out the identity of Lady Whistledown until about halfway through book four. Knowing her identity earlier in the tv series creates room for more tension and drama.
I also enjoyed the chemistry between Penelope and Colin and think the actors’ friends to lovers performance was convincing. However, one of the things I liked most about their relationship as portrayed in the books is how many years it took for them to become a couple. While Penelope fell in love with Colin early on, she pines away for him for years. In the tv series she’s only had three seasons on the marriage mart, but in the books this stretches to closer to eleven. At any rate, in the books she is 28 and considered a spinster when she and Colin actually end up together. I also prefer the books for Penelope’s relationship with Lady Danbury. In the tv series Lady Danbury supports Francesca instead of Penelope, and Lord Deblin is introduced to the series to fill in some of the missing story pieces.
And finally, I think Colin’s character development is much more in depth in the book. The role Penelope plays in encouraging him to be a writer is much more pronounced in the book. Of course, we still have part 2 of season 3 to look forward to, so hopefully Colin’s character arc will still develop.
What are your thoughts on Bridgerton Season 3, and have you read the books?
Summer Recipes
This is something I usually just share with my paid subscribers, but today I have two summertime recipes I’d like to share with all of my readers. Both incorporate fresh herbs from my garden, but if you don’t have a garden you can get most of these herbs from your local grocery store instead. The first recipe is a watermelon salad and the second is a mixed greens salad.
Watermelon is one of my favorite things about summer. I love in season watermelon and eat lots of it all summer long. Though I enjoy watermelon by itself, sometimes I like to mix things up and turn watermelon into a meal. This cucumber watermelon goat cheese salad is delicious and simple to make.
You will need:
Watermelon cut into chunks
diced cucumbers
crumbled goat cheese
fresh mint
and optional but completely recommended: fresh pineapple sage
Mix the cucumbers and watermelon together in a bowl, sprinkle in the goat cheese, and top with the fresh herbs.
Recipe number two is a mixed greens salad with fresh chives and marjoram.
You will need:
salad greens of choice
goat cheese
walnuts
raisins
walnut or olive oil and balsamic vinegar
maple syrup
Maldon sea salt
chives and marjoram
crispy bacon
Prepare your salad by mixing the greens together with the goat cheese, walnuts, and raisins. Mix your dressing of oil, balsamic, and maple syrup. Dress your salad. Then sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Chop your chives and marjoram and sprinkle on top. Finish with bits of crispy bacon.
Enjoy!
Exciting News
Another one of my list poems was accepted for publication in Bella Grace magazine! You can find Issue 40 at Barnes and Noble and other locations now. And I have to tell you I was so excited to see that my article made it to the cover page! It’s called “How to be Unabashedly Lazy” and is the perfect read for those of you who want to live a life of enchanted simplicity.
And before I go, here are a few more updates/boring but necessary news part of this newsletter:
Updates
Girls in White Dresses Book Club finished Ink Blood Sister Scribe. If you read it with us during May, or have read it in the past, feel free to share your thoughts in my Instagram post tomorrow.
Girls in White Dresses Book Club choice for June and for pride month is Wolfsong by T.J. Klune, author of one of my favorite books The House in the Cerulean Sea. Please feel free to join us. As always, I will share a wrap up post on my Instagram at the end of the month, or early in July.
My Discord group is still reading Sharon Blackie’s book The Enchanted Life. We will continue to read it and share our thoughts and pages from our journals until the end of June. We are still deciding on our read for July-August. If you want to join our enchanted book club/study group you may do so here.
I added lots of books to my bookshop on PangoBooks, I Capture the Story, and will continue to add more throughout the summer. You can shop right here. Many are on sale for $4 and under.
If you enjoy my poetry, consider supporting me by buying a paperback or e-book of my little poetry book, True North. If you have read it already, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads if you can. That small gesture really helps writers reach a wider audience. Thank you so much.
Lots of Love,
Caitlin
That watermelon and cucumber recipe sounds absolutely delightful! I never even thought of that combo before.
And congrats on another Bella Grace submission!! I’ll be making my way to B&N later this month to pick up a copy! 💛
The mixed greens salad sounds delicious! Will have to try making that. Thanks for sharing.