Angst
Obviously any great fic will have elements of fluff, angst, and smut. I'm organizing these lists based on what is the MOST prevalent aspect of the fic.
Author: fabesrutter
Time Period: Modern
Rating: Explicit
Status: One Shot
Words: 4,005
Chapters: 1
Series: Part 1 of the polin divorce au
Summary: "In a time where so much was uncertain, Colin was sure of one thing: he would never grow used to Penelope’s ringless fingers, devoid of any trace of him."
or, the polin divorce au
Author: lavenderandlilacs
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Mature
Status: Complete
Words: 54,379
Chapters: 12
Summary:
“It’s not as though you are in love with Penelope,” Eloise says.
She catches the tiny change in Colin's expression: a barely there wince. It takes her a moment to grasp the implications of it.
“Oh,” she whispers.
—
“It’s not as if you would actually wish for Colin to court you, so his words from last season need not signify,” Eloise says.
Penelope cringes.
“Oh,” Eloise says. Again.
Author: usuallysunny
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Words: 8,293
Chapters: 2
Summary: She told him to be quiet, and she told him to be still, but he can feel every curve of her body and it’s driving him mad, and her perfume is making him dizzy, and his chest hurts, and his throat burns, and he just needs to say it—
“Please don’t marry him,” he whispers, “it will kill me if you marry him."
OR five times Colin tries to sabotage Penelope’s proposal, and the one time it works.
Author: unsavorablefavors
Time Period: Modern
Rating: Explicit
Status: In Progress
Words: 110,388
Chapters: 22/31
Summary: Colin Bridgerton had it all: a beautiful wife, four beautiful children, and a fulfilling career.
Saying he’s content is an understatement; he loves this life.
That is until he’s yanked from this reality and finds himself in the hospital, awakening from a coma.
It turns out he is not married and never has been. Penelope’s just his friend, his children don’t exist, and his perfect job is merely a pipe dream.
On a journey of rehabilitation, self-discovery, and grief, Colin must come to terms with the life he has and build it into the one that he dreamed of.
…trying to convince the girl he’s known as his wife of their wonderful life together shouldn’t be too tricky, right?
Author: usuallysunny
Time Period: Modern
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Words: 21,720
Chapters: 5
Summary: Penelope drunkenly confesses her love to her best friend’s brother, leaving her mortified come morning.
Two months later, in a desperate attempt to move on, she brings her new boyfriend to the Bridgerton’s annual weekend away.
But if Colin Bridgerton doesn’t love her back, why does he look like he wants to kill him?
Author: jentothenuh
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Words: 22,001
Chapters: 5
Summary:
"Do you need something, Penelope?"
"I need you to divorce me."
After two years of a marriage arranged by their families, Penelope knows she does not make Colin happy. So she suggests a plan to ensure freedom for the both of them. Will Colin be able to break free from his oblivion and realize what he stands to lose?
Author: usuallysunny
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Words: 9,746
Chapters: 2
Summary:
“I am going to make this right, Pen, because I was made to be your husband… and I cannot live in a world where I am not.”
On the night of his wedding, a despondent Colin Bridgerton makes a reckless wish.
Now he is stuck in a race against time, floundering in a world he does not recognise, determined to get back to the life and love he has lost.
Author: redyarns
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Explicit
Status: In Progress
Words: 71,699
Chapters: 19/25
Summary: "Colin Bridgerton would never dream of courting me," Penelope laughed behind her fan, ignorant to the very man hovering behind the shrubbery behind her, and even less aware of the way his heart shuddered in his chest. "Not even in your wildest fantasies, Lady Cowper."
Colin gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to storm in there and shake the infuriating woman, the same woman who he, apparently, had been courting for the entire season and yet had no idea of his feelings for her.
Bloody hell.
***
Everyone knew that the spinster lady of the Featherington barony had no intentions of marrying and similarly, no man had any intention of marrying her.
So why, pray tell, was the newest Bridgerton bachelor chasing after her skirts like she was some pretty little chit?
Author: mouseratstan
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Explicit
Status: In Progress
Words: 74,152
Chapters: 12/16
Summary: In the wake of a great tragedy that shakes all of Mayfair to its core, Colin Bridgerton suddenly finds himself the Viscount, a role that he wants absolutely nothing to do with. Who is he to fix this? He, who has absolutely nothing?
Nothing, that is, but a tentative friendship with the disgraced Penelope Featherington, recently outed as the great Lady Whistledown. He shouldn’t be seen with her. He shouldn’t be doing a great many things, but what if he doesn’t care anymore?
What if all this grief is all that’s left of him?
Author: Fifi2930
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Mature
Status: One Shot
Words: 7,300
Chapters: 1
Summary: Colin is still reeling from Pen's pregnancy reveal when a familiar guilt begins causing him nightmares. Angsty fluff/smut.
Author: Sea_Dragonfly
Time Period: Regency
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Words: 68,948
Chapters: 24
Summary:
“Perhaps you should take a seat,” said Violet.
Colin wouldn't remember the details of what his mother told him next. He would remember her hand warm on his knee, her eyes wide with concern, her voice gentle as velvet. All of it in stark contrast to the devastating news she shared.
Penelope was ruined.
Author: Sea_Dragonfly, read by theyarnmaidstale
Time Period: Modern
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Length: 2 hours, 24 minutes - (22,383 words)
Chapters: 4
Summary: Never in his wildest fantasies did Colin Bridgerton think he'd be woken up at 5am the day he was due to fly out to Sri Lanka by Penelope Featherington begging him to take her with him.
She was supposed to be celebrating her engagement, after all.
Author: writergirl8
Time Period: Modern
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete
Words: 102,805
Chapters: 13
Summary: Colin Bridgerton is expecting to have a relaxing holiday at Aubrey Hall with his family. There's just one variable he's not anticipating: he keeps stumbling upon Penelope Featherington in various states of undress.
Penelope doesn't know why fate is conspiring against her to have Colin see her naked, but she has bigger things to worry about. Namely, how she is going to hide her feelings from Colin when they're becoming closer friends every day.
After years of knowing each other, maybe they can finally strip down and see each other bare.
Author: usuallysunny
Time Period: Modern
Rating: Teen & Up
Status: One Shot
Words: 3,534
Chapters: 1
Summary: When his girlfriend asks him to stop seeing her cousin, it should be an easy request for Colin to grant.
After-all, he’s been with Marina for over a year, and as he’s told everyone since they were eight and ten years old, Penelope is nothing more than a friend.
So why does the mere thought of it, of a life without Penelope Featherington, make his chest feel so tight?