On the Way to the Wedding

I'm almost sad to complete the Bridgerton series - this series has been romantic and charming in the best way possible. For this installment, I will say it took me a little while to warm up to Gregory - he felt so privileged and coddled by his upbringing and lack of experience. That being said, Gregory grew over the course of this book, especially as he repeatedly has to face not getting the one thing he wants. In the end, he proves himself a hero and the book concludes happily for almost everyone (the exception being traitors).

An entertaining, overblown, farce of a story that charmingly mocks love at first sight. I laughed out loud more than once. Marvellous!

Gregory Bridgerton definitely believes in love. How could he not when he's seen all seven of his siblings make brilliant love matches? So when he attends a house party hosted by his eldest brother and sister-in-law and is struck dumb by the beauty of Hermione Watts, he knows it must be love. The only problem is Hermione doesn't feel the same at all and is honestly bored by the whole thing as men seem to fall in love with her on a daily basis. Gregory's only support is Hermione's best friend, Lady Lucinda Abernathy, who thinks Gregory would be a good fit for Hermione. But as Gregory and Lucy spend time together plotting, they discover it might not be Hermione who is Gregory's perfect match.

Approached just as another entry in the show more Bridgerton series, this is a perfectly charming romance novel but don't expect it to be an epic wrap up of this eight-book saga. Gregory and Lucy's romance is decidedly higher drama than any other entry in the series but our two leads are just as sweet and endearing as any other Bridgerton couple. There's plenty of the humour and banter that I so enjoy but this novel won't be making my list of favourites in the series. show less

Quinn is back in top form here - the dialogue sparkles, the narration is wonderfully witty, the balance between Bridgerton family feeling and one individual's romantic adventure perfect. I've wondered what she would do with Gregory because as a loyal reader of the Bridgerton series I did have a hard time thnking of him as anything but a bratty 13 year old throwing food at the dinner table.

I think she came up with a pretty cool answer: she took advantage of his youth and made him into a passionate mooncalf prone to dramatic gestures and sweeping generalizations. The book is about Gregory growing up - letting go of love at first sight and learning to love somebody who he really likes to be with. As Gregory stands up for what he wants and show more what he believes in, as he takes on the responsibility to protect Lucy and ensure her happiness, he becomes an adult.

Lucy, naturally, is delightful - although a lot of Quinn's heroines are very similar. Not the prettiest of the bunch, but witty and fun to be around and usually pretty practical. Lucy is also obsessively neat.

The book has a great twist, which is so great I don't want to say anything more about it. show less

The entire series was out by the time I found them, so I pretty much just read them back to back. I probably noticed more patterns and things because of that, so after the second to last book, I was considering just coming back to this last one at a later date. Also, these younger Bridgertons hadn't had as large of supporting roles in previous books (Like Colin did in the books that preceded his), so I wasn't feeling as attached to their stories. Then the start of this one seemed especially cliche, and if I wasn't such a finisher of series I still might have set it aside. I'm so glad I didn't! I laughed out loud over and over, there were some adventure elements which were a nice addition, and the final hurdle for the couple wasn't a show more contrived stretch of likelihood like so many are! (Seriously, you've been in love with them the entire book but then on an easily clarifiable rumor (told to you by someone with obvious ulterior motives) you suddenly hate them and are leaving the country forever?!? =P It can tarnish an entire book!). The characters and happenings in this book are well crafted and surprisingly believable! Way to finish a series strong! show less

I recognize that in the world of accomplishments, finishing the Bridgerton series ranks fairly low, but I try to celebrate the small victories. So Gregory finds his woman, hurdles arise and are overcome with the support of excellent siblings, babies are born, and happy endings are afoot all throughout Mayfair and the various country piles. This one starts with a wedding where Gregory speaks now and does not hold his peace, so that was fun. I have to say I did not find Gregory's beloved, Lucy, to be particularly interesting compared to the other Bridgerton spouses, but she was fine. It was fun to have Hyacinth up from the country, stomping about, and getting things done. I would say a 3.3. It had its charms, but I found most of the first show more half a bit dull. In all honesty, I find Shondaland's view of the Bridgerton world more compelling than the author's, but this, like most all of the books in this series, is reliably light and at least a bit diverting. Also, Rosalind Landor is the narrator for all of the audiobooks, and she comes as close to having Mary Poppins read you a bedtime story as you can get, which is nice. show less

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn is the 8th and final book in her series of historical romances about the Bridgerton family. This books highlights the romance between the youngest Bridgerton male, Gregory with the woman of his dreams, who, unfortunately, he doesn’t necessarily recognize upon first meeting.

The story evolves through the author’s trademark light touch and humorous incidents but for me, this book didn’t quite come up to the excellence of her other books. I find that this author is much better at developing her female characters whereas the male romantic leads are quite interchangeable. The story was entertaining enough and it is always a pleasure to reacquaint oneself with members of the Bridgerton show more family.

Historical Romances have become one of my go-to books when I need a comfort read and I have really enjoyed the Bridgerton series with it’s humor and witty banter. I look forward to sampling one or two of this authors’ other series. show less