On The Way To The Wedding: 4 Stars

"On The Way To The Wedding" is Julia Quinn's eighth and final novel of the Bridgerton series. Below I will include a brief summary of the book as well as my overall thoughts.

Summary

This novel follows the story of Gregory, the 7th out of the 8 Bridgerton siblings. By this point, Gregory is the only one of his siblings who is unmarried. While not the most common for the 1800s, all of Gregory's siblings were able to make a love match in their marriages. Having watched his siblings find the loves of their lives, Gregory will settle for nothing less.

When Gregory meetings Miss Hermoine Watson, he believes he has fallen in head over heels love. He enlists the help of her dear friend, Lady Lucinda to help win over the gorgeous Miss Watson.

However, on the night of the mascarade ball, there is something to do with oranges, a compromising position, and fluttering leading to the immediate engagement of Miss Watson and none other than Lady Lucinda's Brother, Richard, soon to be the Earl of Fennsworth.

Gregory is at a loss when he finds himself oddly fine to discover Miss Watson will be marrying another. It startles him to realize his true affection is for Lady Lucinda. One problem, Lady Lucinda is engaged.

We find Lady Lucinda's betrothed, Lord Haselby is not a love match, rather an agreement that was made between Lady Lucinda's uncle and Haselby's father. Lord Haselby is what they refer to as a "gentle man" meaning he likes the company of other men.

The plot thickens once Gregory and Lucinda reveal their true feelings for one another. Lucinda approaches her uncle to call off the wedding and discovers her family is being blackmailed by Haselby's Father with information that could ruin the lives of her entire family and disgrace them all.

Gregory, unaware of the blackmail does everything in his power to stop the wedding. In the final chapters, we see exactly what one is willing to risk for love.

My thoughts

As the series goes on, I find myself liking the books more and more. "On The Way To The Wedding" was by far my favorite of the Bridgerton series.

I liked how Quinn showed the difference between "love at first sight" and love that blossoms over time. I think it is very typical for people in their 20's to believe they're in love or get swept away by the attractiveness of a person. That's what happened with Gregory when he first saw Hermoine.

However, the relationship between Gregory and Lucinda started out as a mere friendship. Through their friendship they found themselves to be compatible in many ways. They made each other laugh and held each other in mutual respect. In my opinion, that is much more realistic than the previous ways Quinn's characters have fallen in love.

I enjoyed reading both Gregory's and Lucinda's paths to self-discovery. Gregory learned that it was okay to ask for help, especially that of his brothers. Lucinda learned she didn't have to make everything okay for everyone else all the time. She is a strong and honorable character even when she knew the outcome would not in her favor. She sacrificed for others in the face of her own adversity.

This novel took on a different layer of excitement than the previous novels including love, scandal, humor blackmail, mystery, and danger. If you chose to read any of the Bridgerton novels, this one is a must.

Thank you for reading my book review for "On The Way To The Wedding" by Julia Quinn. Stay tuned for more reviews in the next few days!

Leah Lawrence