The blurb:
Unlike most men of his acquaintance, Gregory Bridgerton believes in true love. And he is convinced that when he finds the woman of his dreams, he will know in an instant that she is the one. And that is exactly what happened. Except...
She wasn't the one. In fact, the ravishing Miss Hermione Watson is in love with another. But her best friend, the ever-practical Lady Lucinda Abernathy, wants to save Hermione from a disastrous alliance, so she offers to help Gregory win her over. But in the process, Lucy falls in love. With Gregory Except...
Lucy is engaged. And her uncle is not inclined to let her back out of the betrothal, even once Gregory comes to his senses and realizes that it is Lucy, with her sharp wit and sunny smile, who makes his heart sing. And now, on the way to the wedding, Gregory must risk everything to ensure that when it comes time to kiss the bride, he is the only man standing at the altar...
Well, there's the end of the Bridgerton series!
Gregory is the youngest Bridgerton and, unlike most of his brothers, he is a serious romantic...and who can blame him, given how all of his older siblings have ended up getting married? The trouble with siblings like that is, you kind of start to believe that, when love arrives, it does it suddenly, with a flash of lightning and a dramatic roll of thunder. And the problem with that is that what arrives with a crash of lightning is far more likely to be a crush, one that lasts about as long as lightning and thunder does.
And it can happen that way outside of romance novels, but not often. Gregory is so blinded by a sudden, intense crush on Hermione Watson that he misses the slowly growing attraction to her friend, Lucy Abernathy. Meanwhile, Hermione only has eyes for Lucy's brother. So there's the unrequited and friends-to-lovers tropes in play. Plus there's the added wrinkle that Lucy is engaged to another man, in a long-standing arrangement that she was unenthusiastically resigned to. Turns out that her fiance is actually gay (Gregory informs her of this; he doesn't judge Haselby for being gay, he just knows that Lucy will never be happy with him).
There's also a Deep Dark Secret behind that engagement.
It's a fun, light read. The one thing that's missing is Bridgerton sibling interaction, which has always been one of the highlights of the series. In this book, though, it's replaced by Gregory not talking much with his sibs, and only one heartfelt conversation with his mother. There is some explanation for it, and I actually liked it; Gregory is so much younger than his brothers (Anthony, Benedict, Colin, followed by Daphne, Eloise and Francesca made for a rather long gap between brothers) that he feels like he has to prove something to them, so he doesn't ask them for help. There is an early conversation between Anthony and Gregory but that's very much Anthony laying down the law, not the usual cheereful bickering, and that's the tone of most of the sibling interaction.
Fairly fast paced book, some nice soap-operatic twists to keep the story moving and all the characters on their toes; a fitting end to the Bridgerton saga.
Started: 2 July 2025
Finished: 5 July 2025
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