Well folks here we have it—my final review of the last Bridgerton novel! I can’t believe I have finally reached the end of the series. I am so sad but yet at the same time so satisfied with how the series wrapped up. I was actually glad that we ended the series with Gregory’s story rather than Hyacinth’s, as I felt that Gregory’s story had a bit more action and romance to recommend itself.
Gregory always seemed far removed from the other Bridgerton siblings. Not in the same way that Francesca was but having so many years between him and his other brothers left him adrift in a sea of sisters. It made me wonder if he was going to be more romantic than the others and I was pleasantly surprised that he was.
I tried to savor this one a little more than the other books in the series so it took me a little longer to finish this one than I was expecting, but that was fine by me because I felt like I could slow down and appreciate the romance and the action more than I did in the former books. While this wasn’t my fav of the series, it was a wonderful read and I really enjoyed it!
Summary
A funny thing happened …
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 (summary from Goodreads)
Review
Gregory is truly romantic which is so different than his brothers. He wants to fall in love and wants to make grand gestures! He isn’t like Anthony, Benedict, or Colin who want to avoid marriage like the plague—Gregory wants to get married and fall in love. In fact he can hardly wait! I thought that was a fun approach because all the other Bridgerton brothers took so much convincing to accept the fact that they are in love where as Gregory didn’t and I thought that left room for more action and intrigue. Most of the other books (including the sisters) didn’t really have much in the way of separate plots. The plots were mostly meeting, falling in love, getting past issues, HEA. This book replaced ‘get past issues’ with ‘solve mystery’. Not like murder mystery but suss out family secrets. The plot is still very much a romance, but it had this fun little separate component that made it a little different from the other books.
I could personally have done without the Hermione storyline early on in the book but it was also the catalyst to future events and showed how much Gregory wanted to fall in love, but for me it didn’t add as much as I think it was trying to—if that makes sense. In the grand scheme of things, this wasn’t a huge deal or distraction from the plot though. Gregory and Lucy had a lot of chemistry together too. Lucy was almost a younger version of Kate in the earlier books, but was still her own person. I thought that once they recognized their attraction for one another it was charming, sweet, and perhaps not as hot as some of the other romances, but satisfying all the same.
This book was less steamy than some of the other books in my opinion, which was fine but surprising in some ways. I liked the troupe (woman engaged to another man who she doesn’t love) and I thought that Quinn could have really dove right in and made Gregory’s story a lot more steamy, but in the end I liked that she pivoted to more tender romance with a little heat thrown in. Over all it was a beautiful romance and a lovely story with great chemistry. Finding out about Lucy and her family’s past was interesting and a new twist in the overall plot. This book fell firmly in the middle of my Bridgerton hierarchy and I thoroughly enjoyed this final installment!
Book Info and Rating
Kindle Edition, Reprint Edition, 437 pages
Published April 25th 2017 by Avon (first published June 27th 2006)
ASINB00UG8RP3G
Review copy provided by, personal collection. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: historical fiction, romance
The Lit Bitch 