On the Way to the Wedding

Background

On the Way to the Wedding is the eighth and final novel of Julia Quinn's series of Regency romances featuring the Bridgerton siblings. It was published by Avon books on July 6, 2006.

On her website, Quinn noted that the title was derived from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Some of the heroine's slightly obsessive-compulsive tendencies were taken directly from traits of Quinn and her husband.

Plot summary

The hero of the novel is Gregory Bridgerton, the youngest male and last unmarried sibling in the Bridgerton family. After catching a glimpse of the "breathtakingly perfect curve of her neck" at a house party, Gregory falls immediately in love with the beautiful and extremely sought-after Hermione Watson. After he makes his attraction known, Hermione's best friend, the pretty-but-not-quite-as-attractive Lady Lucinda "Lucy" Abernathy informs him that Hermione is already in love, but with someone unsuitable - her father's secretary. Believing that Gregory is more sincere in his attempts to gain Hermione's favor than her other suitors, Lucy agrees to help him win Hermione's heart.

During the course of the house party, Lucy and Gregory become friends and then develop romantic feelings for each other. The author details Gregory's difficulty in determining whether his love for Lucy is real, or if it is simply an infatuation such as he felt for Hermione. Lucy is likewise given an inner conflict, as she is essentially engaged to Lord Haselby, an arranged match which she has always accepted. Lucy is unable to break the engagement, even after her fiance confesses that he is gay, due to blackmail by her uncle.

In the final portion of the book, Gregory rushes to the church to stop Lucy's wedding to Haselby. Gregory arrives moments after the two have exchanged vows and confesses that he wants to marry Lucy. Hasselby gives his blessing and agrees to pursue an annulment of the marriage. The protagonists then neutralize the blackmail threat.

Reception

The Romance Writers of America named On the Way to the Wedding the 2007 RITA Award winner for Best Long Historical Romance. Romantic Times also nominated it for an award in 2006 in the category Historical Love & Laughter.

Kathe Robin of Romantic Times gave a rave review of the novel, remarking that "Quinn deftly merges the elements of a Shakespearean comedy with the climax of The Graduate, delivering an utterly delightful love story that will have readers grinning with pleasure the instant the book is opened until the marvelous ending." The review in Publishers' Weekly describes the novel as "as frothy and festive as a glass of bubbly, and more than worthy of a toast", but laments that the books does not include more interactions between the Bridgerton siblings, as previous books in the series had done.

On the Way to the Wedding reached number 5 on the New York Times Bestseller List for paperback fiction. The novel was on the USA Today bestseller list for six weeks, peaking at number 4.