On the Way to the Wedding - Julia Quinn

Initial draw: ✰✰✰
Character development: ✰✰✰
Plot/Writing style: ✰✰
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"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..."

Mehhhhhhh. I wish Gregory featured more heavily in the earlier books. The first four, I was more invested because you've gotten to know all four older siblings. The fifth, I was also invested, because I love Eloise...until her character was completely ruined and she was shackled to a garbage person. Of all the siblings, I think Francesca and Gregory featured the least prominently in the other novels, so their stories were a little harder to be enthusiastic about. Thankfully, they were compelling enough that I still liked them, but the earlier books are markedly easier to get into because you already know and are invested in the characters. That said, this was...mostly fine, if a little dull.

I liked Lucy as a character, she was probably the character I liked most in this book. That said, the whole romance arc between her and Gregory felt a little funky and forced, and I wish it had been handled differently. He went from being wholly fixated on her best friend to liking her much too quickly, and the whole thing just felt...clunky. Then we get into some spoilers, so...warning. Spoilers.

Spoilers below!

The end of this story felt a little jump the shark-y. The book starts off with Gregory running to stop a wedding, so...alright. I can get into that. But then...she actually gets married? And then...he "kidnaps" her and ties her up in a bathroom? But wait! Now her uncle has found her and...he has a gun? Someone gets shot? Oh, and the marriage can still be annulled with no issues because she and her (btw, hella gay) husband have not consummated yet! It was...a lot. You're doing too much, Julia.

Ultimately, the highest praise I can give this book is that it's just fine. There are some weird things and choices that I don't know if they should have been made, but...it's not Eloise's story, so it's passable.