MsMojo Notes: Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re taking a deep dive into “Romancing Mr. Bridgerton”, the next “Bridgerton” novel to make it to Netflix, for our MsMojoNotes series! Which “Bridgerton” sibling is your favorite, and how do you think Colin and Penelope’s relationship will unfold in the show? Let us know in the comments!

We’re going to be summarizing the plot of the book and speculating on “Bridgerton” season 3, so there will be huge spoilers ahead for the books and the show so far!

While season 3 of the show is set to take place only three years after the beginning, there’s a much larger time skip during the book series. Netflix has decided to skip “An Offer From a Gentleman”, the third book in the series that covers the romance between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Beckett, for the time being - though, we’re sure Benedict will get his due later. Instead, we’re taking a look at “Polin”, Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, who are the subjects of the fourth book. This means there are even fewer events to bridge in the show, while the book picks up a decade from the beginning of the series - and from Lady Whistledown’s first column.

Penelope is now twenty-eight, and Colin Bridgerton is thirty-three. He’s spent most of his twenties travelling Europe, seeing Greece, Italy, and other parts of the UK - notably, Scotland. At twenty-eight, Penelope is firmly a spinster - while in the show she’s still only in her very early twenties, making her proclamation that she’s on the shelf in the season 3 promos a little ridiculous. In both the book and show, Penelope is in love with Colin from afar, and Colin is oblivious to this. The prologue begins by showing us how they first met, with Penelope’s bonnet accidentally blowing into Colin’s face, knocking him from his horse. We then find out how Penelope and Eloise Bridgerton became friends, which is actually through Violet Bridgerton, who takes pity on Penelope and her overbearing family and frequently invites her to Bridgerton House.

In the third book, Colin - while in an argument with his brothers - proclaims that he’s not going to marry Penelope, which she takes to heart. He then disappears on his travels, not returning to London until much later. His return is announced, of course, in Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers, at which point Portia Featherington latches onto the idea that Colin should marry her youngest daughter, Felicity, who hasn’t yet appeared in the show - nor does it seem likely that she will. Unlike the elder Featheringtons, Felicity is popular with the Ton’s many male suitors. Luckily, Felicity isn’t particularly interested in Colin because she already has a suitor on the precipice of proposing, Mrs Albansdale.

It’s crucial to note that while in the show we’re already aware of Lady Whisteldown’s identity, since it was revealed at the end of season 1, nobody yet knows who she is in the book. Eloise and Hyacinth Bridgerton hatch another plan to find out who she is, which involves searching through her old columns and trying to find mistakes she has made, which they hope will let them identify her.

Colin and Penelope reunite at a birthday party for Violet Bridgerton, the Dowager Viscountess, which Anthony is throwing. There’s a mishap with an eclair and the two fall back into their friendship, with Colin telling Penelope all about his time in Greece. They talk about how Colin, with his famous charm, is able to get away with anything and weather any scandal, while Colin secretly longs to have a purpose like his elder brothers. Penelope, meanwhile, only wants him, but she’s never afraid to put him in his place when necessary - especially when she remembers his declaration that he’ll never court her. They bicker throughout the party and Penelope is convinced that Colin is only dancing with her because he feels obligated to. It’s here that Lady Danbury announces she’s putting a price on Lady Whistledown’s head: a thousand pounds to whoever unmasks her.

Later, Colin and Penelope encounter each other again in Berkley Square. Colin catches Penelope dancing in the middle of the green and offers to dance with her, though she points out that if anybody sees them, the Ton will think they’re courting. He doesn’t understand why this is an issue, but she believes that a fake courtship between them will never go anywhere, and when it ends, it’ll look like Colin left her, making her even more undesirable to the other gentlemen. But Colin is, by now, beginning to see Penelope in a different light - not as the girl he’s always known as Eloise’s friend, but as her own person. Eventually, they leave the rainy square so that they can have dinner with his family, as Penelope is also attending, at 5 Bruton Street. This is the new home of the unwed Bridgertons, as Anthony, Kate, and their children now occupy Bridgerton House themselves. We’d imagine we’ll still see them all living together under one roof in the show, though. They have a pleasant enough time together listening to Hyacinth and Eloise speculate about Lady Whistledown.

Days later, things heat up for Penelope and Colin, when Penelope again journeys to Number Five, and stumbles across Colin’s journal. Colin catches Penelope reading it, as he has left open on a desk, and loses his temper, accidentally injuring his hand with a letter opener. Penelope tends to the wound and bandages it for him, while she apologises for the intrusion. The creators of “Bridgerton” have assured fans that this crucial scene will survive in the Netflix version. Colin forgives Penelope when she compliments his writing and encourages him to keep going and to tell her what happened to him next during his long travels. Colin confesses that his travels aren’t enough, though, and he wants to be accomplished just like Anthony and Benedict are. They argue, with Penelope calling him spoiled but still telling him he should work out what he wants to do with his life and pursue it.

Later on, they both attend the notorious, annual Smith-Smythe concert, poorly regarded by society. Lady Danbury shares her own thoughts about Whistledown, saying she believes Whistledown has a heart because she often pities the Smith-Smythes too much to mock them in her column. She also says she thinks Penelope may be Lady Whistledown, while Penelope accuses Lady Danbury in return. Colin arrives and the two reconcile, and Penelope tells him he should edit and publish his travel journals.

Two days later, Colin calls on Penelope to reveal that he has his own Whistledown theory: he believes Lady Whistledown to be none other than Eloise. He suspects her because she is constantly locked away in her bedroom writing - which she later explains is because she’s writing letters, a hint to her romance in her own book, “To Sir Phillip, With Love”. They argue about Whistledown and how worried Colin is about the woman behind the pen, and Colin finally realizes that he wants nothing more than to kiss Penelope. Things heat up significantly when Penelope asks him to do just this, merely because she’s never kissed anybody and she’s in her late twenties. Of course, he obliges, and sparks fly - much to Colin’s surprise. But when he invites her to continue, she merely thanks him. This upsets him and he storms out of the house, accusing Eloise of being Whistledown when he gets home.

To everyone’s shock, ahead of the season’s next ball, Lady Whilstedown announces she will be retiring in her final column, as attempts to unmask her and claim Lady Danbury’s prize reach a fever pitch. Everybody continues to speculate about who she is, or was, when Cressida Twombley - who’s still Cressida Cowper in the show - shocks the room by announcing SHE is Lady Whistledown. This sets the whole Ton talking, but Penelope is steadfast in her disbelief, saying that it would, quote, “break [her] heart” if Whistledown turns out to be Cressida.

She and Colin reconcile again, but he still sets out the following day to apologise to her in person. However, on his way, he sees Penelope entering an unmarked carriage and heading to the East End of London. Concerned for her safety, he has his driver follow and catches her red-handed placing a secret message to her publisher - revealing to Colin that she has been Whistltedown this whole time. In the books, THIS is the big reveal. Colin is angry at first, and then worried for her reputation. He’s ultimately impressed by what Penelope has achieved as Whistledown.

He takes her home in his own carriage and, on the way, very nearly gives in to his most carnal desires and seduces her while they ride through central London. He stops himself, however, and tells Penelope that he intends to marry her. Together, they head into the Featherington home for him to announce his intentions to Portia and the rest of the family - who are all gathered there for their usual, Tuesday afternoon family meeting. There’s a brief miscommunication where Portia believes Colin is asking for Felicity’s hand, but eventually, he makes himself clear, and Portia and Violet Bridgerton get to work planning the wedding.

It’s still not plain sailing for Polin, however. Penelope’s publisher does manage to get his hands on Whilstedown’s last column, in which she denounces Cressida. He spectacularly publishes and circulates it during Colin and Penelope’s engagement party. Colin is furious and takes Penelope to his room, but again, passion gets the better of him. Though they’re still unmarried, Colin and Penelope can no longer resist each other and they consummate their relationship, while Colin is secretly jealous of her Whistledown accomplishments.

He makes their impropriety known to Portia and Violet so that the wedding can be sped up, which it is, and Colin and Penelope are wed. But it’s not entirely happy, as he’s still not confided in her about what’s really upsetting him - while maintaining that he thinks it will ruin her if the Whistledown secret gets out. He does finally decide to share his journals, though, showing her a passage about his travels in Scotland, and she again tells him he ought to try and publish them. He tells her he values her opinions about writing more than anybody, and finally explains that he’s not ashamed of her, he’s jealous.

Just when marital bliss seems within reach, however, Cressida Twombley reappears. Because, in Whistledown’s final paper, Penelope also wrote that it would “break [her] heart” to see Cressida take credit for her work, Cressida has put two and two together. She knows Penelope’s identity, and the entire Ton knows Cressida is in dire financial straits. She demands ten thousand pounds from Penelope to keep her secret, which Penelope - despite amassing a small fortune - doesn’t have. Cressida gives her a week, and when Colin arrives home, Penelope explains the situation. She wants to persuade Lady Danbury to publicly take credit, but Colin has his own idea.

He doesn’t tell Penelope what he’s planning but brings her to a ball being held by the Duke and Duchess of Hastings that evening under the close guard of Violet, Eloise, and Hyacinth. There, he reveals all to Penelope: that he’s going to announce that she’s Lady Whistledown and enlist the most influential members of society to support her and save her reputation. She’s initially against this but discovers that she has the support of both Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton and Simon, the Duke of Hastings, who publicly applaud when Colin makes his speech. Lady Danbury is, of course, also thrilled by this news.

Finally, we arrive at the epilogue: Colin’s first book, “An Englishman in Italy”, has been published, after Penelope helped him to edit it. Penelope, meanwhile, wants to write under her own name, and is working on a novel called “The Wallflower”. They live happily ever after - until the next novel in the series, of course.

Already, it’s clear that there are going to be major differences between the third season of the hit show and the book. From the promos, we know that a large plot point this season is going to be around Colin teaching Penelope how to be charming so that she may seduce the men of London and finally claim a husband - something that doesn’t happen at all in the book. We’re sure to also see more drama from the Featherington family, whose financial troubles don’t exist in the books - just like Felicity! And, in the final episode of season 2, we saw that Colin wasn’t speaking to Anthony and Benedict when he proclaimed he would never marry Penelope, he was joking with his friends in high society, which is even more ungentlemanly.

There’s also the issue of Lady Whistledown, who has committed far greater crimes in the show - embroiling Colin in the scandal about Marina Thompson and her pregnancy, for instance, as well as betraying Eloise and her friendship with Theo Sharpe. When, in the books, Whistledown does little more than report idle gossip, and plenty of people appreciate her for this, it’s much easier to understand how Colin forgives her. But Penelope has done much worse in the show so far, and her identity has also just been uncovered by Eloise. We’re sure that Eloise will now become an obstacle stopping Colin and Penelope from being together, and who can blame her when Penelope brought scandal down on the Bridgertons?

We can’t wait to see how it plays out, and we’re betting that splitting the season into two parts is because Colin will discover the truth in the mid-season finale, leaving us to wait another month to see how Penelope begins to redeem herself - and to see whether she’ll retire Lady Whistledown for good. And that was our MsMojoNotes deep-dive into “Romancing Mr. Bridgerton”.