Genre: historical romance New York and London, 1877
Cora Dove is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy New Yorker; he’s supported but never acknowledgGenre: historical romance New York and London, 1877
Cora Dove is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy New Yorker; he’s supported but never acknowledged them. When Cora’s grandmother dies, she leaves an inheritance, but Cora is required to make a suitable marriage before she’s eligible. Cora reaches out to Camille, Duchess of Hereford, for assistance. Camille agrees to sponsor an introduction to society, arranging meetings with suitable peers who may be in need of Cora’s dowry. Cora is willing to go through with a marriage of convenience for the sake of the money, and when she meets Leopold Brendan, Earl of Devonworth, she’s convinced her plan may actually work. Marriage to a stranger isn’t easy though, and they both find that they want to be anything but strangers.
I love a marriage of convenience, and I love the Gilded Age heiresses that Harper St George brings into historical romances. The failing aristocracy is a favorite aspect for me in later Victorian Era novels, and the way Devonworth’s father is depicted, it’s easy to see how the aristocracy landed where it did. Devonworth himself is an MP dedicated to improving lives. Prior to marriage, Cora spent time writing for a progressive women’s publication under a pen name, and she quickly forms a bond with Devonworth over his political views and helps him polish his speech for a sanitation bill.
A marriage of convenience is a perfect way to force close proximity for a demi hero like Devonworth to develop attraction. Cora has grown up not trusting the people around her, and yet her growing respect and affection for Devonworth may help earn that trust. This features everything I love about a marriage of convenience, with sharp chemistry that made me ache to turn the pages. Cora and Devonworth are total strangers to one another, so this also includes navigating how they can communicate with one another (avoiding an actual miscommunication trope). Plus, there is a very sexy spying-on-a-solo-moment scene.
The Stranger I Wed is technically the first book in a new series, but there are characters from the Gilded Age Heiresses series who feature prominently. You could easily start here, but I’d also recommend reading Camille’s book (The Duchess Takes a Husband, my favorite of the prior series).
Thank you to @berkleypub and NetGalley for an eARC for review. The Stranger I Wed is out 4/23/24. ...more
Genre: historical romance, Gilded Age New York, 1895
On a moonlight swim at the house party first featured in book one, Nellie Young encounters a strangGenre: historical romance, Gilded Age New York, 1895
On a moonlight swim at the house party first featured in book one, Nellie Young encounters a stranger in the dark. A brief encounter - a rough and passionate kiss - leaves both Nellie and the stranger shaken even more when they discover the next day he is the Duke of Lockwood who is about to propose to her best friend Maddie. (Read book one for how that shakes out). Angry that Lockwood is the sort of man who would betray a woman he is courting, Nellie sends jabs his way and steers each of her friends, Maddie, Alice, and Katherine, away from Lockwood. But Andrew Talbot, Duke of Lockwood cannot keep his mind from Nellie, despite the fact that he must marry an heiress of incomparable standing and Nellie attracts scandal wherever she goes.
I had already fallen for Lockwood and Nellie separately in books one through three, so watching them fall for one another was magnetic. Because I didn’t pick up book one in this series until I had the ARC of book four in hand, I’ve known through every book that poor Lockwood was going to be thrice jilted and that Nellie was the one for him. Externally starchy and polite, as is proper for an English duke in search of an heiress, my heart always squeezed a little for him in each of the other books. With Duke Gets Even, we see inside his head, and he is anything but starchy. He craves that which can make him feel alive, and obviously that is Nellie. Nellie is half-Irish, and her late mother’s family runs the Saints, an Irish gang out of Hell’s Kitchen, and her brazen attitude is linked in part to society’s refusal to accept her mother.
But honestly I was truly in this one for the politics. Challenges to late 19th century reproductive rights aren't all that different from challenges now, and Shupe gives us a well-written history lesson we all need. Nellie’s fiery personality is implicitly linked to her firm belief in her right to choose what happens with her body (and her right to choose with whom and when), and standing up to the Comstock Laws is something she doesn’t give a second thought to.
Bonus, this has what is now one of my favorite grand gestures. I can’t say more to keep this review spoiler free, but it fits so perfectly. Once you read it, please come gush in my DMs with me!
Thank you to @avonbooks and #netgalley for an eARC for review. This book is out 1/24/23, and I highly recommend the whole series (probably in order) in advance. ...more
Book one, The Heiress Hunt, did an excellent job setting the stage, introducing us to all of the characters we’llGenre: historical romance, Gilded Age
Book one, The Heiress Hunt, did an excellent job setting the stage, introducing us to all of the characters we’ll meet in subsequent books. Now, with the second book, Shupe is able to focus more fully on our main couple, in this case Alice and Kit. It’s a standard wallflower heiress style plot, complete with lessons!, but I’m learning that simplistic main plotlines can lead to some of the best books, as they give an author room to develop character and create intricate side plots to enhance a story.
Alice Lusk has been told all her life that her only worth is her sizeable dowry. Her mother has reminded her again and again that a man will only marry her for her money, and that she should present a quiet and cooperative front in order to attract the best available catch. But Alice has dreams: she’s always felt comfortable around the kitchen staff, forging a friendship with one of the best chefs in the world. Bartering his recipes in exchange for lessons from Kit, Alice truly takes her destiny into her own hands.
Shupe’s Gilded Age worldbuilding is a treat to read, taking a step away from stuffy 19th century England to the stuffy-on-the-surface Fifth Avenue money, but with characters with wild passions and deep friendships. The bonus here is that our main character Alice is from Boston, and that the book has mouthwatering dinner descriptions with Kit’s supper club.
The covers for books two, three, and four in this series are pretty incredible, and I’d like to petition Avon for a book one cover that matches, thank you. I’ll take yellow sheets instead of Maddie’s yellow dress....more
Harrison Archer - cut off from his family several years ago and left out of his father’s will - has been instrucGenre: Historical romance, Gilded Age
Harrison Archer - cut off from his family several years ago and left out of his father’s will - has been instructed to find a bride to help save the family’s failing business. Harrison agrees, but only because he knows it’ll give a double punch to his mother and brother when he buys the business out from under his brother. But it also gives Harrison an excuse to reconnect with Maddie Webster, his childhood best friend and crush. A tennis phenom allowed to delay marriage to continue to play for another year, Maddie is now entertaining suit from the Duke of Lockwood. Maddie agrees to help Harrison find a bride from amongst her friends by arranging a house party in Newport. Only, Harrison’s plan revolves around winning Maddie back for himself.
This first book in a new series by Joanna Shupe does a lot of heavy lifting for set-up. We meet all of the main characters we’ll see in the subsequent books (I know because I checked), and setting the stage for the particular intricacies of this Gilded Age Society. Maddie is a firecracker of a heroine - she’s strong and utterly focused on her tennis and only courting Lockwood because he’s the top catch of the Season. Harrison is a little on the devious side, looking to drive a wedge into Maddie’s relationship and to show her what she’s missing. I don’t always like a devious hero, and yet Harrison and Maddie worked so well for me, and I truly believed this pair could go from friends to lovers.
For many readers, this is a stepping stone to get to the next in the series, and I can see that as you’re meeting so many characters, yet I did really love it for itself as well. ...more
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