Review - The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe

Joanna Shupe finishes her amazing Uptown Girls series with The Devil of Downtown. Set in Gilded Age New York, the book focuses on uptown do-gooder Justine Greene, who spends all of her time helping the less fortunate. Her current cause is tracking down wife-deserters, and her search leads her to the lair of Jack Mulligan, the downtown crime boss who has united nearly all of New York's gangs into a criminal empire. What Justine isn't expecting, however, is that Jack is cultured, handsome, and surprisingly honorable. Jack agrees to help Justine with her investigations, and in turn is captivated by her. However, can they bridge the rift between their two worlds?

This book was astounding! Joanna Shupe writes the most amazing characters, and no matter how unlikely their circumstances seem, she always pulls it off. Justine is capable and strong without being brash. She is unapologetic about who she is and what she wants, which is so refreshing to read. Jack is completely considerate of Justine at every turn - consent in this book is explicit all the way through, and it is sooo sexy.

I really enjoyed this book, as well as this whole series, and can't wait to read what Shupe has in store next!

Review - An Heiress to Remember by Maya Rodale

An Heiress to Remember by Maya Rodale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent book! Maya Rodale finishes her Gilded Age Girls Club series wonderfully with An Heiress to Remember. A book about second chances, Rodale succeeds in creating a romance that is everything you'd want to read - passionate, fun, emotionally-charged and satisfying.

Sixteen years ago department store heiress Beatrice Goodwin left behind her youthful love, Wes Dalton, an employee of her father's in order to marry a duke and move to England, breaking both her and Wes's heart in the process. Now, she's back, recently divorced, and determined to save the failing department store that she loved. Dalton, however, had built a rival department store and has been working tirelessly for sixteen years to enact revenge on the woman who broke his heart.

In this series Rodale has done an excellent job of giving human voices to the challenges that women faced at the turn of the century, but also still today. In this book, for instance, the heroine struggles with the desire to succeed in her professional endeavors, but also in her personal ones, and how to balance the two. This is an issue that I think every person faces, and Rodale explores that so well in this book.

I would definitely recommend this book!

View all my reviews

Review - Some Like It Scandalous by Maya Rodale

Some Like It Scandalous by Maya Rodale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Some Like It Scandalous, Maya Rodale impresses again by depicting in detail the challenges that women of the Gilded Age faced. The heroine of this novel, Daisy Swan, has aspirations of launching a line of skin care products for women, a scandalous proposition. Her plans are hampered, however, by her mother's machinations in affiancing her to her childhood bully, Theodore Prescott the Third. Theo, a society darling, is likewise not interested in being married to her, and they agree to pretend to be engaged to appease their parents.

Rodale does a wonderful job at creating engaging, believable characters. Their romance and courtship progresses organically, and the frankness and honesty between Daisy and Theo is a breath of fresh air when compared to so many novels featuring problems that could be solved with a single honest conversation.

Some sentiments felt like they were repeated often, which did grow a bit tiresome (not lines that were repeated purposely, more ideas that the characters would have, revise, then restate again). Other than that it was a very enjoyable read. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series!

View all my reviews