In The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, author Chanel Cleeton shines light on a period in Cuban history many Americans know little to nothing about. Through the eyes of three very different heroines, Cleeton allows us a glimpse into a war-torn Cuba and a New York City poised to take the world by storm. It’s…
The Social Graces is a mischievous and delightful little social comedy that brings its characters to life. Though I’ve read deeper histories of the Vanderbilt and Astor mini-feud, this one definitely entertained me the most, a true generational saga that’s warm, sweet, funny and tender. Mrs. Caroline Astor – THE Mrs. Astor, queen of the…
Second chance romances, while one of my favorite tropes, often require a deft hand. The reason the relationship didn’t work out in the first place has to be handled with care so that audiences are still rooting for the couple. I don’t love stories where someone cheated, for instance, but stories where life happened and…
In The Gangster, the second book in C.S. Poe’s entertaining and exciting Magic & Steam series, we join Special Agent Gillian Hamilton for another exhilarating adventure, this time on his home turf of New York City. As in the first book – The Engineer – the story is fast-paced and clever, featuring well-drawn, interesting characters…
Prince of Spies is a tale of star-crossed lovers with a charming hero and heroine who are a delight to read about. However, it combines that appealing romance with some troublesome plot points which made grading the tale a conundrum for this reviewer. This is book three of the Hope & Glory trilogy. The backstory…
The Heiress Gets a Duke is a wonderful, character-driven novel about the gray area between family responsibility and duty to self. It’s the first book I’ve read by Harper St. George (more known for Viking and Western romance) but it certainly will not be the last. New Yorkers August Crenshaw and her sister Violet are…
It’s 1896, and in San Francisco, successful, hard-working attorney Margaret Huntington Smith has been urged by her father, a judge, to take a well-deserved vacation. Knowing she won’t go unless given a push (in the best way) he’s brought her a first class ticket for a cruise to “French Oceania – Tahiti, the Cook Islands…
The Devil of Downtown is hot little slice of Gilded Age New York City. Watching the last Greene sister fall in lust, admiration and love while fighting the cruelties of the world provided me with yet another wonderful treat. Justine Greene (sister Florence and Mamie, heroines of books one and two), works for the Lower…
A Gilded Lady is the absolutely fantastic second book in the Hope and Glory series set in the dazzling world of Washington D.C.’s Gilded Age. Fans of the first story – The Spice King – will recognize the heroine as a secondary character in that volume but you don’t need to have read that novel…
Life is pretty scary right now, and diversions can feel few and far between, but don’t despair! Maya Rodale’s An Heiress to Remember, the third installment in her Gilded Age Girls’ Club series, made me smile pretty much from start to finish. On the surface, it’s a light-hearted love story, but if you dig a…
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