Review: The Heiress Hunt (The Fifth Avenue Rebels #1) by Joanna Shupe
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Series: The Fifth Avenue Rebels #1
Author: Joanna Shupe
Published March 9th 2021 by Avon
Goodreads Synopsis
High society reprobate.
An unconventional heiress.
Childhood friends.
Is it too late...
Knickerbocker scoundrel Harrison Archer returns to New York to discover that his deceased father has bankrupted his estranged family. To save them from ruin, he’s forced to quickly find and marry an heiress. For a matchmaker, Harrison turns to the one woman he wishes he could marry: his childhood friend and true love, Maddie, who once broke his heart and is now engaged to a duke.
For true love?
When her best friend Harrison left for Paris without a word, Maddie Webster took refuge in her infatuation with tennis. Now Harrison is back and needs her help in finding a bride. Begrudgingly, Maddie arranges a house party in Newport with a guest list of eligible heiresses. But watching Harrison flirt with potential brides is more than she can bear.
When Harrison and Maddie reunite, the passion between them ignites. But with their marriages to others looming, time is running out. Is their fate inescapable . . .or can love set them free?
Goodreads
Review
Harrison Archer may be from one of the great families of New York society, but when he was exiled from the family, he vowed he wanted nothing to do with them, and would actively ruin them when he gets the chance. The only thing that can bring him back home now is hearing of his father's death, and that his family is bankrupt and need his help - prime time to ruin them. He has missed his friends, particularly best friend Maddie who he always wanted to marry, but has been off the market for some time. Learning that Maddie, though engaged to a duke, is not yet married, adds another item to his to-do list. 1. Ruin his family. 2 Marry Maddie. Will he be able to manage it, or will Maddie get too suspicious, especially when he left without a word.
This was my first book by Shupe, and also my first looking at the Gilded Age in America. Most of the historical books I read are Georgian/Regency Era, based in Britain, and I've only really experienced American heiresses and society in The Gilded Age Heiresses series. I really enjoyed this book, and found that once I had started it, I could barely put it down. Both of the main characters had phenomenal backstories, and the trope of childhood friends to lovers was executed perfectly here. When Harrison saw his father abuse one of the maids, he was sent away, and cut off from the rest of the family. Finding work, and later fortune in Europe, he is hellbent on ruining his family, and when they turn to him, unaware of his riches, and beg him to marry an heiress to save the family, he agrees, but only if Maddie will help him 'find' a wife. I loved the house party that was hosted in the Hamptons, and especially how Maddie and Harrison overcame the past, and dealt with their feelings. The duke might have been a great catch for Maddie, but the right person was Harrison, and their love story, though not perfect, was real, and kept me hooked until the final page! It may have been my first book by this author, but definitely won't be my last.
Dates Read:
August 24-25, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
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