Series: The Gilded Age Girls Club, #3
Tropes: second chance; enemies to lovers
Genre/Setting: Historical; Gilded Age; NYC, USA
Publication Date: 03.31.20
Heat Level: 3/5
Rating: 3.5 stars. I didn't enjoy this as much as it's predecessor, which I loved.
Beatrice Goodwin did what was expected of a high society debutante: when asked, she married an English duke, forsaking her own young love. Now a scandalous divorcee, she's returned to Manhattan to find that her brother has nearly run their family business into the ground. Beatrice is determined to save Goodwin's Department Store and remake it as a haven for women. She's just as determined never to sell it to Wes Dalton, her former love and now her biggest rival.
Wes Dalton pulled himself up from the city's slums to possess one of the largest fortunes of the age, but he never forgot Beatrice, the girl who got away, whose parents deemed him to not be wealthy or consequential enough for their daughter. He's spent his life seeking his revenge and quietly destroying the Goodwins, but when Beatrice sweeps back into the city like a storm cloud, Wes is left in turmoil and more confused than ever.
Dalton's and Goodwin's become embroiled in a rivalry for most successful department store in the city and Wes relishes the challenge. The old heat that still flares between them won't stop their competition, even if they are lovers after hours, and when feelings grow stronger, they must both decide where their priorities lie.
I enjoyed this book in the long run, but I had several issues and mixed feelings about it. I'm all for girl power and women supporting women, but it got just a bit heavy-handed here and I think the shear emphasis on Beatrice's independence at the expense of everyone else's feelings took away from the romance and made her seem rather selfish, which she unabashedly admitted to being. I understood her motivations to prove herself, but I felt like she was just using Wes and stringing him along without regard for his feelings or his pain and I couldn't get behind that and really didn't care much for Beatrice. It also bothered me that she kept invoking her title as duchess, despite being divorced and despite the fact that she kept talking about how she was distancing herself from the duke. Wes was no peach either and made many mistakes, but I did like his vulnerability. I just wish we'd seen Beatrice show some of that same vulnerability when she was with Wes; I think that would've been more satisfying for me. Ultimately, I felt like Wes was emasculated a bit so that he and Beatrice could be together without her making any sort of compromise and I think that made the romance here feel forced and stilted. I just didn't really feel the love between them and I also think the mystery aspect here deserved more than it got in the end considering the build up.
Overall I would've liked to see more of Wes and Beatrice growing together, since the majority of the book was spent with them firmly at each other's throats. Her relationship with Wes definitely took a backseat to the rivalry and business aspects of the story, but it is very well done on a challenging topic to tackle. Despite my issues with it, this book was well-written and it's always nice to see some girl power in a historical. I'm looking forward to more installments in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2816213402
Wes Dalton pulled himself up from the city's slums to possess one of the largest fortunes of the age, but he never forgot Beatrice, the girl who got away, whose parents deemed him to not be wealthy or consequential enough for their daughter. He's spent his life seeking his revenge and quietly destroying the Goodwins, but when Beatrice sweeps back into the city like a storm cloud, Wes is left in turmoil and more confused than ever.
Dalton's and Goodwin's become embroiled in a rivalry for most successful department store in the city and Wes relishes the challenge. The old heat that still flares between them won't stop their competition, even if they are lovers after hours, and when feelings grow stronger, they must both decide where their priorities lie.
I enjoyed this book in the long run, but I had several issues and mixed feelings about it. I'm all for girl power and women supporting women, but it got just a bit heavy-handed here and I think the shear emphasis on Beatrice's independence at the expense of everyone else's feelings took away from the romance and made her seem rather selfish, which she unabashedly admitted to being. I understood her motivations to prove herself, but I felt like she was just using Wes and stringing him along without regard for his feelings or his pain and I couldn't get behind that and really didn't care much for Beatrice. It also bothered me that she kept invoking her title as duchess, despite being divorced and despite the fact that she kept talking about how she was distancing herself from the duke. Wes was no peach either and made many mistakes, but I did like his vulnerability. I just wish we'd seen Beatrice show some of that same vulnerability when she was with Wes; I think that would've been more satisfying for me. Ultimately, I felt like Wes was emasculated a bit so that he and Beatrice could be together without her making any sort of compromise and I think that made the romance here feel forced and stilted. I just didn't really feel the love between them and I also think the mystery aspect here deserved more than it got in the end considering the build up.
Overall I would've liked to see more of Wes and Beatrice growing together, since the majority of the book was spent with them firmly at each other's throats. Her relationship with Wes definitely took a backseat to the rivalry and business aspects of the story, but it is very well done on a challenging topic to tackle. Despite my issues with it, this book was well-written and it's always nice to see some girl power in a historical. I'm looking forward to more installments in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2816213402
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9SpvZlgqrY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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