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mollywetta's review
I liked the Gilded Age setting and yay for Emma Goldman scenes in historical romance.
tessisreading2's review
I absolutely loved the first half or so of this book, with well-done research and fun characters; and then it basically crashed off a cliff, plot-wise, with the MMC's bizarre vendetta against dressmakers, whom he holds responsible for his estate's financial woes (because his mother's a compulsive clothes shopper). Uh. It felt like that Charlotte Yonge novel where it turns out the financial woes of a family whose head/husband/father was a compulsive gambler were actually caused by an embezzling cook. I just couldn't get back into it.
caitlinmchugh24's review
4.0
This was my second Maya Rodale and by far my favorite. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series if they are as great as this one. This book combines so many of my favorite things in fiction, which include ambitious and determined heroines, sewing/dressmaking, and a time period I am not very familiar with. In this case, that setting is Gilded Age New York. The characters are well-drawn and the romance is very wonderful as the two characters change each other and make genuine sacrifices for love. The historical details for a historical romance are top-notch and the stakes are believable and accurate in my mind. Of course, the dresses with pockets and the meaning behind fashion and dresses are just the icing on the cake of this wonderful book.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
Have I ever read a romance set in the Gilded age? I honestly can't tell. I think not. I have read historical fiction set then, but no romance. Oh and where is that tv series they talked about that would be set at this time? I need it.
Adeline is a seamstress with big dreams of her own shops, and she has this crazy idea in her designs. Pockets! Yes I told you that she is insane. Pockets, like why would women need pockets? (oh this makes me so sad, we still do not get pockets. I need pockets.) Her boss is not a big fan of her crazy idea of pockets. Poor Adeline.
The Duke of Kingston is looking for a Dollar Princess to save his dukedom. And I get it. He has responsibilities. His tenants, his family, his legacy. He needs money. He does not want to sell land and makes his people work in mines. I could not dislike him for it, because the dollar princesses thought the same. They wanted a title.
These two meet and sparks fly. But he needs a rich wife, and she needs her freedom. But he really likes her, and she is always the one fleeing away.
I think this would have been great as a historical fiction novel instead. She brought up so many interesting things. The Dollar Princesses, the 400 and their lives, the suffragettes, a woman's place in the world. I do think I would have liked it even more then. It would have been richer.
I did not know how this would end. I know there must be a HEA, but at times I just did not know how it would happen. He needs money. She has none. But do not fear, there will be a HEA.
New York, Balls, and dresses with pockets. It is a new world. Interesting.
Narrator. Charlotte North
She had a good range
Adeline is a seamstress with big dreams of her own shops, and she has this crazy idea in her designs. Pockets! Yes I told you that she is insane. Pockets, like why would women need pockets? (oh this makes me so sad, we still do not get pockets. I need pockets.) Her boss is not a big fan of her crazy idea of pockets. Poor Adeline.
The Duke of Kingston is looking for a Dollar Princess to save his dukedom. And I get it. He has responsibilities. His tenants, his family, his legacy. He needs money. He does not want to sell land and makes his people work in mines. I could not dislike him for it, because the dollar princesses thought the same. They wanted a title.
These two meet and sparks fly. But he needs a rich wife, and she needs her freedom. But he really likes her, and she is always the one fleeing away.
I think this would have been great as a historical fiction novel instead. She brought up so many interesting things. The Dollar Princesses, the 400 and their lives, the suffragettes, a woman's place in the world. I do think I would have liked it even more then. It would have been richer.
I did not know how this would end. I know there must be a HEA, but at times I just did not know how it would happen. He needs money. She has none. But do not fear, there will be a HEA.
New York, Balls, and dresses with pockets. It is a new world. Interesting.
Narrator. Charlotte North
She had a good range
balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
So I have agonized over my thoughts on Maya’s new book. Because it isn’t BAD, this was a fun read. I loved all the amazing historical details and lady-positive plot points (and consent-positive sexytimes). But I just didn’t believe that, beyond the Instalust, Kingston and Adeline deserved their HEA. They didn’t spend very much time together aside from a walk in the park and a meeting or two and a few nights out on the town. We don’t really get to know them as a couple. So while this is a really great start to a series I know Maya can do better.
themaritimereader14's review
4.0
This book kept me wondering a smidge more than most Historical Romances which are categorically predictable but I love them for it. In this book, I could NOT figure out how these two fun characters with great chemistry were ever going to end up together. The way it all worked out was quite sweet and not what I expected. It was fun to read a HR set in NYC instead of England, too! Looking forward to continuing this series especially because a friend of mine LOVED the second one ;)
saltycaroline's review against another edition
3.0
Meh it's fine but I've read better Gilded Age historicals
CW: Sexual content, sexual assault, death of parent, pregnancy
CW: Sexual content, sexual assault, death of parent, pregnancy
readingwithhippos's review
4.0
I don’t know that I’ve ever read a historical that so explicitly calls out toxic masculinity. The Duke of Kingston has come to America to find a wealthy heiress to wed. When he meets Adeline at a fancy hotel, he assumes she’s a guest (and therefore rich) and is head over heels for her, thinking he can solve his money problems and marry for love in one fell swoop. In reality, Adeline is a seamstress, and she does not have the time or inclination to soothe Kingston’s ego when he discovers she doesn’t stand to inherit a fortune. She’s too busy working for a living, trying to keep a roof over her head and pursue her dream of someday owning her own dress shop. Kingston pursues her even as he knows he can’t marry her, and while Adeline is attracted to him too, she’s understandably guarded because she has so much more to lose, a fact that Kingston struggles to get through his thick head. Every time his privilege starts showing, though, Adeline deftly eviscerates him. It’s glorious. And the best part? He listens to her, and learns, and does better. If I could have jumped into the pages of the book, I would have gone around high-fiving everyone. You’d think based on the premise that this would be a story of a well-connected man saving a working class woman from poverty and making all her dreams come true, but this is SO not that and it surprised and delighted me at every turn.