Reviews

The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe

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webbsusa's review against another edition

5.0

This book was a wonderful end to a delightful series. Justine and Jack were both well-rounded characters, with flaws as well as heroic elements. Their romance was hot—Joanna Shupe knows how to write a romance that builds, with great sex scenes as the payoff (no instalust). I will miss this series.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

ehmannky's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

By far the best of this series. Justine is a great heroine, especially compared to her sisters, who are either naive (Maimie) or just come across as incredibly spoiled (Florence). Jack was such a fun lead, even though it felt like he goes from thinking Justine's plain to the sexiest woman alive in like 3 paragraphs. I appreciated that Justine actually seemed to comprehend that his life had actually been harder than hers and that there was a reason he was in a life of crime, even if she didn't agree with all his actions, which is something that had been missing in both of the books that came before this. The third-act breakup and its resolution in this book honestly came across so much more smoothly than in the previous two books. I even liked that Jack

gives up his criminal empire to be with Justine, as it comes across as less him capitulating to her whims (this is another dig against Florence, I truly did not like her) and more like he is moving into a more profitable business (beer) where there's a significant lower risk of Justine or him getting kidnapped or shot. This is despite the fact that I kind of wanted her to just join his criminal empire and do good since the law, cops, and other powers that be are actively working against her doing good in the lives of poor people, and Jack and his criminal empire objectively made life better for everyone

abbz_m's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.0

Don’t love the ending, why she wanna be a cop so bad?? Be a lawyer girly!! Defend those who deserve defense, don’t be a pig. But other than that, I had a good time.

reeyabeegale's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars!!!

Definitely my favorite out of the three, I loved Justine. All of the Greene sisters were feisty and assertive, so that’s not why I enjoyed Justine — the reason was because there was a struggle in her character. There was this particular scene that I have not (as far as I remember) seen in other historical romance books, where the character had an internal struggle, it was so honest and raw and it was just beautiful.

This book felt more realistic than the others, simply because I saw how both characters grew throughout the book. It was balanced of sexual tensions, identity crisis and strength, which was shown through control (from almost all characters in this book).

Nonetheless, I definitely would miss the Greene sisters. Hoping to read more of Shupe’s books soon!