Reviews

The Heiress Hunt by Joanna Shupe

abinthebooks's review

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3.0

➸ 3 stars

Tropes:
↬ Spice:

kurlybean's review

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I wasn't feeling the characters. I feel like they were not being well developed.

ajune22's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

preciousbean513's review

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emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The characters in this book were beyond frustrating. I had so much anxiety towards the end because of course a breakup would happen at 92%!!! That should be a crime. Im just so mad because both characters were being so annoying. Like Harrison in the beginning was funny but then he was kinda only thinking of himself and how he can win her. Even if that means she will be talked badly in society. He was like chill its all good and shes like yeah for you cause you are a man. Then the keeping secrets thing was something else that made me annoyed. You know its going to come back and bite you in the butt so why do it. I liked the author’s previous series. Both characters just frustrated me.

romanceandraindrops's review against another edition

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emotional
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Audiobook Read (Libby)
Narrator: Justine Eyre
2.5🌟
I needed a pallet cleanser from contemporary romance so I decided to pick this book up. I do enjoy this author's writing style, but this story and characters did not work for me. Partly I Judy have a hard time adjusting to a historical romance that's set in that specific time period. 
But the narrator was fantastic!

aeblack's review against another edition

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

2.0

amym84's review

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4.0

4.5

Harrison Archer is back in New York after a fight with his father resulted in him being disowned and leaving for Paris also on the heels of a broken heart. So it is with no love lost that Harrison has returned, instead it's to enact a certain revenge upon the family that cut him off so completely. But first, he has to lay the groundwork which includes convincing his family he's actually back to help save their failing company. To do so, Harrison intimates that he's looking for an heiress to wed and enlists his best childhood friend Maddie Webster to help him find the perfect wife.

There was a time when Maddie and Harrison were inseparable. But all that stopped three years ago when Harrison left for Paris without a word. After the sting of that faded, Maddie was able to focus more on her tennis game as well as become friendly with a Duke. With her first time playing in an upcoming tournament on the horizon, Maddie has no time for distractions. But when Harrison suddenly returns asking Maddie to host a weekend party with the most eligible heiresses, she agrees. But as she spends time with her friend again, she realizes that Harrison Archer is not the same boy who left for Paris.

Harrison's intention was never to win the hand of some random heiress, but actually win Maddie's hand. He's been in love with her for as long as he can remember and is loath to see her betrothed to a duke. But will all his scheming and secrets doom their happiness before it can even begin?

It's been awhile since I've read a really good friends-to-lovers romance. It didn't take long for me to get pulled into Maddie and Harrison's story. I loved the the inherent chemistry between the pair. But the fact that Harrison has been gone for so long has driven an unspoken wedge between them, so it's like they're learning anew about the other person.

Right off the bat, I was so intrigued by Maddie being a professional tennis player. I've never read a historical book featuring female sports. I honestly would have loved if the story focused more on this aspect of Maddie's character. How her parents are supportive and maybe spoken about how it was not a commonality of the times. I think it would have been beneficial because we see pretty early on that Maddie is very focused with the idea of marrying this Duke that she's acquainted with. Like she's bound and determined to do her duty as a woman and get married. The thing is, I just didn't understand where the pressure was coming from for Maddie to marry. Her father was fully supportive of her tennis pursuits and her mother - while encouraging Maddie to marry - didn't ever come across as a make-it-or-break-it kind of deal between them. Maybe if there was more development of Maddie's life behind the scenes of her tennis playing there could have been a root cause for why she was determined the marry at this point in her life.

As it stands it's kind of used as something to initially come between Harrison and Maddie, which I admit did indeed add some intrigue to their story, but I was surprised, I guess, at how far (or not) Joanna Shupe decided to take this conflict. Around the halfway mark of the book there's a turning point for Harrison and Maddie that kind of flips the trajectory of the story and subsequently Maddie and Harrison's relationship. At this point, I ended up missing the more playful scenes from the weekend party, but maybe that's indicative of having to eventually grow up and face certain responsibilities.

Harrison is a man who has been knocked down in life and basically had to build himself back up on his own with no help. Besides his love for Maddie, and his unbreakable friendships, he's almost consumed with the idea of having to mete out his revenge. To make his family feel the way he felt - alone, adrift, lost - not only for the past three years, but basically for his entire life. He may have been cut off financially three years ago, but his home life situation had always been grim with the one bright spot being Maddie. It's kind of a lot of pressure to put on one person and one idea of that person, but it's something he'll protect at all costs. Maybe a little too much....

I very much enjoyed The Heiress Hunt. I love the Golden Age time period that Joanna Shupe has written about in her last couple of series. I think that readers were introduced to some very interesting secondary characters in Maddie and Harrison's friends whom I'm hoping will each get their own books in the future. Overall, I just loved seeing Maddie and Harrison interact, I loved seeing their connection and how their strong friendship had room to grow into something more.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

alf_reads's review against another edition

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emotional informative lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

sincerelymendacious's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

jrabz's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25