A SCANDALOUS DEAL
From the The Four Hundred series, volume 2
by Joanna Shupe
When a lady architect tries to construct the hotel of her dreams, she builds herself a love story as well.
Lady Eva Hyde is beginning to believe the gossips who have named her Lady Unlucky. But it’s not because she’s had three fiances and all three have died; it’s because she hates boats, but sailing to New York City is the only way to save her architect father’s reputation and finances now that his mind is going and he's no longer capable of designing anything. Onboard, her unluckiness lifts briefly when she meets a handsome stranger and they share a nice dinner—and her first intimate encounter. She’s mortified by her behavior the next day, especially after discovering that the handsome stranger is Phillip Mansfield, hotel magnate and, as her father’s client, the man she needs to win over. Mansfield, ambitious and at odds with the city establishment, is not pleased to learn that after hiring the famous E.M. Hyde, he’s been sent the man's daughter instead. Trying to keep the project on track, and also to keep Eva nearby, he allows her to fill in; though she tries her best to keep their relationship professional, their chemistry keeps pulling them together in quiet corners. When so-called accidents start to happen whenever she’s on-site, Eva is concerned only with making the most of her chance to be an architect, and she and Phillip both need to decide whether their careers should be more important than their attraction. Shupe (A Daring Arrangement, 2017, etc.) has done it again—the second book in her Four Hundred Series is engaging and steamy from the second chapter, featuring an ambitious heroine every contemporary reader can cheer for. Her detailed writing evokes the extravagant buildings and precarious politics of Tammany Hall with precision, offering the perfect setting for the melodrama of the sweeping plot. It’s not necessary to read the series in order, but with stories this fun, readers won’t skip any of Shupe’s books.
More charmingly scandalous Gilded Age romance that will thrill any historical romance reader.