Click to purchase
Uptown Girls, Book 1
From the publisher:
Silver-tongued lawyer.
Keeper of secrets.
Breaker of hearts.
He can solve any problem . . .
In serving the wealthy power brokers of New York society, Frank Tripp has finally gained the respectability and security his own upbringing lacked. There’s no issue he cannot fix . . . except for one: the beautiful and reckless daughter of an important client who doesn’t seem to understand the word danger.
She’s not looking for a hero . . .
Excitement lies just below Forty-Second Street and Mamie Greene is determined to explore all of it—while playing a modern-day Robin Hood along the way. What she doesn’t need is her father’s lawyer dogging her every step and threatening her efforts to help struggling families in the tenements.
However, she doesn’t count on Frank’s persistence . . . or the sparks that fly between them. When fate upends all her plans, Mamie must decide if she’s willing to risk it all on a rogue . . .
Shupe kicks off a new series in historical New York City, which is very reminiscent of London in the same time period. The wealthy live in a small enclave and the rest of the city is in dire need around them, yet completely invisible to the elites. Except for Greene girls. They are very much aware of the poverty and turmoil below 42nd Street and strive to help the families that the church turns away. They make money by gambling in places women are not allowed and that brings Frank Tripp into the picture.
Tripp is the family attorney and he is trying to help his client, the girls’s father, by protecting the daughters. But there is no stopping Mamie Greene, and Tripp greatly admires her – both her feistiness and her looks. These two are constantly verbally sparring, which adds friction to the chemistry between them. When one of Mamie’s families gets into trouble, she looks to Tripp to help them.
Tripp is hiding some secrets of his own but he agrees to help Mamie, he simply can’t say no to her. And anything that will get them to spend more time together works for both of them. So he agrees to defend a woman accused of murdering her husband. She did it, but it was self defense, but the cops don’t care about that. The victim was related to a police detective. The NYC police department is rife with corruption that goes all the way to the top. I laughed when Teddy Roosevelt comes riding in towards the end. This intrigued me so much that I looked into Teddy Roosevelt and the NYC police department and found this terrific piece from NPR.
While this is an engrossing tale, it’s the little touches of reality that really make the story shine. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
THE ROGUE OF FIFTH AVENUE by Joanna Shupe. Avon (May 28, 2019). ISBN 978-0062906816. 400p.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 