The Heiress Hunt (Fifth Avenue Rebels #1)

by Joanna Shupe, Justine Eyre (Read by)

Overview

“Nothing makes me happier than a new book from Joanna Shupe!”—Sarah MacLean

High society reprobate.

An unconventional heiress.

Childhood friends.

 

Is it too late...

Knickerbocker scoundrel Harrison Archer returns to New York to discover that his deceased father has bankrupted his estranged family. To save them from ruin, he’s forced to quickly find and marry an heiress. For a matchmaker, Harrison turns to the one woman he wishes he could marry: his childhood friend and true love, Maddie, who once broke his heart and is now engaged to a duke.

 

For true love? 

When her best friend Harrison left for Paris without a word, Maddie Webster took refuge in her infatuation with tennis. Now Harrison is back and needs her help in finding a bride. Begrudgingly, Maddie arranges a house party in Newport with a guest list of eligible heiresses. But watching Harrison flirt with potential brides is more than she can bear.

 

When Harrison and Maddie reunite, the passion between them ignites. But with their marriages to others looming, time is running out. Is their fate inescapable . . .or can love set them free?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799950073
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Series:	Fifth Avenue Rebels Series , #1
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 5.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Justine Eyre is a classically trained actress who has narrated many audiobooks, earning the prestigious Audie Award for best narration and numerous Earphones Awards. She is multilingual and known for her great facility with accents. She has appeared on stage, with leading roles in King Lear and The Crucible, and has had starring roles in four films on the indie circuit. Her television credits include Two and a Half Men and Mad Men.

Joanna Shupe has always loved history, ever since she saw her first Schoolhouse Rock cartoon. While in college, Joanna read every romance she could get her hands on and soon started crafting her own racy historical novels. In 2013, she won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award for Best Historical. She now lives in New Jersey with her two spirited daughters and dashing husband.

Editorial Reviews

12/07/2020

Shupe (the Uptown Girls series) opens her Fifth Avenue Rebels series with this effortlessly diverting Gilded Age romance. When Harrison Archer returns to New York City from France, his estranged and nearly bankrupt family insists he save the family business by marrying an heiress. Harrison has no interest in helping the people who cruelly disowned him—but on their list of potential wives is his childhood friend and rising tennis star, Maddie Webster, with whom Harrison has been in love since she was 15, and he seizes the opportunity to reconnect. Maddie, meanwhile, is being courted by a duke and fears scandal if she gives in to her attraction to Archer, having heard rumors of his wild Parisian lifestyle. But when Archer asks her to throw a house party for him in Newport, R.I., and invite her most eligible friends, she can’t say no. Shupe’s feisty heroine admirably strives for independence in a male-dominated society, while Archer is appealing not only for his devotion to Maddie, but for his fierce drive to avenge his family’s mistreatment of him. Their sexual chemistry and dynamic banter, especially during intimate moments, convey an alluring blend of love and playfulness. This character-driven historical romance is sure to delight. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"This is friends-to-lovers romance at its finest, with an endearing Gilded Age couple who are clearly made for each other. Shupe fans will welcome this first installment in a new series." — Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2021

Harrison Archer has been in love with Madeline Webster ever since they played together as children at their summer estates in Newport., RI. Now he's grown up and back from Paris, determined to ruin his detestable family and their business, as well as win Madeline's hand. All he needs to do is get rid of the English duke who wants to marry Maddie. Madeline has been building a career as a professional tennis player and is trying to please her family by marrying well. She's annoyed when Harrison shows up looking more handsome than ever, making her feel emotions that disrupt her careful plans. She agrees to help him find a wife by inviting her eligible friends to a house party, little suspecting that it's all a ruse for Harrison to woo her. VERDICT This is friends-to-lovers romance at its finest, with an endearing Gilded Age couple who are clearly made for each other. Shupe ("Uptown Girls" series) fans will welcome this first installment in a new series.— Kathryn Howe, Saint John Free P.L., NB

Library Journal

2021-01-27
In Gilded Age New York, a tennis champion is torn between a duke and her childhood best friend.

Maddie Webster and Harrison Archer grew up promenading on Fifth Avenue and playing in Newport. Although they are both from the same rarefied New York society circles, their home lives couldn’t be more different: Maddie’s family is loving and caring, fully supporting her dreams of becoming a women’s tennis champion; meanwhile, Harrison’s family is cold and cruel, always treating him as a worthless second son. Three years earlier, Harrison intended to offer for Maddie but was crushed to realize she thought of him like a brother. Hurt and disappointed in Maddie and furious that his family disowned him when he tried to stop his father's abuse of the housemaid, Harrison fled to Paris. Now his family has called him home. After his father’s death, his older brother’s gross mismanagement of Archer Industries has left the company in shambles. Harrison’s family wants him to marry an heiress to infuse cash into the business, not knowing he’s planning to wrest full control of the company by becoming the majority stockholder. Maddie’s betrothal to the Duke of Lockwood is all but assured, so she offers to host a house party to introduce Harrison to her friends. Harrison accepts her offer, intending to steal Maddie away from the Duke while he purchases the remaining stock he needs. The individual strands of Shupe’s busy plot aren’t effectively braided together. Harrison’s revenge plot against his family is introduced but then put on hold while he courts Maddie. The late-stage conflict between the lovers seems to be manufactured to elongate the plot rather than an organic outgrowth of their characters.

The first book in a new romance series fails to coalesce.

Kirkus Reviews