The Four Hundred Series by Joanna Shupe / Historical Romance Book Series

This historical romance series by Joanna Shupe takes place in Gilded Age New York. The three books in the series are loosely connected, but do not need to be read in order. They’re somewhat tied together by the wealthy people involved and a lawyer that all three heroes have in common.

1. A Daring Arrangement (2017)

Lady Honora has been sent from England to New York by her father to keep her away from an unsuitable man. She decides that if she’s properly ruined, her father will bring her back home, and she can reunite with that guy. She proposes a fake engagement to Julius, who has a scandalous reputation, in hopes that her father with disapprove. But then, he starts acting like an upstanding gentleman now that he has a way into the fancy New York society. And he’s also trying to seduce dear Honora til she forgets all about the other guy.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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2. A Scandalous Deal (2018)

We start with a cross-Atlantic ship with a young woman and man meeting on the ship and having a steamy one night stand. When they meet again in New York City, they realize that he’s the owner of the hotel project that she is designing. Yikes. Our gal Eva is an architect who is working on the project, but passing it off as her father’s work, since he’s the famous architect but is very ill. Phillip is the ultra-wealthy hotel owner who is having a hard time wrangling the construction crew who don’t want to listen to a woman. There’s a lot of back and forth here with who’s in charge and keeping things professional, while the these two are so clearly attracted to each other. Plus, there is a fun bit of interaction between Eva and Phillip’s mother, who wants to hire her to work on her Newport cottage renovations.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

3. A Notorious Vow (2018)

This one has our Lady Christina who likes to go for walks in her cousin’s neighbor’s quiet garden. She slowly sort of befriends the reclusive neighbor and realizes that he’s hearing impaired as a result of an illness. When she finds herself in trouble and nearly coerced into marrying a slimy older man, she runs to Oliver’s house for protection. He ultimately offers her marriage to protect her from her family’s schemes. In this one, we have a very shy and skittish woman with a grumpy isolated recluse of a man and they slowly get to know each other and appreciate each other. Once these two start to listen to each other and team up to protect each other, it’s amazing. My favorite of the series.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.