Fifth Avenue Rebels Series by Joanna Shupe / Historical Romance Book Series

The latest series from Joanna Shupe takes place in Gilded Age New York with a group of friends (both male and female friend groups). One running theme throughout is that the men do not have great relationships with their fathers and seek to make their own way in the world. I recommend reading this series in order because the events overlap quite a bit, with the fourth book being most satisfying after reading the build up across the first three books.

The Heiress Hunt by Joanna Shupe (2021)

Historical romance. Gilded Age New York and Rhode Island. Book 1 of the Fifth Avenue Rebels series. Harrison Archer is back in town after living in Paris for the past three years; his horrible family is broke and he’s intent on finalizing their financial ruin. While they want him to marry an heiress to pay off their debts, he only has eyes for his childhood friend Maddie Webster, who broke his heart years ago by declaring that she only thinks of him as a brother. With the time apart, he’s hoping that she’ll change the way she sees him. I’m a total sucker for the emotional gut wrench of rejection, even though Maddie had no idea that she was the cause of Harrison’s departure. So now Maddie is trying to help Harrison find a bride, even though he just wanted to use the Newport house party as a way to get close to her again, and she’s kind of almost engaged to a duke. Messiness all around. Still, Maddie was incredibly stubborn in this book and totally oblivious to the fact that Harrison has loved her for years, even though everyone else in the world had seen it. Great set up for all the other characters that will feature in the remainder of the series and looking forward to finishing the rest of the books.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe (2021)

Historical romance. Gilded Age New York and Rhode Island. Book 2 of the Fifth Avenue Rebels series. About half of this book takes place at the same Newport house party as Book 1 of the series, so it’s fun to read these back to back. Shy and quiet Alice asks scoundrel Kit for lessons in seduction so that she’ll be able to find a husband who wants her for more than her dowry. She’s got a terribly overbearing mother and needs to get out from under her thumb. Meanwhile, Kit has already been warned away from the innocent debutantes so is hesitant to help her (even though he was instantly attracted to her offer). When Kit finds out that Alice is friendly with a famous chef who he is trying to hire for his new supper club, he wants a way to buy those recipes. Alice is shrewd negotiator, so it looks like she’ll get her seduction lessons after all. Reading these two flirt with each other was so fun; Alice learns a bit more confidence and Kit turns into someone less sure and less suave, but more honest. I really enjoyed this one!

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe (2021)

Historical romance. Gilded Age New York. Book 3 of the Fifth Avenue Rebels series. Katherine is finally going to settle those wedding details with the fiancee that her father arranged, only to find that Preston had no intention of marrying her at all. He’s got a grudge against her father for abandoning Preston’s family in their time of financial turmoil, so wants nothing to do with their family. With Katherine suddenly un-engaged, she’s ready to find an affair, so she goes to a masked ball with her friend and meets a man there. When she goes to meet with him unmasked in a follow-up tryst at his apartment, she finds that it was Preston all along. These two spend a lot of time fighting, somehow call a truce, then fall into an affair with each other, with no intention of marriage. It’s messy and complicated and meanwhile Preston’s still mad at her father, Katherine’s dealing with her own father moving on from her late mother, and the poor Duke of Lockwood can’t catch a break in the background.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe (2023)

Historical romance. Gilded Age New York. Book 4 of the Fifth Avenue Rebels series. If you’ve read the first three books in this series, you’ll have seen hints of an uneasy relationship between Nellie and the Duke of Lockwood. Nellie is everyone’s scandalous best friend with knowledge about affairs and men. Meanwhile the destitute Duke of Lockwood needs an American heiress to marry for money. In Book 1, he was engaged to Maddie for about a day before that didn’t work out. In Book 2, he’s almost courting our favorite sweet Alice, until he realizes Kit is in the picture and bows out. In Book 3, he’s sworn off courting anyone from this unlucky friend group, but still friendly with Katherine. Well, we finally get to see his true nature and desires here in Book 4 with our dear Nellie. We go back to the beginning of the Newport house party from Book 1 and 2, where Lockwood and Nellie meet as strangers at the beach at midnight, and after some flirting, and kissing, they plan for a tryst the next day. However, when Lockwood shows up at the house party the next day and is introduced to all the guests, he and Nellie realize that the connection is impossible and over. We meet again in six months after Nellie’s other friends are all settled and Nellie’s feeling listless and aimless since all her friends are married and don’t need her anymore plus Lockwood’s still looking for a docile and wealthy bride. What starts as angry flirting turns into an angry affair with neither of them wanting to engage their hearts. Lockwood’s got some secrets of his own with a health condition, plus Nellie is unwilling to risk her emotions after her mother died at a young age. An important side story here is Nellie’s work in educating women on contraception and taking control of their reproductive rights. I appreciated seeing this play out in a historical setting and seeing Nellie’s championing of women’s education on the subject.

Although I enjoyed this story and all of the other books in the series, it seemed to be a bit repetitive to have three stories back-to-back of people having affairs and unwilling to invest any deeper emotions. While the side character of one book is the “wise one” nudging their friend to make a commitment, they’re unable to do so in their own story just a short time later. I think when binge reading a whole series in half a week, it’s easy to pick up on inconsistencies that might not be as apparent to readers who pick up one at a time. The level of familiarity that characters have with each other isn’t terribly consistent either… while it seems like the gentlemen are meeting the women for the first time at the house party in Book 1, we find that Nellie and Kit are chummy enough for her to be giving him advice in Book 2, or that in Book 3, Kit knew the name of Preston’s supposed fiancee all along even though Katherine was in the running to be Harrison’s bride in Book 1. I understand that we probably weren’t supposed to know about Katherine’s betrothal until we get to her book, but it makes for an untidy reveal. Sometimes the connections do make sense though, like Kit and Alice’s interactions during the house party, or Nellie and the duke’s interactions within the first three books. And I appreciate seeing things woven together so tightly.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley. Print book provided by Avon Books.