Mogul written by Joanna Shupe Publication Date: January 1st 2017
Genres: Historical Romance
Series: The Knickerbocker Club #3
Format: eARC
Pages: 352
ISBN: 1420139886
Rating:
Flame Rating:
Find on Goodreads
The privileged members of the Knickerbocker Club can never climb too high up the social ladder. But for one charming New York bachelor, does the ascent take precedence over love in the Gilded Age?
As owner of a well-respected national newspaper, Calvin Cabot has the means to indulge his capricious taste for excess—and the power to bring the upper crust of society to its knees. So when a desperate heiress from his past begs for his help, Calvin agrees . . . as long as she promises to stay out of his way. Except, like the newsman, this willful beauty always gets what she wants.
Lillian Davies lives a life brimming with boundless parties, impressive yachts, and exotic getaways. But when her brother disappears, Lily knows that blood runs thicker than champagne and she'll spare nothing to bring him back alive. Unfortunately, the only man who can help her is the one she never wanted to see again. Can Lily keep Calvin at arm's length long enough to save her brother and protect her name . . . even when the tenacious powerbroker turns out to be absolutely irresistible?
Affiliate Links
Don’t want to read the whole review? Click to jump to the Skinny Review.
Where do I start with Mogul? This book was honestly one of my most anticipated reads for 2017, especially after I read Baron and absolutely LOVED it. In fact, I rated Baron 5 hearts, it was that good.
Unfortunately, Mogul didn’t live up to my expectations. As much as I want to love it, I just couldn’t. I think I even skimmed the last few pages.
Unlikeable Characters
One of the main reasons I didn’t like this book is because of the heroine, Lillian Davies was just so unlikeable. Sure, she was a spoiled rich socialite, but she was grated on my nerves.
One of the things that I expected her to do was rise up and take over her father’s company, but she didn’t. She didn’t even try to find ways to improve the mine. She HAD plans to improve the conditions of the workers, but it just didn’t come to fruition because she was just not that believable as a leader. She was able to wrest control of the company in the end, but she didn’t redeem herself to me.
Romance that Didn’t have Steam
I actually liked Calvin Cabot. With his similarities to the big newspapermen of the age: Pulitzer and Hearst (also, I saw Newsies again a couple of weeks ago, and damn is Christian Bale so young!), he was an interesting character. But his romance with Lillian fell flat, too.
This is a second chance romance since Calvin and Lillian were married for only a few days before their marriage was annulled. Even though this is one of my favorite romance tropes, it just didn’t work for me.
Recommendations
Should you read it? I honestly think you should read Baron first before you read this. Unfortunately, The Knickerbocker Club series is a hit and miss series for me.
Books like Mogul
- The Sweetest Sin is an Erotic Historical Romance featuring the second chance romance trope. Landon and Juliana’s relationship was also annulled by Juliana’s father and she was married off to an abusive aristocrat. This is one of the best Erotic HRs that I read and I definitely recommend this book.
- Again the Magic is one of my favorite Historical Romances by Lisa Kleypas. This is another second chance romance trope that was so bittersweet and had all the feels. Also, this is a love between the classes romance.
- When the Rogue Returns is another second chance romance that I enjoyed reading. This one is full of deceptions though since the hero and the heroine both think that the other used the other just to steal priceless diamonds.
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Plot | |
| Characters |  |
| Romance | |
| Rereadability | |
| Cover | |
| Overall: | 3 |
Do you think an annoying character can break a book?
About Joanna Shupe
Award-winning author 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. She now lives in New Jersey with her two spirited daughters and dashing husband.
Hmmm, i’d not heard of this book before. Honestly, the steam-less romance would be enough for me not to want to read it. I looooove romance way too much to be able to get through a romance novel that doesn’t have a steamy or shippable romance. I actually don’t love the whole married-then-annulled trope! Interesting that it is your favorite – do you have recommendations for that trope? Maybe I haven’t read enough novels with the trope. 😀
Great review, Zeee! Have a fantastic weekend. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Alyssa Susanna (The Eater of Books!) recently posted…Review: Dare To Lie by Jen McLaughlin
Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes… hahaha I haven’t read a lot of annulled or divorce then marry again tropes… but When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries have the MC married and separated because of issues…but then meet each other ten years (if I remember) later… 🙂 Start with that one, if you haven’t read it already! I also love The Sweetest Sin by Jess Michaels which is an erotic romance one. Very emotional!