Title: The Lady Gets Lucky (Fifth Avenue Rebels 2)
Author: Joanna Shupe
Published: October 2021
Publisher: Avon
Readership: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: ★★★★
I received a copy of the The Lady Gets Lucky from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Following the book called “an alluring blend of love and playfulness” (PW) The Heiress Hunt, beloved author Joanna Shupe continues her new Fifth Avenue Rebels series with a scandalous romance about a good girl desperate to rebel and the rebel desperate to corrupt her.
A first-rate scoundrel.
A desperate wallflower.
Lessons in seduction.
The woman no one notices . . .
Shy heiress Alice Lusk is tired of being overlooked by every bachelor. Something has to change, else she’ll be forced to marry a man whose only desire is her fortune. She needs to become a siren, a woman who causes a man’s blood to run hot . . .and she’s just met the perfect rogue to help teach her.
He’s the life of every party . . .
Christopher “Kit” Ward plans to open a not-so-reputable supper club in New York City, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to hire the best chef in the city to guarantee its success. Even if it requires giving carnal lessons to a serious-minded spinster who has an in with the chef.
Their bedroom instruction grows passionate, and Alice is a much better pupil than Kit had ever anticipated. When the Society gentlemen start to take notice, Kit has to try to win Alice in other ways . . . but is he too late to win her heart?
Historical romance is not my go-to sub-genre of romance, but every now and then I do like to try new ones and see how I feel about them. The Lady Gets Lucky was a book that I received curtesy of the Bonkers Romance Podcast’s Temple of Defiant Joy book club via Netgalley and having read a couple of Joanna Shupe books previously I was interested to see what I thought.
Annie and Kit meet at a house party where she approaches him for lessons in how to seduce a man. Her overbearing mother is scheming to organise a suitable marriage for the young heiress but Annie wants to make a love-match, or something close to it. Kit, a known scoundrel, is the perfect source for information on how to woo someone, and in exchange for some recipes from a previous family-chef, Kit and Annie begin a partnership that quickly turns into something more for both of them, despite Kit’s insistence that he is not the marrying type.
This was an interesting read – a good portion of the book takes place at the house party before shifting back to New York where Annie and her mother reside in a Fifth Avenue hotel and Kit is opening a supper club. In many ways, the two parts almost feel like part one and part of a story. Kit and Annie’s initially innocent encounters lead to a more heated relationship once they’re both back in the city and able to duck the watch of Annie’s mother. The two have great chemistry and are both hampered by the reputations of their parents – Annie’s mother and Kit’s charlatan father – as well as the insinuations that their parental figures have instilled in themselves as being not good enough the way they are. It’s something they’re both constantly working on, but they each see the goodness and strength in the other.
I particularly liked the storyline surrounding Kit’s supper club and Annie’s passion for cooking. Her character truly came alive in those scenes (as well as making me incredibly hungry with all the tasty food descriptions). It brings the two closer together, even as Annie knows that Kit seemingly isn’t ready for marriage. The brief conflict when a Duke begins to court Annie is enough to begin to spark Kit’s awareness that he’s not ready to let Annie go just yet.
(Also, I feel terrible for Duke Lockwood and hope he gets his own book!)
The other highlight for me is the friendship that Annie sparks with another heiress, Nellie, who is a great friend, something that Annie has not had before. Nellie is a great example of a strong, independent woman who no longer worries about what society is saying about her. I’m sure she’s featured in a previous book somewhere, but not having read all of Shupe’s books I’m not sure where, but there’s clearly a history there.
Overall it was an entertaining read. I’m not sure I’ll pick up the first book (since I know the outcome as it takes place at the beginning of this one), but I’d definitely read more about Nellie and/or the Duke.
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