The bride goes rogue

Shupe continues her excellent Gilded Age-set "Fifth Avenue Rebels" series with this sexy third installment (following The Lady Gets Lucky). After she discovers that the fiancé her father arranged for her has no intention to wed, the furious Katherine Delafield decides to embark on a scandalous affair at a masquerade--only to accidentally connect with her would-be groom, Preston Clarke. They carry on their steamy affair, but drama outside of the bedroom puts a wrench in their liaison. In addition to having an excellent central romance, Shupe's novel features glimpses into the lives of previous series characters, particularly Preston's business partner Kit and his new wife, Alice, from the second book in the series. This novel also nudges along the stories of the rebellious Nellie Young and the long-suffering Duke of Lockwood. While this book can be read as a stand-alone, the secondary characters are a delightful bonus for series readers. VERDICT Once again, Shupe delivers a sparkling, sexy romance in a well-crafted and entertaining historical setting, filling the book to the brim with vivid, appealing characters that readers can't help but love.--Jenny Kobiela-Mondor

A childhood engagement between the children of one-time business partners becomes a steamy affair between enemies. Katherine Delafield is done waiting--she's been betrothed to Preston Clarke since she was a child and their fathers agreed to the match, but she's still not married to him. However, when she reminds him of this fact and tries to set a date for the wedding, he strongly declines, and Katherine decides to move on and stop waiting for marriage. As a relatively free and privileged young woman of the Gilded Age, she's ready to explore the wilder side of New York City and declares to her friends that she wants to have an affair. For his part, merciless tycoon Preston has, as always, been too absorbed in his tireless work to think much about the visit from Katherine. In need of relaxation, he decides to go to a famous downtown party that's known to be "quite risqué"--the French Ball at Madison Square Garden. But wouldn't you know it? It's the same debauched evening Katherine is attending in search of her first affair. Masked and anonymous, they share a red-hot intimate moment and vow to meet again soon. When they discover the truth about their masked encounter the following night, both are furious but quickly find that the pull of their chemistry is so strong that they begin a series of steamy clandestine meetings and even develop a friendship of sorts despite Preston's long-standing hatred for Katherine's father. They tell themselves they're just having an adventure, but as their unusual connection deepens, the rivalry between their families becomes even more serious. Shupe's well-loved Fifth Avenue Rebels series returns with a very saucy friends-with-benefits story. As ever, her command of historical details enlivens the story just as much as her command of intimate ones--and yes, that means she has proof that there really were indecent public events in New York in the 1890s. Preston is the kind of delightfully anachronistic historical romance hero Shupe's fans love, and he works perfectly in combination with Katherine's bold bluestocking ways; those fans will be glad to hear the series is not yet done and get a glimpse of the next book at the end of this one. The Mrs. Astor of Gilded Age romances provides another smart and sexy read. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.