Series: The Knickerbocker Club #1
Published by Zebra on April 26th 2016
Genres: Historical
Pages: 325
Goodreads
FINAL DECISION: A romance between the birth rich heroine and a self-made man, this story is animated by the heroine’s own ambitions. The characters are rich and interesting and I loved how these two slowly overcome their own inclinations.
THE STORY: Emmett Cavanaugh is a self-made man who comes from the slums and has brought himself to the heights of wealth and influence. The one thing he has kept away from is useless society women until he is approached by Elizabeth Sloane. Elizabeth knows that Emmett and her brother meet together and are friends. She has taught herself to play the stock market and wants to back her in opening an investing company hoping to fix her family’s finances. Emmett, however, is not friends with Elizabeth’s brother at all. Indeed, he decides to use Elizabeth to go after her brother and his company.
OPINION: A book that has life because of its unique setting and characters. The novelty of a book taking place in this era with characters of a more modern bent make all the situations interesting and new. A woman desiring to open her own business playing the stock market is not an everyday historical.
Elizabeth is a woman struggling against the expectations of history and her own status. Her brother wants her to have “expected” dreams — marriage, family and society events. Elizabeth desperately dreams for independence and self-determination. That desire makes her reckless in approaching Emmett and continuing to meet with him.
Emmett is a man who has made his fortune but resents those with inherited wealth. It leads him to misjudge Elizabeth and continue with his ill-conceived idea of ruining her brother. Yet, he is incredibly forward thinking in his view of what Elizabeth should be allowed to do.
I liked the interaction between these two and I totally fell for their romance. The only negative for me was that the motivations of the characters became rather convoluted as Emmett and Elizabeth do some assuming about the other’s actions.
WORTH MENTIONING: MAGNATE takes place during the Gilded Age in New York City.
CONNECTED BOOKS: MAGNATE is the first full book in the Knickerbocker Club series. There is a prequel novella, but this book can be read without it.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.