I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Mogul (The Knickerbocker Club, #3) by Joanna Shupe Series: The Knickerbocker Club #3
Published by Zebra on January 31st 2017
Genres: Historical
Pages: 352
Goodreads
FINAL DECISION: The weakest of the series, this book is about two people getting a second chance at love. I liked the story overall, but I didn’t enjoy the romance as much because the characters seemed to have too many convoluted reasons to be apart.
THE STORY: Calvin Cabot has risen from a reporter to owning a number of large newspapers. His only regret is the woman he had to leave behind. Lillian Davies is the daughter of a self-made man but her father has greater aspirations for her. Calvin and Lillian had married in a whirlwind courtship until Lillian’s father stepped in. After an annulment, the two have been apart. Now Lily needs Calvin’s help when her brother disappears and the two find that their attraction to one another has not diminished with time.
OPINION: I liked so much of this book, but the romance was a weak point. So while I loved the time period, loved the motivating story about Lily’s brother’s disappearance. There was a little too much drama with Lily and Calvin and too many things working to keep them apart that the drama exhausted me and my patience in the book. So while I liked the book, it’s not one I would return to again.
Lily is a woman who has taken the reins of her family’s business, Lily is strong and independent but still hurts from what she believes was Calvin’s betrayal years ago. I liked her and liked her journey, but I couldn’t help but think that she was annoyingly naive for believing the explanation for the annulment in the beginning.
Calvin was a character that I had expected to like a great deal, but once again, I got too annoyed and caught up in his continued lies and half-truths to Lily. I understand his loyalty and his feeling that he could not reveal the truth, but it got tiring that he kept being placed in the position to self-destruct his relationship with Lily. I was inclined to like him, but I got tired of his drama by the end.
It might sound that I didn’t like this book. Actually, I liked it well enough, but it didn’t live up to the promise of the other books in the series. I suppose I was more disappointed because while I loved the premise of the book and I found the history explored in it fascinating, I just got too annoyed by the misunderstandings between the characters to want a re-read.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book explores the history of discrimination against the Chinese in the United States and the consequences of the exclusionary policies of the government.
CONNECTED BOOKS: Mogul is the third book in the Knickerbocker Club series. It is not necessary to have read any of the previous book in the series although there are overlapping characters.
STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.