Just when does rich become too much?
http://www.joannashupe.com/
Do you ever ponder - when reading romance books - if they would be so romantic if there
wasn’t so much wealth flung around in them? What if our couple really had to struggle with day to day living? What if the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow didn't come along? Well, you don’t have to worry about that in this book, because our hero has just oodles and oodles of cash. Actually, that was one of my problems with this story, or maybe it’s just the mood I was in when I read it. Yeah, sure it must be nice not to worry about where the next hamburger is coming from, but gee-willikers I sure get tired of reading about all the preponderance of wealth. In A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe, we get to have a glimpse into the Gilded Age of New York – oh boy! A time period of rich, overindulged, capricious people such as the Astors, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, etc.We have Lady Honoria Parker, daughter of the Earl of Stratton. She has been exiled to America because she was caught in the arms of an unsuitable man. So, she’s been sent to live with her aunt in New York. Well, she’s not a happy camper. She is still in luv with the artist/man she was caught in the arms of and she is bound and determined to return to those arms. She also has a my-father-doesn’t-like-me-no-matter-what-I-guess-I’ll-go-eat-worms problem. So, what is her solution? Get ready for the Romanceland stretch plot-line. She believes that if she can create a big enough scandal her father will cave in, let her return to England and marry her artist/man. Cause she can’t help lovin’ that man of mine/hers. Honoria must ponder what to do to; just what could she do that would be so horrible that her father would haul her back? Wait, what’s that noise she hears on the floor above where she’s dining? Sounds like a herd of elephants or maybe just a few horses. She must investigate that noise. What? You mean to say that some drunken man has brought horses into the hotel. Why he must be just terrible. He may be just what she needs to become scandalous. Enter, the rich, self-made man about town – Julius Hatcher.
Julius Hatcher is drunk. He’s celebrating his birthday or something on the floor above the restaurant. He is rich beyond measure, but he’s also creating quite a name for himself in the scandal sheets. He is enthralled when he is approached by the lovely English miss with the plan to create a scandal. And, he’s drunk enough to agree to her scheme. You see he is yearning to gain entry into society so he can find the men who destroyed his father, thus he can destroy those men. So, my fellow romance reader Petunia-people, we are asked to accept the plot-line: Julius Hatcher must clean up his act so that he can be received into the top echelon of society, so he agrees to help Honoria create a scandal so she will be returned to England and the arms of her beloved. They will do this by having a fake-engagement and somehow Honoria will create a scandal and Julius will become squeaky clean. I was very confused by how all of this was going to work – and, it never did. Over my years of accepting plot-lines which don’t always made sense, I’ve been able to enjoy the books. But, this one asked me to leave behind anything that made sense just so our couple could have a reason to be in the same room together.
I will admit that the writing had possibilities, but for me, the premise of the entire book required that I should put my dumb-hat on and I was not able to.
Time/Place: 1890 New York
Sensuality: Warm/Hot
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