This was possibly my favorite of the Uptown Ladies books. I adored Justine as a heroine, and her romance with Jack Mulligan was sweet and exactly what I was looking for.

4.5 stars - Loved it! This is a great read about Jack, a gentleman criminal, and Justine, a duke’s daughter. She’s a do-gooder, unafraid to walk the streets of the slums, hunt down negligent husbands and fathers, and right the injustices she sees in the world. He’s marveled by her, her wit, fearlessness and the pull she has on him. His life is dangerous, but their love is strong enough to overcome anything. It’s an engrossing journey with two emotive characters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Justine has dedicated her life trying to bring justice to those that are less fortunate than herself. One of the many ways she does this is to track down deadbeat husbands. One such search brought her to Jack Mulligan, the mastermind behind the largest criminal enterprise in the city. The man she is looking for, works for Jack. She didn't know what to expect when she meets Jack for the first time, but it was not the sizzling attraction she felt for him.

Jack knew of Justine before meeting the youngest Greene sister, he knows everything that goes on in his part of town. When she asks for his help, he gives it to her, but with conditions. She know owes him a favor of his choosing. Whether he ever collects on it, time will tell. But Jack can't seem to get Justine out of his mind and they soon the begin an affair.

But they both soon realize that what they feel is more than just physical attraction. Can it ever be more?

I really enjoyed Justine and Jack's story. Having met both characters in the previous books in the series, I was hoping that Shupe would partner these two together. I loved that they both challenged one another in different ways and made them a better person. And as what usually happens in a book by Shupe, I found myself laughing out loud at the bantering between the H/H.

While this book can certainly be read as a stand alone, I would read the other two books in the series before this one as it will add to your reading pleasure. This was a great conclusion to the Uptown Girls series and I can't wait to see what Shupe has in store for us next!

I love kick a** heroines and this one kicks ass on the very first page of the book. It was a glorious start to the book and I was hooked. The story of Jack and Justine had me enthralled right from the first page. Charming and cunning Jack with the kind and brave Justine was a powerful and sexy combination. They both lit the pages on fire with their chemistry and it was difficult for me to put down the book. As they both form an unlikely alliance, they both didn't expect things to go the way they did. I wasn't sure if I would like a hero who is a criminal but the author made me fall in love with Jack. This is book three from "The Uptown Girls" series but I could read it as a standalone. I do want to read Mamie and Florence's story so I am definitely going to buy them. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it.

* I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

Justine Greene is the one woman who braves going into the Bowery of London streets to help woman whose husbands have abandon them. Her search for dead beat husbands takes her into Jack Mulligans world. Jack has worked his way up to being the King of the streets with his cunning, strength and ambition. He finds Justine quite intriguing, he trades on favors and makes a deal with Justine that will change their lives forever. I loved this captivating book of two different worlds colliding, the passion Justine and Jack share is sizzling and tenderhearted. They grow closer in this action packed adventure into the underworld of London as a do-gooder meets the devil of downtown and turns his world upside down. An excellent story I loved and I voluntarily wrote a review.

Another historical romance with a twist. It was a good read. The story kept me engaged, I liked the main characters, writing and all. Overall I would recommend this book to all those who like quick read and fun read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Devil Of Downtown, by Joanna Shupe, is available at booksellers on 6-30-2020. Devil is book 3 in the Uptown Girls series. It's also the end of the planned trilogy. While an enjoyable read I can't say I became invested in the characters. The do-gooder is too good and the devil seems bad but isn't when we meet him. For all the talk about his past he turns into a wimp pretty fast. There wasn't enough rough and tumble stuff for me to believe he was a mob boss. Justine has been running around the city, mostly alone, since she was 13? She's a kidnapping waiting to happen. I love her good deeds but that's all she does, it gets boring.

#JoannaShupe #TheDevilOf Downtown #UptownGirls #AvonBooks #Netgalley #HarperCollinsPublishing

DNF

Tried really hard to read on but I'm not a fan of the writing style. That's okay, not every book is for every reader so I'm sure others will love this.

Jack Mulligan *swoon* is intrigued when an uptown lady confronts him in his club, looking for a client’s deadbeat husband. That’s right. We have a badass heroine who tracks down husbands that have run out on their wives and children. I love it!

Justine is the baby of the family. Even though the Greene girls are known to shirk convention, her own sisters treat her like she isn’t an adult. Justine recognizes their hypocrisy and continues to do what she wants regardless. I think she might be my favorite sister!

I love the way that Jack falls for Justine’s strength, determination, and desire to meet out justice on behalf of women. The sexual tension is phenomenal and their chemistry is off the charts hot! The only problem I had is that the conflict feels abrupt and a little manufactured.

It was a very interesting and entertaining read.
This is book 3 of the uptown girls series and again I was initiated in this series in disorder, I have to read the previous ones.
I really liked Justine, her determination and spirit to help anyone in need no matter where they are and the danger they are in. And the fact that she is just exactly the same in her personal and intimate life only adds more points to his already very well defined personality.
Jack would be the other part of that world where to stand out and be respected you do anything to achieve it, although there are villains and then there is Jack, although he operates blackmailing and scaring everyone we also see that he has a compassionate and fair side in the whole world of crime, cares about its people and because of than he earns not only respect but also loyalty and support that is well tested when he need it.
Justine and Jack will begin a relationship of favors that will lead them to a relationship that none of them seemed prepared to have but without realizing it, they will fall into their web and even if they try to escape it will be too late.

I like that the story is moving slowly and the relationship of Justine and Jack in the same way, the author does not rush anything, on the contrary, gives us a little taste of what would be a relationship between these two characters with well-defined personalities, no doubt I have enjoyed very much of those passionate moments as those who keep debating their views.
It's certainly a highly recommended reading.
4.5 stars

I received an ARC from author and Netgalley on exchange of my honest review.
Thank you so much.

I devoured the first book in this series earlier this month and already know that I need to read more of Joanna Shupe's books. I was excited to read the story of the last sister and her romance with a bad guy!

When this book first started, it was definitely a soft, sweet story. Justine is a do-gooder like her sisters but she's more kind and not as risk-taking. She's still do whatever it takes to help the women of the city in need, though. She enlists the help of Jack, who is a bad guy who is basically the head gangster of New York. He's dangerous, but when Justine asks for help, he decides to help her if she returns the favor in whatever way he asks. Their relationship is very sweet and slow and I wish it had more oomph in the beginning.

Once we got halfway through, though, this book picked up, the sparks flew, we knew more about Jack, and there was some serious suspense that kept me on my toes. If the beginning wasn't so slow and sweet, this book would have easily been a five star read. I loved how Jack became so vulnerable with Justine and how they did have some conflict near the end that almost ripped them apart. We also got to see Justine's sisters and I just loved how close they were and how they were there for each other.

Seriously, I cannot recommend Joanna Shupe enough! You need to pick up her historical romances as soon as you can!

She's an uptown heiress who's been doing charity work (and detective work) downtown since she was 13. He's the self-made king of a criminal empire. She needs help and he exacts a favor from her.

Things I liked about this book:
- A hero who continually sees new angles of the heroine.
- A heroine who gets sparks of lust when the hero engages in social justice advocacy.
- A very intense scene involving bowling and the proper footwear for a bowling alley.
- A hero who would give everything up for his heroine.
- A heroine who decides what her boundaries are and discovers how great her power is.

Things I didn't like about this book:
- .....

It's terrific. So many good things to say. An excellent addition to this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. Justine is a "do-gooder" who works passionately for the causes she believes in. Jack grew up on the streets and earned his territory with hard work, cunning, strength and ambition. They seem like opposites but when they start to get to know each other they discover hidden passion and common interests. The story was fast-paced and hard to put down. This book can be read as a standalone story, though it is the last in the Uptown Girl series. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more books by this author.

I wasn't totally sure what to expect from this book. After all, Justine comes across in her sister's books as this sweet and naive girl. And knowing that her hero was Jack Mulligan, essentially king of the criminal underworld? I was a bit skeptical. But I shouldn't have been because Joanna Shupe is a genius.

I adore Justine. I think she might be my favorite heroine, though that's some fierce competition and would definitely require a reread to verify. But she's fierce and she's passionate and she's good in a way that I don't think we see very often. And she's so very principled, which made her relationship with Jack so fascinating to watch unfold.

I was absorbed by this book from the get go, literally pulling it out during my wait in the Starbucks drive thru because I had to drive six hours, which was too long to go without reading the book. It is so engaging from page one and there wasn't a lull where I thought, "Oh, I can just put this down and not think about it for weeks on end." Rather, it was a book where I told myself, "One more chapter, and then I have to put laundry in the washer and also shower" and read three more instead. Justine and Jack have incredible chemistry. The side characters are all really compelling and basically, I just loved this entire book so very, very much.

I'm excited to see what Shupe does next, but I'm also so sad we're leaving this series behind. Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the advanced copy! I definitely enjoyed it!

Miss Justine Greene is the youngest of three girls. She did a lot of charity work and she helped the legal society that her sister, Mamie, and her husband, worked at. He a lawyer and she did everything else. They offered free advice about legal affairs and such. Justine found husbands that had run out on their family and either took them to the police or forced them to pay a stipend so the mothers could get some food from their babies. She also worked at a soup kitchen in the ghetto, She was always flitting around downtown, at this time helping people was the most important thing in her life. She thought she was plain and not very attractive.
Mr. Jack Mulligan was the biggest criminal in Manhattan. If anything happened he knew it. He had a lot of money and power. He had become an orphan at twelve and thrown out of the orphanage. To fight his way to the top and he had been there for several years but it had been hard. No one knows even him how many times he had been stabbed, shot, or how many fights he had been in. He was covered from the neck down with scars from his endeavors. He spoke several languages, he was intelligent, charismatic, handsome, and tall.
I loved this, it was an unusual crime boss story. The tale moved along at a comfortable pace and offered insights into the characters. You get a touch of the organization of the group. It is large, fifteen hundred men and a huge area to look out for. There are some surprises along the way and as the book goes along it gets a little complicated. It is so worth the time to read this great novel. I believe you will be intrigued and find the novel hard to put down. It is steamy.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it and loved it.

Jack Mulligan is the devil of the title, and he’s met his match in Justine Greene. Justine first approaches him because one of his employees has left his wife and children and they need financial assistance, so she needs to get his employee to pay maintenance. Justine is considered the plain, boring sister, which suits her fine because she can do as she wishes as no one assumes she’s up to anything. She spends her days volunteering with various causes to help the poor and immigrant neighbourhoods that are so different from where she lives. Jack, on the other hand, is running any number of illegal outfits and controlling his part of downtown, though there’s a turf war brewing.
The romance shines in this book. They’re attracted, and then they get to know each other and they flat out like each other. It’s sexy, and the romance is so well developed as we get to see them take the fall. What also stood out in this are the lines of privilege and power, and how they are used by both to advantage for their own purposes, and to help each other. They have legitimate challenges to being together - he always faces threats in his position - and she would be a public weakness.It is also true that for her, she would be ostracized from society and likely her family for being with him. To her, he's Jack, but to the world, he's a criminal.
This trilogy has been a strong one, and the Devil of Downtown is now the favourite of the three.

Loved this conclusion to the Uptown Girls series! Justine was wonderful, and Jack was exactly the sexy criminal we all love. Add in great historical detail and sexy bowling(!), and you have a fabulous read. My only tiny gripe was the hypocritical way that Mamie and Florence treated Justine.

Whew! I don't know what it is about those Greene women but they have the ability to bring strong men to their knees. Justine is no exception, despite her nickname of Miss Do-gooder, bestowed on her by the head of the largest criminal gang in New York City. Jack Mulligan is fascinated by this woman who shows no fear and seems utterly unimpressed with him. Evidently she regards him as a means to an end and nothing more. Naturally he wants to change that attitude! I really enjoyed reading about this battle of wills.

It is hard to figure out who saves who more often, Justine or Jack. Justine is headstrong and fearless but Jack knows the dangers she faces even if she disregards them. Justine is drawn to Jack even if she knows there can be no future with him. As a reader I also know this so I keep turning pages to find out how there can be a HEA.

This is the first book in this series that I have read, and although there are frequent references to characters and situations in previous books, this is still a standalone novel.

I liked the fearlessness of Justine which did not mean she was careless about safety she was just overly confident in her own abilities. Jack for all his King-Pin persona never quite made me feel he was all that powerful. My only complaint about the story. This was a very good read and a welcome addition to my library. I can't wait to read the previous two books in the series.

The conclusion of Joanna Shupe’s Uptown Girls series builds on the strengths of the previous volumes, a smart, tough, modern heroine meets handsome hero from the wrong side of town. The time period of Gilded Age New York City adds a unique dimension to the historical romance genre. The relationship between do-gooder debutante Justine Greene and king of the downtown criminal empire Jack Mulligan develops with lots of heat, humor and emotion. The story was well-paced and a great mix of romantic tension and adventures. Highly recommend and I can’t wait to read what Joanna Shupe writes next.