If you loved the 1997 animated Anastasia you should give this book a try. The Gilded Heiress takes Anastasia to early 1900’s America and makes it spicy. A con man and a street performer take New York by storm but can they prevent themselves from falling in love?
Let's talk spice. While everyone has a different scale, I would rate this ⅖ chilly peppers. This book is definitely an open door but the full on spice is not popping up everywhere. Kisses and inappropriate thoughts everywhere but the actually spicy scenes are rather contained. The amount of spice makes sense for this story while being hot. My poor husband after that chapter. 10/10, loved the spice and would have been happy with more but content with what I got. The book boyfriend. While throughout this book Leo changes and grows as a person I wouldn’t call him book boyfriend worthy. I didn’t find myself swooning or my heart full. The love that grows between them didn’t show though for me. There is some relationship development, yet, it felt like it was more a physical attraction than anything else.
The writing itself is well paced throughout the book. The like 10% or so seemed rather rushed but over all nothing dragged by. If anything, things seemed to move very fast. Thing 1. Boom! Thing 2. Boom! Thing 3. I guess the timing of events seemed unrealistic but hey it’s fiction. Let us live the dream.
I’ll give this book an overall 4/5.Had the romance felt less chemical and more heartfelt it'd be a 5/5. Shout out to HarperCollins Publishing for sending me an advanced coy to review! Happy reading!

Hmm unsure of whether this is a borderline B or a firm C rated book.

The storyline was okay, the only redeeming thing was Leo's remorse and Josies firm rejection when she finds out his deception. There was no back and forth, just get out and get lost. The story did seem a little bit too stretched out.

Not one of Joannas hallmark books

#netgalley #TheGildedHeiress

I am normally a huge fan of Joanna Shupe but this unfortunately fell flat for me.
The writing was not good. It was very stilted and sounded like a bunch of teenagers.
The storyline (based on Anastasia) was intriguing but I wanted more. When a book is based on a story, o don’t expect that book to follow the story to the letter. When I tell you NOTHING was different, I mean it. While I was originally interested, it became clear very fast that I (like everyone else) had already heard this story a billion times.
Leo, Leo, Leo. Shall I compare thee to a summers day? No a summers day is not a bitch.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 😬

The Gilded Heiress had me at Anastasia retelling! Josie Smith was left at the door of an asylum at age 2, and has dreams of becoming a world famous singer while Leo Hardy is a con man looking for revenge on his father’s previous employer. Josie is “discovered” by Leo and in a scheme to get the money he needs to support his family, both set out to New York for fame and riches.

As expected this is another transporting read from Joanna Shupe—I’m a huge fan of her gilded age romances. Leo isn’t my favorite hero but I enjoyed the grief that Josie gave him. She’s bold and isn’t afraid to say it like it is. I do feel like the plot felt under-developed in some areas or I felt like there was something missing compared to previous works. I still found the story enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for a chance to read and give a honest review an advanced copy of this book.

If you are someone who adores the animated Anastasia movie then this is the book for you! Set in the late 1890's in Boston and New York it will follow the story of one man trying to pull off a great scheme. However, he might just end up reuniting a daughter with her actual parents.
Leo Hardy is the sole provider for his family after the death of his father. Years before his father was fired from his employment at the Pendelton Mansion for involvement in the kidnapping of their daughter Josephine however there was never any legitimate proof. Leo is deadset on seeking the reward money so he goes to find a willing actress to play the part.
Enter Josie Smith a young woman who no idea who her real family is other than a stuffed rabbit that she has had since childhood. When she meets Leo it is under the pretense that he will be her manager to help increase her career as an actress and singer. However, once she finds out the truth of his motives she will truly wonder if he was ever sincere in helping her career in the first place.
Overall this novel was a pleasure to read. I adored that they included the actress Lotta Crabtree as a character. The fact that it was based off of Anastasia was wonderful and I wish the real Anastasia could have been lucky to have a happy ending.
I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

DNFed after 11 chapters. I don't think this a badly written book by any means, but I found myself not enjoying it and wanting to do something else. This book has some spicy in it and it is an age-gap romance.

Can a handsome confidence man be trusted with your career? Can he be trusted with your heart? Should he be trusted at all? He takes his family responsibilities seriously, but. . . still. Josie Smith wants to be a famous singer and Leo promises her he can make it happen. Josie is no fool, having practically raised herself since being dropped off at an orphanage. She knows the ways of the world and knows she has to keep a close eye on Leo. This is one of those stories where you know what you want to happen, but that outcome is not guaranteed.

I normally LOVE Joanna Shupe but this was a huge miss for me unfortunately. I just didn't like the hero at all!

Long story short, The Gilded Heiress was not for me. I was very excited about an Anastasia retelling in New York, but the magic this could have been was lost to a very creepy male protagonist. And I mean very creepy. A conman finds an 18-year-old girl, 10 years his junior (ew), who he thinks he can pass off as the missing daughter of a family he dreams of getting his revenge against. He exploits her love of singing and promises to make her dreams come true before lying and scheming his way into her heart... and her bed. He says it's love, but I never believed him. He holds her future in his hands, thereby essentially making her do whatever he wants. She set ground rules and boundaries before they entered into their partnership, and he began disregarding them almost immediately. He took her away from her home to New York where she became 100% dependent on him and he relished that fact. He locked her in the house they were staying at so he could go off galavanting all night and then got mad at her that she snuck out. The way he spoke to her was manipulative and predatory. His unfiltered inner thoughts were even more repulsive. Nobody needs to be in this guy's head. When the romance started to gain momentum, I wanted to run in and rescue her. There was nothing sexy or swoony about any of this for me. All I saw was a 28-year-old man taking advantage of an 18-year-old girl by dangling her dream in front of her nose like a carrot.

I should have just DNFed when I got to the very detailed (and honestly uncomfortably written for my taste) threesome in chapter 2 that I've been trying to scrub out of my brain since I finished the book weeks ago. Our hero made law enforcement mad, so he ran to his friend's brothel and OF COURSE the only way she could hide him was to throw him into bed with two women who could take turns sitting on his face so the police officer wouldn't recognize him when he barged into the room. I didn't sign up for this! I continued because I love the movie Anastasia. I know that this storyline sounds very similar to the movie, but the difference here is the age gap (in the movie they're only a couple years apart) and the fact that this guy seems predatory. That's not how the movie is. I continued because I wanted to see how things ended, but if anything this book has just ruined the movie for me because now I'll be thinking about it the next time I watch it. I know people love Joanna Shupe, which is why I own 6 of her other books. This was my first full-length novel of hers (I read and loved a Christmas novella of hers, Miracle on Ladies' Mile, last year) and I truly, truly hope her other books are not like this one.

I found this one to be uncomfortable and I got a really bad vibe from Leo and the predatory way he interacted with Josie, emphasized by the way she was so much younger than him and how he used her dream of singing to get her to do whatever he wanted. I love a good con, but this didn't feel fun- it felt like he was exploiting her, not like they were in on it together, especially when physical intimacy got involved. I can't recommend this to new fans of historical romance, but fans of Shupe or diehard readers of the genre may enjoy it more.

A fun historical romance with a unique premise. When I saw this was an Anastasia retelling I jumped on the chance to read this. I definitely think it did Anastasia justice while also being different enough to hold its own. While I'm not a huge fan of larger age gaps, especially when the younger person is freshly an adult, I looked past it due to the time period and ultimately enjoyed the romance between the two mcs. The spicy scenes were spicyyy and the overall plot was inventive and fresh.

I did not have a good reading experience, but I am not a dark romance reader, and I prefer my romance novels to be more serious than just a spicy mess. this book proved itself to be first and foremost a spicy romance in that there was an unnecessary threesome scene in chapter 2 involving the male love interest, and two women in a brothel, either of which are our female lead.

I also am firmly against most age gaps, especially when one of the characters is barely legal. and I must say although I am almost always biased against, this one felt extremely predatory because the male love interest was trying to scam and take advantage of the female protagonist.

Anastasia but make it American! I'm a HUGE Anastasia fan, and this was a really fun play on the story-- the movie plotline, that is! Josie is a singer living in Boston who bears a resemblance to the wealthy woman who infamously had her baby daughter stolen from her crib. Leo is the con man who notices the resemblance and decides he can earn some money by taking Josie to NYC to become a famous singer while also introducing her to her potential real mother.

The Gilded Heiress definitely had more spice than Anastasia, but I wish it was a little spicier. I also found myself skimming through a lot of it since I definitely knew the gist of what was happening.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my thoughts!

This was a light read. It was a nice story, though predictable with no surprises. Some of the love scenes were a bit too graphic for some of my regular patrons.

I'm a big fan of Joanna Shupe's books that take place during the Gilded Age. And once again, she has written an engaging story with witty characters who have a strong connection that builds into a steamy sex scenes. This time the story is about an orphan and a con man with big dreams that starts in Boston and moves to New York's theater and Knickerbocker societies. Shupe's character development and stories draw you in and before you know it, you've finished the book.

I highly recommend The Gilded Heiress.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon/Harper Voyage for sharing this ARC with me.

This was my very first book by this author, and I absolutely loved it! It was so captivating it kept me hooked from the very first chapter!

An Anastasia retelling. Josie was left as an infant. Growing up in the streets, she wishes for more in life: being a famous singer. On the other side of town, while not being so different, Leo Hardy uses his charm to swindle his way to make money. When he sees Josie, striking a resemblance to the long-lost daughter of the Pendletons, he sees green. The enormous reward is one thing but to have revenge is quite another.

I love historical romances, and the era that isn't often written is the gilded era, think New York late 1800 or the show Bucaneers. I love reading romances set in that time, and Joanna Shupe dominates the field.

Thank you to Netgalleyand Joanna Shupe for the ARC. All opinions are my own

A definite fairy tale about Josie, a girl who grew up in an orphanage, but at 18 is determined to live her own life as sings on the street or in saloons. She meets Leo who sees a potential for greatness. Leo is a con man who take Josie to New York to follow her dream.

Everything Joanna Shupe writes is a must read- The Gilded Heiress included! The heroine was bold and brassy and the hero was a brooding cutie. I loved the mystery and intrigue of the story and was so excited for their HEA! Loved it.

The cover is what really drew me to this book. I was just as pleased with the story as I was the cover..

This story was well written and I really liked these characters. The author wrote them in a way that made me feel a connection to them. There are some "spicy" scenes and though I don't really gravitate to books with spice the scenes didn't bother me.

I liked the author's writing style and ability to tell a story that kept my interest. This is the first book by her I have read and will be looking for more.

I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.