A Daring Arrangement: The Four Hundred Series

Nicely written and well paced story but didn't really fully engage me. A pleasant read for summer evenings and a glass of wine!

Enjoyable read. Likeable H and h. Missed out on 5 stars as I would have liked more tension and conflict. Sweet romance though.

Thoroughly good funThe party on horseback actually happened too

A Daring Arrangement is the first book in the new series The Four Hundred by Joanna Shupe.Lady Honora Parker believes she is in love with Robert, a poor artist living in London. When she is found in a compromising situation with him her father sends her to her aunt in America and expects her to 'get over' Robert. She has no choice but to leave but it isn't long until she comes up with a plan that should make her father order her back home sooner rather than later.Julius Hatcher is a very rich, very handsome man who has a reputation for being a bit of a rake. He's every father's nightmare, no proper gentleman would want their daughter associating with such a wild man. Which makes him perfect for Nora to have a faux engagement with. When gossip about the couple reaches her father in London she will be ordered home immediately.Julius has his own reasons for agreeing to play along with the faux engagement, reasons that make it impossible to be the wild man that Nora needs him to be. Still, she perseveres with her plan and the more time that she spends with Julius the more she questions her love for Robert back home.Will Nora's plan work, and it if does, will it still be what she wants? What of Julius, will he be able to let her go when the time comes?I loved reading how Julius and Nora started to have feelings for each other, and how Julius tried his best to help Nora with her quest while trying to remain able to continue on with his own one. The passion building up between them was palpable and I was so relieved for them when they finally gave in to their lust.Alongside the fabulous romantic aspect of the story, there is the intrigue of Julius trying to settle his score with past enemies. Is it those very men who are trying to scare Julius and Nora when they set fires and ransack Julius's office? There is quite a twist to the story which I did not see coming, a couple of twists actually. Not knowing at all who could be to blame for all the trouble, and of course waiting for Nora to realise she should be with Julius and not Robert made the book one that I had to read as fast as possible so I could find out the outcome. I wasn't disappointed!I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers' copy of this book.

Lady Honoria (Nora) Parker was caught in a compromising situation with Robert Landon, an aspiring and penniless artist. Nora, the daughter of the Earl of Stratton, has arranged the entire scenario so her father will be forced to see her wed to the man she loves, alas, her planned backfired and she was sent to New York to stay with her affable aunt and uncle, the Cortlands.Nora is adamant to return to England post-haste. She devised a plan to find the most scandalous man in New York to agree into a fabricated betrothal with her. Her father would not allow such scandal, she will be summoned home and she hopes she will be able to convince the earl to consent to her marrying RobertFinancier Julius Hatcher, utterly gorgeous, debauched, wealthy and ostentatious. High society is highly amused by his antics but deemed him unacceptable in their esteemed hallowed halls. Nora struck a bargain with the dissolute maths genius, he to pose as her betrothed and she to gain him access to high society functions he covets.There's more to Julius Hatchard, that the gossip rags painted him to be. He's a self-made successful man in his business ventures. He's also desperate to find the men responsible for his father's business failure and demise. Nora provides him a means of entry to the high society where his prime suspects are. In return, he will assist Nora to be with her Mr Landon. Daring arrangement but they both think they could pull it off.Joanna Shupe wrote another beautiful novel. Julius and Nora's slow-burn romance was fabulous. There were few stupefying moments. The secondary characters were remarkable. Julius and Nora's witty repartees were marvellous and their undeniable chemistry were palpable. If not for their audacious plans, they would not have realised they suit each other to a T. Ms Shupe made New York in 1890's dramatic and stimulating and put her indelible stamp in the forefront as the most credible Gilded Age romances author.I recommend this. I look forward to the next book. Five stars.