Romance in the Gilded Age

BY SUE BAKER / THE FREE LANCE-STAR

JANET Evanovich and Dorien Kelly have teamed up again, this time for their first historical romance, reminding us what good storytellers they are.

Set in the late 1890s in New York City, “The Husband List” has all the charm and grandeur of the American gilded age. The reader is wrapped up in the luxurious lives of the ultra-wealthy, experiencing the lavish lifestyles and social expectations of the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. It was a time when American new money married Old World social prestige. It was a time of expensive clothing and jewelry, transcontinental travel and parties. It was a time for a little intrigue and a lot of romance.

Young heiress Caroline Maxwell is searching for true love. Her mother has other ideas. She is searching for a suitor with a title. Caroline is a smart, very independent, young woman and hates staying home frightening off the men her mother hopes will ask for her hand in matrimony.

Caroline wants more in life than just a title. She wants Jack Culhane, her brother’s Irish-American nouveau-riche friend who, without a title, is totally unacceptable in her mother’s eyes. Jack and Caroline share quick wit, love of adventure and passionate, tender moments that will bring them together.

This book is thoroughly enjoyable, with both writers going off their normal paths to make an exceptional blend. It is like trying a great cup of English tea, rather than the same old coffee.

Sue Baker is circulation services manager with The Free Lance-Star. She can be reached at sbaker@freelancestar.com.

THE HUSBAND LIST

By Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

(St. Martin’s, $27.99, 320 pp.)

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