Today's Special - - Joanna Shupe

Photo by Kathryn Huang Photography

It's my pleasure to welcome Joanna Shupe back to the Romance Dish today. I am crazy about her The Knickerbocker Club series, set in New York City during the Gilded Age, one of my favorite American historical periods. She really brings the city to life during an exciting time in our history. Today, Joanna joins us to talk about her newest book, BARON (out today!), featuring a pompous railroad baron and a faux-Russian medium. You don't want to miss this one! Read Janga's review of MAGNATE here and PJ's review of BARON here. 

Joanna Shupe has always loved history, a fact that is clearly evident in her writing. She was the 2013 winner of RWA's Golden Heart® for Best Historical, her first Regency historical, The Courtesan Duchess was nominated as Best First Historical by RT Book Reviews, and The Lady Hellion was named one of the Washington Post's top five romance novels. Joanna can be found online at: Facebook  Twitter.

Welcome, Joanna!

Gilded Age Women Rise Up

Thank you so much for hosting me today! I’m very excited to be here to talk about my brand-new Gilded Age romance, BARON.

One reason the Gilded Age is fascinating is because it saw the start of the women’s movement. Most of us already know about the brave suffragettes who campaigned tirelessly for women to get the vote. (Incidentally, vote on November 8^th!) But there were other ways women advanced during this time period as well.

Urban areas boomed in the Gilded Age. With the industrial explosion, more and more people moved

off farms and into cities for office jobs. This included single women, who now found respectable positions as secretaries and shop clerks. More job opportunities meant independent income, which meant women could wait longer to marry.

Another respectable occupation popped up as well, and it’s one you might not expect.

During the Civil War, many husbands, brothers, and sons were lost. Those left behind were eager to remember and “speak to” those deceased relatives. This led to an explosion in spiritualism and interest in the afterlife. Many women began a lucrative career as a medium by telling fortunes, holding séances, and speaking to the dead.

Ava, the heroine in BARON, is a practicing medium. As the head of her family, she has three siblings to provide for and being a medium pays extremely well. She sees this as providing a service to her clients, many of whom are so mired in grief over a loved one that they cannot move forward. She sees herself as more of an entertainer and therapist than an outright liar.

The hero of Baron isn’t so convinced. This very proper and pompous railroad baron is horrified by what she does…yet she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

I’d love to give away a copy of BARON! Just comment below with your favorite card game for the chance to win a signed paperback. Thank you!

New York City's Gilded Age shines as bright as the power-wielding men of the Knickerbocker Club. And one pragmatic industrialist is about to learn that a man may make his own destiny, but love is a matter of fortune . . .
 
Born into one of New York's most respected families, William Sloane is a railroad baron who has all the right friends in all the right places. But no matter how much success he achieves, he always wants more. Having secured his place atop the city's highest echelons of society, he's now setting his sights on a political run. Nothing can distract him from his next pursuit--except, perhaps, the enchanting con artist he never saw coming . . .
 
Ava Jones has eked out a living the only way she knows how. As "Madam Zolikoff," she hoodwinks gullible audiences into believing she can communicate with the spirit world. But her carefully crafted persona is nearly destroyed when Will Sloane walks into her life--and lays bare her latest scheme. The charlatan is certain she can seduce the handsome millionaire into keeping her secret and using her skills for his campaign--unless he's the one who's already put a spell on her . . .

Review - - BARON

BARON
By Joanna Shupe
Knickerbocker Club - Book 2
Publisher: Zebra
Release Date: October 25, 2016
  

Born into one of New York's most respected families, William Sloane is a railroad baron who has all the right friends in all the right places. But no matter how much success he achieves, he always wants more. Having secured his place atop the city's highest echelons of society, he's now setting his sights on a political run. Nothing can distract him from his next pursuit--except, perhaps, the enchanting con artist he never saw coming . . .

 Ava Jones has eked out a living the only way she knows how. As "Madam Zolikoff," she hoodwinks gullible audiences into believing she can communicate with the spirit world. But her carefully crafted persona is nearly destroyed when Will Sloane walks into her life--and lays bare her latest scheme. The charlatan is certain she can seduce the handsome millionaire into keeping her secret and using her skills for his campaign--unless he's the one who's already put a spell on her...


 
Joanna Shupe returns to 1888 New York City for another terrific story in her The Knickerbocker Club series. Readers of MAGNATE will remember Will Sloane as a pompous, snobbish railroad baron and older brother of heroine, Elizabeth Sloane. In BARON, he's still obsessively driven to succeed, not only running the railroad but also running for Lieutenant Governor of New York. Unfortunately, his running mate has fallen under the spell of one Madam Zolikoff, a so-called medium. Confident of his social, financial, and intellectual superiority, Will sets out to teach the woman a lesson and expose her for the fraud she is. Little does he know that he will be the one learning the lessons. 

Ava Jones may not have the money or the social connections that Will enjoys but she's one smart cookie. She dreams of a bucolic farm far from New York City where she can give her three younger siblings a good life away from the factories and gangs that threaten to pull them under. As Madam Zolikoff, she is slowly earning the funds she needs to make that dream come true. She just needs a few more months and is not about to let a stuffy know-it-all ruin everything, even if he is handsome. But then she sees flashes of generosity, how he interacts with her siblings, and begins to wonder if there isn't more to this man than what he shows the world. Will he be her worst nightmare...or the answer to her prayers?

Shupe brings the streets of New York to life in this Gilded Age story. After reading MAGNATE, I was curious as to how she was going to make Will into an appealing hero. She not only succeeded, she kept me flipping pages far into the night to find out what would happen next. Ava is a wonderful character and the perfect match for Will. I love how she keeps him on his toes and is a constant reminder that the world does not revolve around him. Shupe skillfully reveals the hidden depths of Will throughout the story, allowing us glimpses into the childhood that molded him into a man driven to prove his father wrong. He's much more complex than I expected him to be. 

BARON stands well on its own but I think readers will have a richer reading experience if they read MAGNATE first as characters from MAGNATE have pivotal roles in this book. If you're looking for an American historical romance, rich in history, with vibrant characters, a fast-paced story, snappy dialogue, and a sigh-worthy romance, look no further than Joanna Shupe's BARON...and MAGNATE!

~PJ