REVIEW: Mogul by Joanna Shupe

Mogul by Joanna Shupe: Joanna Shupe is back with another addition to The Knickerbocker Club series, and – dare I say – Mogul might be my favorite one yet. I loved Magnate so much (It is on my Best of 2016 list) that I almost feel guilty saying this about Mogul. Perhaps I should be like a mom with her children and just say I love them both equally?

Don’t worry if you have not read the prior two books in the series because they are stand-alone reads, but if you have, you already met Calvin Cabot. He is a self-made man who began his career as a reporter and is now an extremely successful businessman. He owns three newspapers – including the one he used to work for – and essentially has control over the New York media. If you control the news, you can manipulate information to your own needs, which makes Calvin a very powerful man.

What no one knows is that Calvin was married to the wealthy, beautiful socialite Lilian Davies four years ago. Lili and he fell madly in love when he was still just a reporter. They eloped without the knowledge or approval of her wealthy, business tycoon father. He found them on their honeymoon, and blackmailed Calvin into annulling their marriage and never allowing him to explain why to Lili or see her again. Lili was devastated believing he abandoned her.

They have not spoken in four years when Lili’s younger brother goes missing. She reluctantly seeks Calvin out because she needs his help to find him, and his connections are her only hope. Calvin isn’t happy to see Lili and doesn’t want to help her, but when he realizes the search for her brother will help him with a matter he’s been working on, he agrees too help her. He is doing this for his own self-interest and hopes he can limit his interaction with he.

What he doesn’t plan or want is to fall in love with Lili again, but their dormant feelings and attraction resurface quickly. This also exposes old wounds, and the past is a painful gulf between them. Their love story isn’t an easy one, but the challenges make their happily ever after all the more satisfying.

Ms. Shupe has created an interesting and sexy story with lots of chemistry. She has a talent for making Historical Romances more sexual than you normally expect, and Mogul is no exception. I love the story’s historical setting in America, and Ms. Shupe brings the period vividly to life and includes an interesting storyline of Chinese immigration during the time. Mogul shouldn’t be missed, and I hope this isn’t the end of The Knickerbock Club series!

Book Info:

 1/31/17 | Kensington Zebra | The Knickerbocker Club #3

The privileged members of the Knickerbocker Club can never climb too high up the social ladder. But for one charming New York bachelor, does the ascent take precedence over love in the Gilded Age?

As owner of a well-respected national newspaper, Calvin Cabot has the means to indulge his capricious taste for excess—and the power to bring the upper crust of society to its knees. So when a desperate heiress from his past begs for his help, Calvin agrees . . . as long as she promises to stay out of his way. Except, like the newsman, this willful beauty always gets what she wants.

Lillian Davies lives a life brimming with boundless parties, impressive yachts, and exotic getaways. But when her brother disappears, Lily knows that blood runs thicker than champagne and she’ll spare nothing to bring him back alive. Unfortunately, the only man who can help her is the one she never wanted to see again. Can Lily keep Calvin at arm’s length long enough to save her brother and protect her name . . . even when the tenacious powerbroker turns out to be absolutely irresistible?