Disclaimer: I don’t generally like romance novels, but the fluffy fun in the first book in this series made me want to keep reading. I thought it was a trilogy – turned out to be four books! They say that sequels generally don’t live up to the original. I tend to agree, but the second book in this series seems to be an exception. These gilded-age romance books akin to a 19th century Gossip Girls continue with the same back and forth point-of-views and detailed setting descriptions that made the first one a decent read. It would be easy to dismiss these characters as self-involved spoiled society types with the nastiness of your average teen series on the CW. They mistake lust for love and fall so instantly in passion (and bed) that one can’t help feel they are more fantasy than substance. And yet. The historical setting helps support the need for clandestine hook-ups due to the constraints of the period. The rich text (Godbersen uses enough high-falutin’ words that I had to look up more than a dozen of them) gives you a real feel of “being there.” Rumors picks up nearly to the day that Luxe ends and maintains a strong and steady pace that makes you want to turn the page (or, in this case, hit the forward button). It’s not short, but I had to read it in a sitting just to see what happened next. Since each chapter takes on the story-line from the point of view of a different character, the anticipation is as torturous as a soap opera. Sadly, the second book took an unhappy turn near the end. I know, I know, it is de rigueur in romance to throw in something tragic, but as mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of that style. This kind of tale, I want a happy ending. More Pretty Woman, less Liaisons Dangereuses. The third book, Envy, continues the darker tone. Even though the fourth book, Splendor, doesn’t lose any of the strong style I did get wearied of it. By book four, I was kind of “let’s get this done.” Familiarity breeds contempt – there was one plot twist too many and I finally got sick of the dress descriptions. At one point, a conversation ended and wasn’t picked up until four chapters later. I kind of had enough. The final book ends as it should, if not as I had wished. With the myriad cast of characters there are many morals to be had, including “just desserts.” The one theme that surprised me was representative of the times. Godbersen is a very thoughtful writer. These books span from 1899 to 1900. Queen Victoria, who typified the model of a graceful, womanly ideal, passed away in January of 1901. The year 1900 wasn’t just the beginning of a new century, it was the end of an age and the birth of “Le Moderne.” The true moral of the book lies with one of our heroines, who has to decide whether true love conquers all or whether she should walk away from the one she loves rather than lose herself in saving him. For those who like a colorful and juicy tale replete with lots of sex set in a semi-mythical past, go for it. The ladies of this series would. 
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