(OOOOO)
Manhattan. 1899. Parties, dresses, romance... and betrayal.
In the highest classes of society in 19th century New York, even the closest of friends will turn on each other to obtain what they desire, or hide their darkest secrets. Heiresses Elizabeth and Dianna Holland, Penelope Hayes, and Lina Broud are right in the middle of all of it. Elizabeth is engaged to a man she does not love, and who does not love her, and wants nothing more than to be with Will, the stable boy who has had her heart for years. Penelope wants power and is willing to crush anything that gets in her way, especially her friends. Diana is young and in love with none other than her sister's fiance who claims to love her too. Lina is Elizabeth's former maid who has managed to climb her way up the society ladder in a less-than honest way in the hope of stealing Will's love from Elisabeth. Lies told and believed weave a complicated web for these 4 young women, will their stories end as they hope?
I fell in love with this book as soon as I picked it up. Though at times it is confusing and seems almost to be a 19th century soap opera, it is intriguing and it kept me wanting to read the next one in the series as soon as possible. It is a historically accurate love story whose fantastic plot will never leave you bored, though sometimes a little confused. You will find yourself quickly taking sides with the very developed characters and getting lost in the beautiful setting that is New York City at the turn of the century. The Luxe Series is an amazing couple of books that I recommend to teenage girls.
Anna Godberson has written 3 sequels to Luxe: Rumors, Envy and Splendor, all of which are fantastic books and I highly recommend. She is also publishing Bright Young Things, a book about the roaring 20s, in October, which I look forward to reading.
