Envy

I could not put this down. I was hooked from page one and found this one so much more riveting and engaging than the previous release in this series. I will say that I think you need to read the others in this series, or at least that previous release, prior to reading this one. This is definitely a salacious emotion-filled soap opera. I hated that there was no happy ending before, and I still don't like that we don't get a conclusion in this one, but I had to give it the 5 stars because I absolutely couldn't stop reading this. The entanglements of all of the characters and their problematic lives was so entertaining to read. I rooted for Diana and Elizabeth to find happiness in their lives and I felt the anguish at their circumstances. There was so much deception by all of the characters and they all eventually suffer the consequences of those deceptions and of their choices. I want to read the next release right now. Here's hoping this author comes out with a comparable follow up and that the series doesn't drag out too long. I see this and the last in this series is listed as teen reading, but I am definitely not a teen. I would definitely recommend these books for older teens and adults......an addictive read!

Penelope is the envy of society. She is married to Henry Schoonmaker and has everything money, privilege and blackmail can buy. But she cannot force the affections of her husband, or the loyalty of her friends. Elizabeth has lived quietly since her return to New York. Grieving the death of her husband Will --- who she cannot recognize publicly --- her mother still hopes that she can make an advantageous marriage to fortify the family fortunes. But Elizabeth harbors another secret, one that will force her to marry or to live a life of shame. It falls to Diana to uphold her family's position and reputation. The arrival of her father's mining partner has provided a temporary reprieve from the family's financial woes, but she still supplements her income by selling society scandal to newspaper gossip columnists. Diana is also nursing a broken heart. Why would Henry Schoonmaker marry Penelope Hayes when he was really in love with her? Needing to escape the dreary winter that is post-holiday New York, ENVY features a trip to the opulent pleasure grounds of Palm Beach and the now-vanished splendors of the Royal Ponciana Hotel. Away from the prying eyes of the New York press, Palm Beach is the perfect place for clandestine meetings and new flirtations. Diana finds that Henry's marriage has not dulled his interest in her, while she also struggles to make sense of the attention she's receiving from Penelope's dashing brother Grayson. Elizabeth finds a renewed affection for Henry's best friend Teddy, while the self-styled heiress Carolina Broud finds herself courted by the wealthy and eccentric Leland Bouchard. Unfortunately, the reprieve of the Florida resort does not last forever. After the death of Carolina's benefactor and guardian, Carey Lewis Longhorn, they return to New York's cold, damp streets and the lives they left waiting there. ENVY is the third book in Anna Godbersen's Luxe series set in Gilded Age New York. Her characters still sit at the top of the world, but are now living with the consequences of their choices. Hope for love and personal happiness is swiftly vanishing, along with the cash they all require to continue living their lavish lives. Carolina Broud's situation is most perilous. When her benefactor dies, she is ejected from her hotel room and has most of her belongings seized. Briefly acting as the social secretary to another upstart heiress, she is thrown out and spends a night on the streets contemplating her future. She has no real friends. Her friendship with Penelope is built on blackmail. The money she lived on was stolen or belonged to someone else. Her sister still works as a maid in Elizabeth and Diana Holland's house. Briefly taking a job as a seamstress, she sees the life she has always dreamed of vanish into drudgery. The Luxe series affords the same guilty pleasure and curiosity that must have fueled readers of Gilded Age gossip columns. Godbersen's rigorous attention to detail with descriptions of parties, gow

Like the other two Luxe novels I loved this book. It drives you mad how the author makes things appear like they are going to work out, but in the end everything goes completely wrong! I like that this story isn't always about happy endings. These kids do mischievous things and when they are about to be exposed they have to do things they don't like to cover up what they have done. Therefore, nothing goes they way it suppose to. Can't wait to see how they get out of their next trouble!

Anna Godbersen is an amazing writer, and I simply adored this book. As soon as I was finished reading it I was trying to find out when the next and final book was coming out. Anna, I will forever be a lifelong fan!

Envy, the third book in Anna Godbersen's Luxe series, picks up just a couple of months after Book Two left off: Penelope has managed to snag Henry, Elizabeth is mourning the loss of the love of her life, and Diana's determined to go on with her own life now that Henry's unavailable. Mix in former maid Carolina, and several misunderstandings, and you've got the stage for intrigue, gossip, and backstabbing that makes this series so wonderful. I wanted to inhale this book, but forced myself to slow down so I could wallow in the triumphs and troubles of New York's elite in 1900. Penelope, having achieved her goal of marriage, can't force poor Henry to love her, but she can make her "friends" jealous, which is why she arranges a train trip to Florida with all of them. While Penelope's confident she can bring Henry around somehow, Henry still only has eyes for Diana. Just when it seems things might work out for the star-crossed lovers, however, fate (in the form of Penelope) intervenes once again and things become much bleaker for all concerned. More than once I wanted to jump through the pages and invoke bodily harm on a character; more than once I felt like screaming that someone needed to just step up and take charge. When it all does come together at the end, I still wasn't satisfied--we're left on a major cliffhanger (or two) that won't be resolved until the final book of the series arrives. This series is such a guilty pleasure, filled with the high-minded, the rich, the underdogs, the over-the-top, and the rash. I love every page; Anna Godbersen has managed to capture not only the era and the settings, but also the personalities for a successful young adult soap opera. I freely admit I'm hooked, and cannot wait for the next one. BTW, I also love this cover the most of those so far. I can picture the model as our feisty Diana, ready to take on the world.