Tycoon

The Knickerbocker Club, Book 0.5

by Joanna Shupe

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"Sometimes the journey is more pleasurable than the destination... Standing on the platform at Grand Central Station, Ted Harper is surprised by a fiery kiss from an undeniably gorgeous damsel in distress. He's certain she's a swindler who's only after his money, but he's never met a woman so passionate and sure of herself. Disarmed, he invites her to spend the journey to St. Louis in his private car — perhaps against his better judgment.

Clara Dawson has long known how to take care of herself, but the savvy shop girl is at a loss when she witnesses — and becomes entangled in — a terrible crime. Desperation propels her into a stranger's arms at the train station, but she hadn't expected Ted to offer her the protection she so badly needs — nor did she expect their chemistry to develop more steam than the engine of the train. He's everything she never thought she could have, and she's everything he didn't know he wanted. But as her secrets begin to unfurl, their fledgling romance could be in danger of derailing before they arrive at the next station."

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So, late to the game as usual, I recently found and started listening to the Fated Mates podcast, and it’s been really fun listening to their discussions about the Immortals After Dark series, which I’ve been reading since forever.

Times like these, I really wish I’d been better at tracking my reads with Goodreads — or any other means, really — because the first time registered is 2017, and I definitely remember waiting for at least Lothaire to be released in 2012, and I honestly think I waited for releases in the series even before that.

Anyways, between the IAD books, the podcast does episodes on other books and tropes, and though I’ve wishlisted many of their recommendations, this is the first one I’ve bought immediately. I own so many books already that I haven’t read yet, so I try not to buy too many books at the moment, but I just couldn’t resist this one:

It was brought up (rightly so) in an episode about road trip romances, and I really liked the sound of it. Strangely enough, I actually haven’t read too many US based historicals, and the premise and characters sounded really interesting. Frankly, as soon as the first meeting was described, I was sold and the book was bought.

This first one is just an itty bitty novella à 65 pages, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed after a quite big reading slump. It is so well written, with a clear and straight-forward plot. I really loved it, beginning to end. I was captivated from the very first line, and who wouldn’t be?

Ted Harper never saw it coming. One minute, he was alone on the platform, and the next he’d acquired a wife.

Of course, I also knew from the pod what was coming next, and it truly did not disappoint.

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Nearly the entire novella plays out on a train. Our heroine Clara witnesses a murder and while escaping the scene ends up at the Grand Central. To hide from her pursuers she goes straight up to a random man on the platform and pretends to be his wife. This, of course, is our hero Ted Harper. He is justifiably baffled by this strange woman who’s come out of nowhere and is clinging to him, but he soon notices that she’s glancing around nervously, and surmises that she’s hiding from someone. Ever the gentleman, he invites her onto the train, and they then have to spend several days together on the way to St. Louis.

Clara is a perfume shop girl and Ted is (of course) the owner of a bank and one of the richest men in the country. So it’s an opposites attract, forced proximity, road trip story.

Ted is captivated by Clara from the start, but I liked that Clara first describes Ted as pretty ordinary. He’s not overly handsome, or tall, and he wears plain clothing — but he has a confident, self-assured air about him, which intrigues her. As time goes on, he then becomes more and more handsome in her eyes. Which is why I was a bit disappointed when it turns out that he’s got abs. It might seem silly, because of course he does — he’s a romance hero, after all. But I thought it was rather wonderful just how he became more attractive the better she got to know him. It just wasn’t necessary, and frankly seems a bit out of character for this quiet, gentlemanly, workaholic banker. He does fleetingly mention at some point that he’s had to fight a bit to get to where he is, but frankly that seemed like it was a while back, and besides, being able to throw a punch doesn’t automatically equate abs, either.

The conflict between our two lead characters, since they quite quickly decide that they like each other, is that she, trying to protect him, doesn’t tell him the full story of why she is on the run, and he, sensing that he’s not getting all the details, thinks that she might be a swindler out for his money. Actually, the term he uses is “flimflam artist”, which I’ve never, ever heard before. The conflict was a bit frustrating — but it’s supposed to be, and as a reader, you’re supposed to get annoyed with the characters and the lack of clear communication.

I really liked that Clara turned Ted away at the end when he comes to apologize after finding out the truth. Of course, this is a romance, and they were always going to end up together despite the road trip element to the story (which would usually signify a clear end date to the acquaintance). Because of this, it’s not at all a surprise when Clara’s brother brings her back to Ted on the train. I would personally have loved to see Ted’s POV while visiting Clara’s family to explain what’s happened and ask for her hand — and I don’t see the point in hiding it from the readers, since we already know it’s coming, and it wouldn’t have affected Clara’s surprise later.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the story the whole way through. I really liked their chemistry, and a lot of the time I chuckled at a thought or description thrown in there.

I also wanted to quickly mention the bit where Clara helps Ted with his business dinner on the train: He’s been struggling with getting a contract from a Mr. Webber, and during the dinner it becomes clear that the reason is that the man’s wife is sort of the true owner of the business. Well, they own it together, but it was her family’s business from the start, since generations back — and all these men, both Ted, his employees and their competition, have all completely disregarded the wife during discussions, which has rightly pissed her off and caused them to reject the offers.

“The business is as much mine as my husband’s, if not more so. But your Mr. Harper and his people never address me. Never ask the questions of me. Never even consider my input. I will not go into business with a man so inconsiderate in his thinking.”

I might love her.

Clara, of course, quickly sorts this out while posing as Ted’s fiancée, and charms Mrs. Webber completely. Ted obviously is very grateful for this, and even admires her for it — which is soo important in a relationship, that there is respect and admiration on both sides.

I’ve added the next book, Magnate, to my TBR and look forward to continuing the series with Emmett and Lizzie.

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⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌶️🌶️🌶️

~🖤~ FAVOURITE QUOTES ~🖤~

Between her loud red hair and even louder personality, she caught his attention… even when she remained silent.

Her presence on this train felt like a gift, a reward after years of solitude, or the first bright, sunny day after weeks of rain.

But the good type of staring… that’s the one girls dream about. Where he watches because he’s mesmerized, as if he’s trying to count your every heartbeat.