Review: The Philadelphia Heiress

The Philadelphia Heiress by Anita Abriel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book gave me a bit of a difficult time with it. Our main female character, Helen Montgomery, acted like she was living in the 19th century instead of the early 20th. I had to keep reminding myself that it was 1927, and she was Main Line and ultra-rich with certain standards to uphold. But darn, she was stubborn. I kept reading, though, and finally realized that this story is loosely based on one of my favorite old-time movies with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn. Things got better for me once I realized this.

The author does a lot of name-dropping and descriptives, and I think she put a lot of research into this novel. It really shows and makes for some very interesting reading.

The story does pick up quite a bit once you hit the 60% mark with a little altercation between Edgar and a gentleman called Louis Renault...yes, THAT Renault. And a handsome devil he was, too!

So, this book was worth the time it took to read since I enjoyed it. It's a fast read, and the price for a Kindle ($4.99) copy makes it a very good buy.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Lake Union Publishing - a subsidiary of Amazon, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "In pursuit of happiness, a young woman’s dreams extend beyond money and marriage in this aspirational historical novel by the international bestselling author of The Light After the War . It’s 1927, and Helen Montgomery is coming of age on Philadelphia’s Main Line, where privileged young women are set for life. But Helen has desires of her own. Debutante balls, eligible bachelors, and marriage aren’t among them…until her father is embroiled in a devastating scandal that jeopardizes the family’s financial future and social standing, that is. Then it becomes up to Helen to repair both by marrying a man of wealth and connection. Edgar Scott is as independent as Helen. The black-sheep scion of a railroad magnate, Edgar’s aspirations of becoming an author go against the grain of his own family’s expectations. For a time, Helen and Edgar’s marriage grows from attraction and convenience to genuine loyalty and respect. But as Edgar’s frustrations and rejections mount and Helen’s personal dreams recede, the cracks in the perfect life Helen wants are beginning to show. So begins Helen’s journey of forgiveness, redefining the meaning of perfection―for herself and in others―and accepting with all her heart the mistakes humans make in the name of love.