She’s smart and funny and confident in herself. She doesn’t want to tell Ted what she saw, partially (and adorably) to keep him safe.Ĭlara is a member of the working class who has aspirations to succeed. Clara’s not – she witnessed a crime and an unsavory policeman pursued her to Grand Central. When she doesn’t, it raises suspicions – perhaps she’s planning to take advantage of him. He assumes that she must know who he is, not for egotistical reasons, but because that’s the way of things in New York. well, a tycoon, although he doesn’t tell Clara this. We learn that Clara sells perfume in a department store, and Ted is. Oh, catnip, your name is forced proximity! The rest of the story takes place over three days as Clara and Ted travel west. They board the train – more specifically, his private rail car. But his masculine instincts kick in and he decides (correctly) that Clara must need help. When she suddenly kisses him, he’s even more surprised. The novella opens with a “meet cute” – a young woman, Clara, approaches a stranger at a Grand Central Station and addresses him as “husband.” Ted is, needless to say, puzzled, although not so puzzled that he fails to notice how pretty she is.

I’ve not come across many historicals set in this time period, and it’s a welcome change from the ubiquitous London Season. “Tycoon” is a charming story set in the Gilded Age. But as her secrets begin to unfurl, their fledgling romance could be in danger of derailing before they arrive at the next station. He’s everything she never thought she could have, and she’s everything he didn’t know he wanted. 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. Ĭlara 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. Louis in his private car–perhaps against his better judgment. Disarmed, he invites her to spend the journey to St. 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. Standing on the platform at Grand Central Station, Ted Harper is surprised by a fiery kiss from an undeniably gorgeous damsel in distress. In Gilded Age New York City, the bachelors of the Knickerbocker Club spend their days rubbing elbows with Manhattan’s most elite citizens–and their nights with its most intoxicating women. Sometimes the journey is more pleasurable than the destination.

Baron by Joanna Shupe