'"Rumors"

Synopis from B&N.com:

After bidding good-bye to New York's brightest star, Elizabeth Holland, rumors continue to fly about her untimely demise.

All eyes are on those closest to the dearly departed: her mischievous sister, Diana, now the family's only hope for redemption; New York's most notorious cad, Henry Schoon-maker, the flame Elizabeth never extinguished; the seductive Penelope Hayes, poised to claim all that her best friend left behind—including Henry; even Elizabeth's scheming former maid, Lina Broud, who discovers that while money matters and breeding counts, gossip is the new currency.

As old friends become rivals, Manhattan's most dazzling socialites find their futures threatened by whispers from the past. In this delicious sequel to The Luxe, nothing is more dangerous than a scandal . . . or more precious than a secret.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Luxe, and I figured that when Rumors came out, I'd fall instantly in love with it also. But I have to say that I was a tad bit disappointed.

Though the original story told in the previous book was interesting and she could have continued that story and expanded it even more in this book, it fell a little short. Yes, it had it's moments when you were completely captivated by the characters and plot, but it also had more than a few times when you almost wanted to either: a)skip it, b) chuck the book, or c) ask the author what in the world she was thinking. Especially the ending... but I don't want to spoil it, so I won't say anything beyond that!

In the first book, the story was filled with drama, romance, characters that were always committing backstabbing against so called friends, and plenty of ever-changing plot twists. It was a nice take on a time period that we do not often think about or read about: New York City in the 1800s. It wasn't the perfect presitge era we've come to think it was! And the fact that it was written for a teenage audience, even though a person of any age could read it and enjoy it, was something new and compelling.

So where did the story go wrong? Why was it that I wasn't 100 percent satisfied with Rumors even though I loved The Luxe? Honestly, I think it was because a lot of the lying and sneaking about, the romance and drama, was gone from this book. It sounded more like an old diary entry from the time period or even a plain old fictional book based on the era. She didn't expand any more on the characters or their stories, the love between Will and Elizabeth wasn't there as much *though, yes, they were missing from most of this story, but still!* and the budding romance between Henry and Diana was cut short and seemed rushed and not real!

4/5 STARS! It was an okay read, and if you liked the first one, you should still read this one. I will probably still come back to the series to read the next book, Envy, mainly because with a title like that, it has to be interesting.. right?....and also because I'm hoping that somehow, by some miracle, Anna Godbersen will bring back the person she killed off in the last chapter or so of this book... I doubt it, since this isn't a fantasy book, but I can always dream... I think that this person's death was what really made me lower this rating from the '5' that I gave Luxe to the '4'. Otherwise, it's a perfectly nice read, but it's now where near as thick and complicated as the last book, which was a pity, really.

~TBQ~