I put off reading the second book in the Luxe series for awhile because I wanted to the savor the end of the first book. Luckily the beginning of Rumors by Anna Godbersen drew me right back into the dramatic ending of the first book. This review will not spoil anything in Rumors, but it will assume that you have read the first book in the series.
At the beginning we are reminded that Elizabeth Holland is dead, of course we know that she actually is not dead. Instead she has traveled to California to meet her lover and her family's former footman Will. Will has it in his head that he will strike it rich with oil. Elizabeth loves Will and wants to believe in him, but her wealthy past and good sense tells her this might not be the case. She has a lot of time during the day to think about her life back in New York as well, so Elizabeth isn't as happy as she thought she might be. She takes solace in the fact that she still has her engagement ring from Henry Schoonmaker. If things ever got too bad, she could always sell that.
And back in New York Elizabeth's sister Diana is desperately in love with Henry. Henry, however, doesn't know that Elizabeth is still alive. When he finally comes out of mourning he can't wait to get back to Diana, but his best friend Teddy assures him that he cannot fall in love with Diana. It just wouldn't be right. This gives the semi-evil Penelope the perfect opening to win Henry's attention... or bribe him for it.
I love, love, loved 89% of this book. This of course is a completely false percentage because I'm horrible at math, but we'll say that is how much I loved. There was so much of Diana in this book that I couldn't put it down. I just adore Diana. Elizabeth was a little flaky to me. I was so annoyed with her faithless attitude towards Will. Poor Will though... such a dreamer. My two biggest complaints about this book are Lina Broud and the ending.
Lina Broud is a side character. She used to be a maid and is also in love with Will, but when she is fired from the Holland household she lies about her past to everyone she meets. In this book Lina is climbing the social ladder in a completely idiotic way. Basically I thought there was too much Lina in this book. Her character is annoying. She is unappreciative (which makes no sense because she used to be a maid) and kind of full of herself. I liked her more in the first book when she was genuinely in love with Will. You will see in this book that she is not.
The ending, you'll have to decide that for yourself.
This novel earned a B.
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