This was a good, quick read. I enjoyed the play between the characters and the plot but something was just a little off with the pacing/villain for me, that I can't quite put my finger on, which is why I gave it a 4 rather than a 5.

Beatrice and Wes were favorites of mine. I couldn't put this book down. Ms. Rodale continues to fascinate with her Gilded Age books. America at its finest with strong women leading the way.

This is a great book if you're in the mood to visit the Gilded Age in New York City. I really enjoyed the feel of being in New York City during the 1890s - the suffrage movement was gaining momentum, the age of department stores has really come into it's prime, and just the overall feel of the setting was amazing in this book. I truly felt like I was there experiencing the time myself.

Beatrice Goodwin returns from England as a divorced woman to find the department store she loved in financial difficulty. She also finds the man she once loved now owns his own department store, which the main competitor to her family's store, and is one of the richest men in NYC. Rather than let him buy and destroy her family store, Beatrice decides to fight against the stereotype that women belong in the home and takes over running her family's store to bring it back to its former glory, all with the help of the Ladies of Liberty group (a group in favor of women's rights, including the right to vote).

I love the witty dialog between Beatrice and Dalton, and I especially love how he comes to embrace Beatrice's independence and her savvy business decisions. The chemistry between them is off the charts, and together with the amazing Gilded age setting, I really enjoyed this book. The details of the suffrage movement as well as the details of how department stores became a sanctuary for many women to escape the daily grind (in combination with the love story) made this book almost magical. I absolutely would recommend this book to anyone in the mood for a little early 20th century New York City!

Note: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought Beatrice was a fantastic and well-drawn heroine. I thought Dalton was an interesting hero. I thought that the book's detailed accounting of the Gilded Age was rendered in an intriguing and feminist way. I loved the group of professional women and their dedication to helping each other and improving the lot of women in New York City. I enjoyed this book so completely that I read it in one sitting. The twist involving Beatrice' mother was one that I didn't see coming and I loved it.

Where I think the book fell down was in the romance. I felt a connection between Beatrice and Dalton but it never felt very romantic to me. I felt them as competitors and as old flames who were comfortable around each other. I also thought the mystery really detracted from the book.

Overall, I thought this was a great addition to the series and a very fun read.

Feminism, gilded age New York, and second chance love all wrapped up in a nice pink shopping bag.

Beatrice Goodwin returns from England a scandalous divorcée only to find her family store on the brink of bankruptcy. She doesn’t want to sell this place she loves, least of all to her first love who loved money more than her.
Wes Dalton has grown his fortune and became the richest man in New York. All he wants is revenge...and possibly the love of the one who got away.

I really loved this book. It was so believable and so lovely, I could not put it down. I LOVED Beatrice and her independence. She was her own person and worked so hard for what she wanted. Dalton was perfect. I truly love an alpha who can recognize/love a strong woman and not feel threatened. Even the intrigue towards the end was surprising, made sense, and was a great way to wrap up the book.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 💍💍💍💍💍/5

Once again Maya Rodale delivers an impeccable Gilded Age romance sparkling with characters who live life vividly with hope for love and fear of loss. How does one go about leaving a life others dream of because it’s not right for them and engineer a life that is right for them and undreamed of by others? Beatrice and Wes do exactly that with all the fear and trepidation that entails yet with hope their love will no longer be denied, but appreciated and rewarded in kind. A thrilling and unusual romance that should be on your bookshelf! Highly satisfying.

Bravo! I received an arc of this book. I was hooked from the very beginning and felt like standing up and cheering at the end. Maya Rodale has written a modern romance with women characters that defy the times. Beatrice is the daughter of a wealthy department store owner and betrothed to a Duke. Wes Dalton is the young man who has has stolen her kisses and her heart. At the time, Beatrice is afraid to follow her heart and marries the Duke where she spends 16 years bored and stifled. She divorces the Duke and returns home to discover that the beloved family store has grown tired and about to be sold. Beatrice’s spirit emerges and she decides to transform the family business. But who is her competition? Wes Dalton has worked himself to become one of the richest men in the city and owner of the biggest and best department store!
It is a complicated romance but Maya Rodale has written a fabulous story for the time! Life is about choices but we all must do what makes US happy!

An Heiress to Remember by Maya Rodale

I have been away from the writes of Ms Rodale for a while and I realized what I have been missing. She is talented and witty and certainly knowledgeable about the time period she writes.

The story has a sad ring to it because of the love lost for 16 years. Beatrice Goodwin was forced into a loveless marriage to a Duke. She gets up the courage to divorce him and return to America where she is considered scandalous.

She assumes the reins of Godwin’s Department stores and she meets up with her former true love Wes Dalton the owner of a competitive store. This book is so full of historic nuances I loved it. It is a must read.

I’m all for women taking control of their lives and making a stand for what they deserve but I felt the heroine was a bit over the top. I felt nothing for her and I found myself skimming a great deal. This story wasn’t exciting enough to keep me wanting more. It was just okay.

I love second chance romances but even I couldn’t care one bit if these two got back together.

Definitely not a book I’d recommend.

Oh, this book! An Heiress to Remember made me crazy. It's a book that in the first half was like a two that slowly became a four, and so I averaged--it was so close to being so much more but two things drove me crazy, Beatrice Goodwin chooses duty over love in the beginning of the book by throwing over a poor employee of her father's department store by marrying a British duke. Several years later, she returns to New York City as a divorcee, and when she finds her beloved store run into the ground by her brother and about to be sold, she decides to fight for it....only to become entangled with Wes Dalton, who had spent the years after being left behind by Beatrice building up his own department store empire. Unfortunately to Bea, he had done that with money taken from her mother after Beatrice wed the duke.

So what were the two things?
1. Bea was ridiculously mad over the fact that Wes took the money. He took it after she dumped him and married the duke! He was poor! He wasn't going to keep working for your father! Are you kidding me? You were going to live in England! Good for him for taking the money. Also she was mad for waaaaay toooooo long in this book.
2. Was Wes's real name Inigo Montoya? Because he had sworn for revenge! Against the Goodwins! Revenge! He was going to ruin that department store! If I had been drinking every time he ruminated on his revenge, I wouldn't have been able to finish the book. There's a scene in which he finally realized it was ridiculous (and I would have been ok too if he'd realized it served its purpose and moved on) but it was way too late in this book.

There were so many good things in the book (descriptions of New York City, strong female characters throughout and some quite romantic moments, like the specially commissioned silk that Wes makes for Bea) but the points above made it a "take it out from the library" read for me.

An Heiress to Remember is the third book in The Gilded Age Girls Club by Maya Rodale. The series is based on a group of women who belong to The Ladies of Liberty Club which helps women to advance in professional roles. This was a wonderful addition to the series and had great characters. Each book in the series seems to get better and better.
Beatrice Goodwin choose to marry a Duke rather than marry the man she loved, Wes Dalton. She returns to New York City sixteen years later as a divorced duchess. She was ready to finally start her life. When she discovered the family business, Godwin’s Department Store, was facing financial difficulties, she was not about to give up and let her brother sell the business. With some suggestions from the ladies in the club, she realized that women made the purchases for the households. What better way for a store that caters to women’s needs than to have a debut party to announce the remodeled store!
Wes Dalton had worked hard to build his business, Dalton’s, and he had sworn to have revenge against Goodwin’s. He was determined to shut the store down. During the competition between Beatrice and himself, he came to respect Beatrice and realized that he had worked for success just to finally be able to impress Beatrice with the money and power he didn’t have when she left him for the duke. He has to decide what matters the most to him, winning the competition or winning Beatrice.

Beatrice and Dalton were each others first love, but their romance ended horribly when Beatrice chooses duty over love. Years later, Beatrice is returning to Manhattan after securing a divorce from the duke. She is ready for her second chance at life and is upset to discover Goodwin’s, her father’s department store, is about to be sold after being run into the ground by her inept brother. Beatrice devises a plan to save the store, but she has an unexpected competitor in her former love Dalton. Dalton has had one thing on his mind since it was pointed out to him at a young age that he would never be good enough for Beatrice - revenge. He started his own department store and has dominated the industry. The last phase of his plan? Buying Goodwin’s and destroying all it stands for.

There are so many good things to say about this book. Beatrice is an amazing character who experiences so many relatable offenses as a working woman. Through her character, Rodale not only gives us the experience of a woman in power, but also what it is like to be a woman whose dream suddenly becomes other people’s dream too. Beatrice experiences the pressure someone feels when suddenly your failure means the disappointment of so many others. Luckily, Beatrice has the support of the Ladies of Liberty (the feminist club that has been featured in the previous books in the series). Never underestimate the power of women working together!

Dalton is also a great character and I often got nervous, because I didn’t want to see his store fail due to Beatrice’s success! Dalton is a pretty typical male in my opinion. I mean he is better than most and while he might seem woke to issues in the world, he still has a lot of work to do! (In his defense, I believe we can all be better!) The start to their love story is a product of the times, so it was great to see how they could resolve their long standing and new issues as adults.

I can’t end this review without discussing what I love most about Rodale’s work - her research. Rodale provides proof that yes, these characters she is writing are based on real women. They existed and we have a duty to learn their story. I teared up during the author’s note for more than one reason, but I applaud Rodale for providing proof that women like her characters existed. I know someone out there will deem this book “unrealistic”. News flash, it’s not.

An Heiress to Remember by Maya Rodale is the third book in the Guilded Age Girls Club series.
This novel gives readers an enemies-to-lovers and second chance romance between department store rivals, Beatrice Goodwin and Wes Dalton. As these strong main characters struggle and push each other, renewed passion blooms outside of their competition. Readers will be captivated by the rich historical setting, as well as, the breathtaking rivalry-turned-romance between Beatrice and Wes. Maya Rodale offers readers yet another brilliant addition to the historical romance genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is not the first Maya Rodale book I've read and it certainly won't be the last! Her writing style, setting (1895 New York City), and characters were enjoyable to read and kept me entertained throughout a several hour plane flight. The two main characters have a fraught past- both individually and together- which adds a lot of depth to their story arc. My only gripe is that the main female character sometimes acted and spoke in an anachronistic way, which was a bit unbelievable in the context of the time period.

A Gilded Age romance. An American heiress marries an impoverished English Duke. Sixteen years later, she returns to New York City divorced. Wes Dalton loved Beatrice, but she chose to marry the Duke instead. Now Wes has an empire built on revenge. Beatrice's challenge is to hold on to her family's store and build it back up to compete with DALTONS. Lots of sexual tension and a very vivid insight to the world of big department stores in New York City.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
4 1/2 STARS

An Heiress To Remember had plenty of food for thought and was an unexpected treasure! Whether it was gaining that much desired second chance to discover one’s self or taking another risk at a thing called love, Wes and Beatrice were characters anyone could relate to, regardless of era and gender, because they struggled with the same issues many of us still struggle with today. Highly recommend this one!

I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley and this is my honest review.

I'm not usually one for historical romances set in America; chalk it up to my boredom with American history as someone who lives here and has had to listen to it ad nauseum over the years. I usually go for UK-centric romance. However, Rodale is one of the very few exceptions I'll make. I LOVED this book. It's not surprising that Rodale has turned out a book that features an incredibly competent heroine and a likeable hero, with plot and characterization that lends itself to showing just how badass women can be (and have been!!)
Beatrice is the daughter of a department store owner, forced by her parents to accept the proposal from a British duke over her actual love, a man in her father's employ. What I truly appreciate about this book is that, though Beatrice marries the duke and leaves for England, breaking Dalton's heart, she only feels the need to apologize so far upon her return. After all, she was married off like chattel, and is fully aware that as a teenage girl in the late 19th/early 20th century, she had nearly no agency. She is sorry to have hurt him, and regrets that she was pushed into a loveless marriage only to have to push for divorce, but she's back in New York to live her life and do what she feels called to do.
And what she does!! While it's probably purely fantasy to dream about a woman of the time period reopening a store and giving women of most stations a place to take time for themselves, and fully considers what women want and need in the period, it is also immensely satisfying. Likewise, her feelings on payment. When Dalton jokes that he got to be the richest man in Manhattan by paying his female employees less than the men, she doesn't smile. She doesn't let him off the hook. She asks him how he can possibly be proud of that fact, and tells him he should know better.
Wes' understanding of what she's doing, why she's doing it, and why it's so necessary not only for her business but for the good of the women who shop there hit me straight in the heart. This is a mature, loving, supportive hero. His mantra that she's ruined his life, that he's used for so long to motivate him in business, falls apart the minute he realizes that she was pushed into a situation that made her miserable, and his ideas of vengeance are petty and useless in the face of what he could have if he just gave up on retribution and appreciated her for the woman she was and who she is now.
This is a book devoted to considering the needs and desires of women who have always had to put the men in their lives first. This kind of writing is precisely what gives me hope for historical romance as a genre and is both sweet and deeply satisfying.

I'm a long-time Maya Rodale fan, and this title didn't disappoint. The story takes place during the Golden Age of NYC, and is essentially a love letter to every woman who wants to find the love of her life, and still report in for work on the following Monday.
Beatrice is driven, with nothing left to lose after successfully divorcing an English duke.
Wes is the Irish immigrant who worked his way to success through guts and good instincts.
They work well together in the best ways we should expect from our romances. Neither has to lessen themselves to fit in the relationship. They support and challenge one another to be healthier, wiser, and more honest.
But the best part of this book for me (I'm a history nerd), was the intimate way it highlighted the marketing and sales in department stores during the Golden Age. Simple concepts we take for granted, such as a woman's restroom, were unheard of once upon a time. Rodale puts her heroine at the front line of innovation, building Ladies bathrooms in her store, thus allowing the women of NYC to comfortably leave their homes for long periods of time. All of this is historically accurate, and should shed light upon the conditions our foremothers operated within while they championed for equal rights.
Here we are over 150 years later, still fighting for pockets in our clothes, childcare in our workplaces, and equal pay. So, no--our work isn't done yet. But this book, while being a wonderful love story, also shows us that brilliant women have come before us.

What an amazing book! I just finished it, so forgive me for this scatterbrained review. 

Beatrice Goodwin has come back to New York in a scandal. She left 16 years before to marry a duke, and has returned, newly divorced, to revitalize her family's department store. However she is taking aback by the new, gargantuan department store across the street -- run by the man she left to become a duchess. 

Wes Dalton has spent the last 16 years becoming a successful department store tycoon, and just as long focused on getting revenge on his first love for leaving him to marry a duke. He has amassed the third largest fortune in New York in the hopes of buying the Goodwins' department store so he can destroy it.

But of course, once Beatrice takes it over and remakes it into a ladies' paradise, he begins to see what a shame that would be. 

I loved watching these two come back together over their shared love of retail. As someone who once worked retail, I do not personally have a rosy view of it, but this book made me forget the hell that is modern retail. Rodale paints the department store as an experience for women to have outside of the home, a new getaway from the life as a wife, mother, sister, daughter. A place to just be for a while. 

This is the third in the Guilded Age Girls Club series, and I love the feminist bent that each one has. The focus seems to be taking something that is uniquely feminine -- fashion, cosmetics, shopping -- and turning it into acts of empowerment for these characters. This whole series has been so refreshing to read. Out of the three, I think this one is my favorite so far, and I hope they continue to get better and better.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a decent historical romance with a strong, divorced duchess looking to reclaim her store from a former first love. I admired the feminist approach the author took with the heroine. She chose to reclaim a failing empire and build a store designed for woman. She put up a fight and did not allow love to throw a shadow on her dreams.
Having said that I did feel the romance suffered a bit as it felt forced and stagnate. Both kept bringing up the past and it put too much weight on the story.
Nonetheless it was a worthy novel.