Whew! I don't know what it is about those Greene women but they have the ability to bring strong men to their knees. Justine is no exception, despite her nickname of Miss Do-gooder, bestowed on her by the head of the largest criminal gang in New York City. Jack Mulligan is fascinated by this woman who shows no fear and seems utterly unimpressed with him. Evidently she regards him as a means to an end and nothing more. Naturally he wants to change that attitude! I really enjoyed reading about this battle of wills.

It is hard to figure out who saves who more often, Justine or Jack. Justine is headstrong and fearless but Jack knows the dangers she faces even if she disregards them. Justine is drawn to Jack even if she knows there can be no future with him. As a reader I also know this so I keep turning pages to find out how there can be a HEA.

This is the first book in this series that I have read, and although there are frequent references to characters and situations in previous books, this is still a standalone novel.

I liked the fearlessness of Justine which did not mean she was careless about safety she was just overly confident in her own abilities. Jack for all his King-Pin persona never quite made me feel he was all that powerful. My only complaint about the story. This was a very good read and a welcome addition to my library. I can't wait to read the previous two books in the series.

The conclusion of Joanna Shupe’s Uptown Girls series builds on the strengths of the previous volumes, a smart, tough, modern heroine meets handsome hero from the wrong side of town. The time period of Gilded Age New York City adds a unique dimension to the historical romance genre. The relationship between do-gooder debutante Justine Greene and king of the downtown criminal empire Jack Mulligan develops with lots of heat, humor and emotion. The story was well-paced and a great mix of romantic tension and adventures. Highly recommend and I can’t wait to read what Joanna Shupe writes next.

GAH I JUST LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH!!!! This was such a wonderful conclusion to The Uptown Girls trilogy. I adored Justine and Jack together. Their chemistry was everything and the smut in this was 🔥🔥🔥 (probably the best sex scenes of the series???)

I loved the overall plot plus the extra “fun stuff” like the scene where Jack and Justine bowled together in Jack’s own bowling alley. This is definitely one of my favorite historical romances now! I have such a soft spot for this series and these characters and I can’t wait to see what Joanna Shupe comes out with next!!!

**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!**

The Devil of Downtown is hands down my favorite in the Uptown Girls series so far! Jack and Justine are just so good together. I honestly didn’t find a moment in the entire book where i wanted to set it down or had to trudge through, it was a delight from start to finish.

Great series, with strong female characters and themes of modern feminism. Modern industrialism and immigrant history are also incorporated, making this a unique take on historical romance.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I’ve enjoyed the Uptown Girls series so far, so I approached book three, The Devil of Downtown, with both excitement for more of Joanna Shupe’s Gilded Age world and the Greene Sisters in particular, but some trepidation, as criminal types like Jack are the type that usually send me running far away.

And while I don’t think that Justine and Jack live up to the perfection of Florence and Clay, they work much better than I anticipated, given they are opposites personality wise. I love all the idiosyncrasies about Jack that make him the opposite of what I’ve seen before in a criminal mastermind hero, from his care with his appearance to the way he showed respect for Justine in bed, thanks to his education from his mother and the other sex workers he grew up around.

I also liked getting more insight into Justine and her work with the less fortunate, especially since she was always the least fleshed out character in the previous books. I like that while she’s sensible and compassionate, she also does have some naïveté, and it’s portrayed without her being annoying.

Speaking of her sisters, I like seeing their relationship, and I find it funny, yet not out of character that Mamie and Florence are warning Justine against doing some of the things she’s doing, a point that is brought up in-text. The Greene sisters have a great relationship with one another, and I love the small ways it has shown up not just in this book, but the others as well.

I really enjoyed this one, and can’t wait to see what Joanna Shupe does next. If you liked the series so far, or are looking for a historical romance about a “devilish” hero, I recommend this one.

I loved this book so much! I am not usually a fan of the do-gooder heroine, but Justine Greene was a badass. She was so smart and pragmatic. She knew what she wanted and went for it. And I loved how the hero fell totally and completely head over heels in love with the heroine.

I loved this series and can’t wait to read this author’s next series set in Newport!

Born into a wealthy and prestigious family, Justine Greene eschews society in favor tracking down deadbeat husbands and fighting for fair working conditions downtown. Jack Mulligan is the kingpin who has consolidated most of the local gangs into a criminal empire. When Justine’s mission brings her into Jack’s territory, she finds herself falling into his world of power and dirty deals.

This is the third book in the Uptown Girls series. It’s best read with the other two books in the series. I love reading about this Gilded Age period and Joanna Shupe writes it so well. For me, this book was a great blend of story and sexiness.

Jack is a great anti-hero: fatherless, orphaned at twelve, and having worked his way up from nothing to a man who wields significant power. He can carry himself like an aristocrat, but he has a deliciously dirty mouth! He commands loyalty with force, but there’s also a kindness behind him that the heroine draws out. Justine wants to make the world a more just place; but while she’s not exactly the sheltered and naïve girl her sisters believe she is, Justine still has an outlook that relies heavily on right and wrong. She doesn’t take seriously the dangers of the city or see how political everything, including policing, really is. I liked the way this story was layered…it felt like a good balance of characters having to overcome their completely different worlds without making it too simple or too impossible for them to find their way together at the end.

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #TheDevilofDowntown #NetGalley

Loved this book! Shupe definitely saved the best story for last. It was my favorite in the series. The chemistry between the main characters was off the charts and the book was unbelievably steamy. I have recently discovered Shupe and cannot stop recommending her to historical romance fans.

This was a well written story which required some suspension of disbelief. I didn't understand how the older sisters thought Justine was so sheltered when she was doing work for her older sister and her brother in law. I enjoyed that she wanted to be a detective however her upbringing and the way society was structured had me wondering at some of the things she was doing. The romantic banter was on point.

I've so adored this series, my first from Joanna Shupe. The Greene sisters are a force of nature, and I loved getting to know them!

Justine Greene is the youngest of 3 daughters, and she loves her family, though they all treat her as some kind of naive child most of the time. She has a servant's heart, and she loves to help others who are less fortunate. Especially when the people she's helping have nowhere else to turn. Since her eldest sister Mamie, and Mamie's husband Frank, started the local legal aid society she's been helping with cases there, as much as she's able. Often when they've done all they can, she can investigate further. Lately many of her cases have been tracking down deadbeat husbands/fathers, and forcing them to give financial support to the families they've left behind. She has a detective who helps her, though he's not always available. While tracking one man, she discovers he works for the largest crime syndicate in town, and she hopes the man in charge will help her to find her target.

Jack Mulligan grew up in a brothel, and then on the streets after his mother's death. He's had a VERY rough life, and he learned quickly how to fend for himself. As he got older, he started amassing some power, and before long had warring street gangs all combining forces under his rule. Now at 32, he runs a huge syndicate, who are involved in all manner of illegal dealings, but never brothels. He's the most powerful man in town, and he likes it that way. He worked hard, and fought hard, to get to his position, and he plans to stay on top as long as possible. But, lately there's a local upstart looking to usurp him, and now he's got an uptown do-gooder on his doorstep demanding his help. His attraction to Justine is unexpected, and he doesn't think it could ever be reciprocated, but he'll try to sway her to his way of thinking any way he can.

Jack and Justine's chemistry was SO HOT, and you could feel it leap off the page, from the first moment they met. I loved how she wasn't scared of him, and didn't cut him any slack, and all of that just made him want her even more. She was an enigma to him that he was determined to discover, and everything about her caused him to continue on his course to getting her to give in to him. They played push-and-pull beautifully, all while truly getting to know each other, and their connection was just MAGIC.

It was interesting to see another side of our main characters from the earlier two books, Justine's older sisters, Mamie & Florence, as well as their men, Frank & Clay. How they treated Justine, as the "baby" sister to be coddled and protected, as if she didn't know her own mind, was quite hypocritical, knowing what all shenanigans they got up to in their own books. It was actually shocking to me at first, as I expected more understanding from them. But, both sisters wanted to protect Justine, and knew that Jack was a step too far as a romantic partner for her, as the family would never accept him with his criminal connections. Though he truly wasn't all that different from Clay in book 2, in my opinion, so I thought the sisters were being WAY overzealous. But, family dynamics are funny that way, and seeing both sisters from Justine's POV was very enlightening as to why Justine is the way she is. Jack's right-hand men, Rye and Cooper, on the other hand, both loved Justine, and fully accepted her into their circle, and I loved that contrast to how her sisters were behaving.

Jack and Justine had such a full, strong connection, that when cracks started to show, I was dreading that black moment. The author really made me love these characters so fiercely, and I wanted them both to get everything they wanted, without knowing how she was going to get them there. I loved this story so much, and could not have asked for a better ending to this series. I highly recommend all 3 books!

Shupe's end of the series, turn of the century romance doesn't disappoint. Justine Greene is a woman on a mission to find a husband who abandoned his wife and children. Showing up at Jack Mulligan's door was her first option. Jack wasn't expecting the do-gooder to be such a fascinating lady. From then on, Jack is willing to do anything she asks. Until Justine realizes asking comes at a price. I just couldn't put it down! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

I lovelovelove a romance where the biggest baddest hero of them all is brought to his knees by the last woman he ever expected, and Shupe's conclusion to the Uptown Girls series cements it as one of my all-time favorites in historical romance ever. I was expecting this to be sexy, but I was not even close to expecting how swoony it would be in terms of Jack and Justine's love story. Talk about grand gestures and high stakes! The Greene sisters are so charming and unrestrained and know exactly what they want, and that was never more apparent than here in Justine's book. I'm a little sad that this trilogy is over; can we get more in this series? Pretty please?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Justine Greene is the youngest daughter of the wealthy Greene family. Since she was young, Justine has dedicated her time to helping the underprivileged. As an adult, she helps locate men who have abandoned their wives and children. She goes to the infamous Jack Mulligan for help locating a missing husband. Jack is a powerful man who has gained control over parts of New York. He is surprised that Justine is not charmed by his looks, power, and personality. I loved reading about the Gilded Age of New York. Joanna Shupe did a great job showing how young women like Justine were thinking about women's rights and questioning the custom of marriage. I really enjoyed the give-and-take relationship between Justine and Jack. After seeing glimpses of Jack Mulligan in the other two books in the Uptown Girl series, it was great to learn more about his background. This historical romance book was full of character-building, action, and some mystery. I just wish that the ending of this book wasn't so rushed. I wanted to see more scenes with Duncan Greene, Justine's father, and Jack Mulligan. For fans of Sarah Maclean and Kerrigan Byrne.

The Devil of Downtown is hot little slice of Gilded Age New York City.  Watching the last Greene sister fall in lust, admiration and love while fighting the cruelties of the world provided me with yet another wonderful treat.

Justine Greene (sister Florence and Mamie, heroines of books one and two), works for the Lower East Side Aide Agency, an organization whose mission is to promote the welfare of the city’s poor. She has entered the den of iniquity that is Jack Mulligan’s private office to make a request of him. She wants him to help her speak to Robert Gorcey, an employee in Mulligan’s casino who has abandoned his family and refuses to pay for the living expenses of his family of five, driving two of the children to the workhouse.

Mulligan – who meets Justine with another man’s blood on his knuckles – refuses to speak to Gorcey and interfere with a private family matter. She threatens to call the cops, he threatens to hold her hostage – both are impressed with the temerity of the other, but aren’t about to give an inch.  Jack grew up an orphan on the streets of New York and crawled his way to the top of the food chain – which is why he’s impressed by the surprising mettle in society girl Justine’s gaze.

Soon, Justine finds herself in dangerous circumstances thanks to her refusal to back down from the abusive husbands and partners whom she deals with on a daily basis. She turns to Mulligan for support, and intrigue kindles into lust.  But will love follow.

You know what you’re in for with Shupe’s strong heroines and bad-boy heroes, who have hearts of gold and who find respect, friendship, lust and love together.  The seedy underworld and glittering ballrooms are portrayed with equal detail, and her hero and heroine are equally memorable. There will be one semi-public sex scene during the zesty affair (this time the author goes more trope-traditional with a carriage encounter).

Mulligan has a lot of emotional scars, and Shupe isn’t afraid to make him dark and complex – and Justine, too, is no saint, nor is she a paper avenger. Together they make the reader bound happily beside them on the rough streets of New York, watching everything and enjoying the intrigue and the passion.

The romance combines heart and respect and manages to make them both compelling due to their mutual acceptance of one another. There’s a beautiful moment during a love scene where Mulligan shows Justine the physical scars left over from years of physical, brutal battles, and her reaction makes the book – and their relationship.

The plot is speedy and action-packed, and it does a good job of keeping the reader on their toes. Yet overall this isn’t my favorite among the Uptown Girls books (that would be book two, The Prince of Broadway).  But The Devil of Downtown is still a good read, and will likely satisfy Shupe’s many fans.

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This ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.

When Miss Justine Greene meets with local gangster Jack Mulligan to try to chase down one of his thugs who’s left his wife and children, she refuses to back down or be intimidated from helping those who need her help. Even though Jack is a self-proclaimed villain, that doesn’t stop him from being drawn to Justine’s strength and fierceness, even though he knows better. As their lives become more intertwined so do their hearts... can they be together while being on opposite sides of the law?

I thought this book was a great utilization of a standard romance trope without making them tacky or obnoxious. I thought Jack’s vulnerability could have been flushed out a little bit more, it almost made sense but missed the mark by just a hair. I would have liked to see more BIPOCs and LGBTQIA characters, however it was nice to hear them discussed and featured within the background of the narrative.

The main protagonists fight for the disenfranchised, express anti-racist sentiments, and fight for what’s right even though it may not be considered ‘proper’ way to act. This is a Gilded-age historical romance fit for 2020.

This is the first book I have read by Joanna Shupe and I look forward to reading more of her in the future.

Book 3 of the Uptown Girls series. This book can be read as a stand alone book. But as the first 2 books are about the oldest 2 sisters and they are in these books, if you read them it adds to the story.
This book takes place during the gilded age, turn of the century. A time when New York is growing in leaps and bounds and changes and challenges are happening just as fast.
This book is about Justine, the youngest Greene sister and Jack Mulligan,whom we met in book 2. Jack is a crime boss and a gang leader. He is quick witted, handsome and intelligent (speaking 4 languages ).
Justine is quiet and reserved, but fierce. She has a big heart and it is her mission in life to help the down trodden, people coming here for a better life but getting lost in the shuffle.
2 people who couldn't be more opposite. Then one day their worlds meet and nothing is the same again.
I started this book and couldn't put it down. In fact this whole series was that good. This story kept a steady flow between action and romance. I loved seeing the heroine blossom and come in to her own. At the same time the hero learns how to soften and accept love.
Outstanding story! 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was very well written with a syntilating plot and style. I enjoyed reading this book, until the inconsistencies started. The heroine is a 'do,-gooder' for the Legal Aid Society of New York City. She goes into the slums, ghettos and boweries of New York, looking for husbands that have abandoned their families. The story states that she has been doing this for 5 years. Everything is fine so far. Then we find out that she is 20 years old. There is no way a woman under the age of 23-25 could get away with walking around those neighborhoods without getting raped. The sharks would have scented the smell of fresh blood before she even took 5 steps into the neighborhood. This heroine should have started working on missing husbands at age 23, once she had determined that she needed to stay single in order to help the lower income class. She should really be about 28 or 29 years old. And the author agrees! One chapter after the heroine's age is announced, she is introduced to her next case and the woman was, ",,,was young, perhaps twenty, or so..." And the young woman had 2 children already. This is a major inconsistency in the store. Everything about the heroine, dedicated to the poor, wears inexpensive, worn clothing, behavior, manner of speech, her character, all point to an older spinster. The hero is 32, and worked himself off the street to be an extremely rich crime lord. His character is that he has women begging him to share in lustful pleasures. So why is he interested in a plain jane like the heroine. The characters could use some work. But the rest of the story is glorious, exciting, sitting on the edge of your seat adventure. And the glorious romance. Sigh. I really wish I could give this book a higher rating, but the inconsistency and unbelievableness of the characters cause a lower star. I am a stickler for believable, likeable characters. I give this 3.5 stars since neither character is acting appropriate for their age and background. But the story was so good.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a decent historical romance. Justine is determined to help those less fortunate and uses her cunning and steel composure to get what she needs for her clients. She meets with Jack who is the kingpin of the criminal world and asks him to intervene in a domestic dispute. He is immediately taken by Justine brazen, contrary nature and decides to pursue despite her obvious dislike of him. While I usually I'm partial to good banter and a bit of angst, I wasn't completely taken with how infatuated Jack becomes with a heroine who shuts him down at every turn. This appears to excite him and make him more persistent. I felt like he could have toned it down a bit
Overall, a decent novel with a few worthy moments of intrigue.