Rumors (Luxe, #2)

by Anna Godbersen

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.

• ISBN10: 0061345717
• ISBN13: 9780061345715
• Publish Date: 13 December 2013 (first published 1 June 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 446
• Language: English

Reviews

[catiebug]

So I loved this book but not as much as I loved The Luxe. There was definitely a lot to keep you wondering, but Rumors was a bit more predictable.

I loved being able to see how Elizabeth and Will were living in California and seeing how her "death" affected everyone back in New York. I'm still totally in love with her character because she mostly goes with the flow of things, but she also does what she wants also. It's kind of cute how she seems to want to rebel but still plays by the rules. Almost like someone who thinks breaking the teachers pencil is extremely bad.

Henry changed so much in this book from how he was in the first and I think a lot of that has to do with Diana. He wasn't my favorite in The Luxe, but I love how he stopped putting up this cool guy front and showed who he really was. People expected him to be upset about Elizabeth's death, but he didn't seen like it would really bother him and it would just be an act, but it really did get to him.

I still really don't like Penelope at all and now I don't like Lina because she has grown to be too much like Penelope. I just hate how they both are so full of themselves and they're both pretenders and fakes. However, they do make the story more interesting and I don't think there would be much to it if they weren't the way they are.

I'm totally disappointed with the ending though. It's not that it was bad, I just wish it wouldn't have ended that way. I hope that things end up working out and it ends up being one of those things where they lead you to believe it's true but in the next book, it turns out to not be. It's really hard to give my opinion on it because I don't want to give away any spoilers because you definitely don't expect this to happen. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

I love this cover. I love the cover of The Luxe more but this one is still beautiful. And I think I'm starting to see that the first one it was suppose to be Elizabeth and I think this is suppose to be Penelope. I guess the other two will be Lina and Diana. It may not be, but they way they are described, it seems as though it fits.

[Katie King]

I reread Rumors to prepare myself for Envy and Splendor, which have been sitting on my TBR shelf for quite a while. Now that I've finished it again, I have to say I'm not sure I ever quite finished it the first time around, because I don't remember any of the details from the second half of the book. So I suppose it's good I read it!

All the same characters are there, which is unfortunate (in my case), because that includes Will and Lina. For Will, I don't necessarily mind him being with Elizabeth and everything, I just don't like HIM. I don't think they're really meant to be together and I wonder if Elizabeth "would've" (I say that because obviously she's fictional) gotten over him if they had been stopped and she remained in NY without him. So suffice to say I'm satisfied with the ending.

Lina bothers me because she's just a pathetic social climber. It's one thing to work hard to become one of them, but she's just a con artist, a pretender, who happened to get lucky and try to con a very nice, lonely old man who now takes care of her. She's forgotten where she started and become petty and nasty like all the rest of them.

And of course there's still everyone else I loved, even Penelope a.k.a. basically Satan. There's all the gossip and scandal and secrets I loved about The Luxe. This is an enjoyable series for me, though not particularly thought-provoking.

The Luxe series (a.k.a. this series) has never really pretended to be something more complex than it is. It is foremost a "guilty pleasure" type of read. Some say it's like Gossip Girl set at the dawn of the 20th century, and I completely agree. But I think Rumors introduces some plots that will ultimately payoff as proof of how good just a "guilty pleasure" can be. I really look forward to Envy.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

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 Schoonmaker, 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.

I thought for this review I'd do a run down on all the characters.

Elizabeth it appears has been inducted into Sainthood after her untimely death and because of such, keeps creeping back into dark corners.

Diana is looked upon as the poor younger sister to the deceased Elizabeth Holland and has tossed in her lap saving the Holland name. After her sister's disappearance she pursues a secret love affair with her former fiance Henry Schoonmaker and that really takes center stage for interest in the book. Think Madonna's "Like A Virgin".

Penelope is a conniving bitch and if there is any character development at all it is that she has become more ruthless since her on-again off-again best friend's untimely death.

Lina has been dismissed from the Holland home and after her former mistress's departure sets her sights on finding Will in California, but first she has to make herself a refined lady. During her first few rocky days on her own she befriends a con from Lord and Taylors and finds herself a sugar daddy. She also begins to follow in Penelope's footsteps.

This is a very engrossing series of books with a huge twist at the end that left me a little sad. At the moment there can be no happiness for the Holland girls. But it always gets darker before the light doesn't it? Maybe there's still hope before all these intertwining stories come crashing down.

[rakesandrogues]

I didn't like it as much as the first book. I truly hated how Elizabeth's chapters were so short. Penelope used to be a fun mean girl to read about but now it got too irritating. I didn't want to continue reading the series after this book, but the cliffhanger just made me want to read more. I believe that it is all rumors.