Playing the Part (Review)

Author: Jen Turano 

Genre: Historical Romance

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Bethany House Publishers 

Lucetta Plum is an actress on the rise in New York City, but is forced to abandon her starring role when a fan's interest turns threatening. Lucinda's widowed friend, Abigail Hart, is delighted at the opportunity to meddle in Lucetta's life and promptly whisks her away to her grandson's estate to hide out.

Bram Haverstein may appear to simply be a somewhat eccentric gentleman of means, but a mysterious career and a secret fascination with a certain actress mean there's much more to him than society knows.

Lucetta, who has no interest in Abigail's matchmaking machinations, has the best intentions of remaining cordial but coolly distant to Bram. But when she can't ignore the strange and mysterious things going on in his house, it'll take more than good intentions to keep her from trying to discover who Bram is behind the part he plays.

My Thoughts

All books that I have read by the pen of Jen Turano have been wonderfully entertaining, and have an amazing sense of comedy that she has mastered more and more in each and every book that she has written. This is no exception. At times I laughed right out loud and it was such a lighthearted book that I could not help but love it and read it with a smile. I have not read many books with actresses in it so this was defiantly a new experience and I really enjoyed it. 

I did very much like Lucetta. She had a great character and was not who or what all thought she was, and the fact that she was an actress made her character all the more colorfull and full of layers.  She was strong, no-nonsense and very sensible yet very funny and I appreciated that immensely.

Bram was a very entertaining. His ideas and his goals in life were laughable and I did think that he was perfect for Lucetta.

I thought that at times it moved a little slowly and required a bit of urging to pick it back up, but other than that it was excellent.

If you like historical romances and also comedy this (and really any of Jen Turano's books) is for you.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Leah

A Sweet Misfortune (Review)

Author: Maggie Brendan

Genre: Historical Romance 

My Rating: 7/10

Revell

Rachel Matthews isn't one to rely on others to take care of her. Destitute and alone, she still wants to make her own way and her own money--even if she's forced into the life of a dance hall girl. Horrified by her circumstances, Rachel's brother sends a friend--the widely admired cattle baron John McIntyre--to rescue her, then sets off to earn enough money to buy back the family ranch. But when months pass without her brother's return, Rachel isn't sure she can take one more day in John McIntyre's home--especially once she discovers that he's the one who holds the deed to her family's ranch.

Sparks fly between this spunky, independent heroine and the ruggedly handsome hero as they navigate the snarled terrain of pride, greed, faith, and love in Maggie Brendan's delightful series set in the Old West. 

My thought:

I have cracked the cover of another historical romance. Historical romances are all over the place so for me to come across one that I really enjoy is rare. 
This book was good but not stunning and not one that will be remembered forever in my book.
I thought that Rachel was not very unique and was a little bland to read about. Although I thought that John was a pretty good character.
I was a bit confused at first because the story seemed to progress SSOOOO quickly and I that made me feel like the story could have been over halfway trough the book. And I felt like it was just your average historical romance that was not very captivating and lacking in adventure. 

But overall the writing style was great and this will not stop me from reading another of her books  

My rating: 7/10

I received this book for free from Revell in exchange for my honest review 
Leah