Book Review: "Playing the Part" by Jen Turano

Descripton

Playing the Part

Jen Turano

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

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Review

Actress Lucetta Plum is distressed to learn that her most unwelcome admirer, Silas, has returned. He is convinced that her continual rejection is just a game and that she really does desire him. Silas’s determination sends Lucetta into hiding. Her matchmaking, elderly friend Abigail, finds her a place to stay at Abigail’s grandson’s home—and plans to match-make the two in the process.

Playing the Part is amazing! I read it in less than twenty-four hours and love it immensely! Full of laughter, romance, danger, and character growth, it was absolutely fantastic! Jen Turano has developed a reputation for writing hilarious books, and this one is no exception. It was one part mystery, one part danger, and one part romance.

Some of the things I, personally, find the funniest are situational humor and irony. This book was full of both. It has the most absurd situations I have ever heard of! I mean, a goat that hates dresses, dynamite-wielding servants, and a haunted castle complete with a cannon, a moat, and villagers with pitchforks in late nineteenth century America? Those are definitely unusual, at least as far as time and place, and the author put it all together in a way that strikes me as absurdly hilarious. I loved it!

There were definite gothic elements in this novel. After all, one of the characters was a gothic writer. So, creepy castles, riders at midnight, torture chambers, and people sneaking around at night. The book was definitely not creepy or horrific, though. The only part that is a little creepy was the perverted Silas, willing to kill or kidnap when necessary.

I adored Playing the Part as well as the previous books in the series and would highly recommend it for those who enjoy funny, historical romance.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House’s blogger reviewer program in exchange for an honest review.