Playing The Part

As he watched the back of her skirt vanish from sight, Bram suddenly realized that the woman who’d just been absolutely thrilled to win a two-line part in a local play was, without a doubt, the real Lucetta Plum, and… she was absolutely nothing like he’d imagined her to be. She wasn’t possessed of a delicate or whimsical nature, wasn’t fragile in the least, and…

He found her absolutely fascinating.

Book: Playing The Part by Jen Turano, Bethany House Publishers, 2016

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Target Audience: Adult Women

Subjects: Faith, Identity, Truth

Summary: Again? How many times must Lucetta pretend to be a helpless female who swoons at every little thing? Playing the part is what keeps her career going though, so she does it. At least until the night her stepfather shows up and announce he has sold her in a card game. Never the mind the fact that he has absolutely no authority over her whatsoever. The man he lost the game of cards to has always been a huge fan of Lucetta, to the point of being willing to commit criminal activities to get to her. The only way to escape him is to either get married to someone (not an option as far as Lucetta is concerned) or disappear for a time. Her benefactor and elderly friend, Abigail assists in the disappearing, finding the perfect place to hide: her grandson’s estate… her unmarried grandson. Bram is quite willing to go along with his grandmother’s schemes. After all, he too needs to ward off admirers – single woman and their mothers who consider themselves huge fans of his money. Besides, he has admired Lucetta from a distance for many years, fancying himself rather fond of her. Except for, well, this woman is far from the helpless damsel in distress he imagined her to be. She’s independent and confident and capable. And she thinks he’s possibly a little insane and therefore has no intention whatsoever of marrying him. He’s playing a part but she refuses to do so. It would seem they are at a stalemate until one of them gives in.

Notes: This is the third and final book in the A Class of Their Own series, concluding the stories of the three friends that Abigail took under her wing and attempted to find husbands for. This is the story of Lucetta. Now that Harriet and Millie are married, Abigail has turned her matchmaking eye to Lucetta, with Lucetta responding with every bit as much horror as Harriet and Millie. As usual the story is filled with random craziness that will either have you laughing loudly or rolling your eyes at the ridiculousness of it – depending on your personality. This one involves a goat, a cannon, a wart, a staff made up of former criminals and a whole group of rich husband hungry women. The spiritual element is seen in Lucetta playing the role of being a faithful Christian when in reality, her walk with good is very weak. She has long been mad that God let her father, the one parent who cared about her, die and left her the responsibility of caring for her more foolish mother. It’s not until she has an encounter with her mother again and start to speak the truth that she realizes how much she has shoved God out due to her anger. The spiritual elements aren’t the focus on the story – the romance and comedy are the huge focus, but there are elements woven here and there throughout the book.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3.5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

John 3:20-21 - Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.