Playing the Part - Jen Turano

Playing the Part is the third installment in the series "A Class of Their Own," where we get a deeper look into the life of Lucetta Plum, the actress friend of Harriet and Millie.  Independent, intelligent, and secretive, Lucetta is not impressed by admirers or gentlemen seeking her hand.  Rather, she keeps a personal bodyguard to fend off unwanted intentions and lives her life on her own terms.  Until a particularly determined admirer attempts to force her hand, and her life takes an unexpected turn - not only leaving her to depend on others, but entwining her in her protectors' own mysterious situation.

I really enjoyed both previous books in this series, In Good Company, and After a Fashion.  I love Jen Turano's witty, bright, and strong heroines.  Unfortunately, I felt that this story fell a little short of the previous two.  Maybe it was because the character of Lucetta Plum doesn't really let herself be known by the people in her life, it also makes her feel aloof to the reader.  Although many of her secrets, as well as Bram's - the leading male character - were eventually revealed, it was more of an exchange of portfolios than a true revelation of character.  Bram, however, was a delightful counterpart to Lucetta, a "collector of misfits," as she describes him.

Perhaps my discontentment with this story is similar to that of how I felt of the conclusion to Ms. Turano's last series - "The Ladies of Distinction" series.  She creates such fabulous relationships between her characters, but then marries them off one by one, book by book, and the final character is left to stand alone in her own story.  The friends make token appearances, and a few of the side characters carry over, but we're introduced to so many brand new characters without the support of the ones we've come to love, that it's missing that extra special something.

Regardless, I still enjoyed this series, and I particularly enjoyed the ending of this book.  I give it 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 - not my favorite of the series, but still a fun read.

You can find Playing the Part HERE.
You can find Jen Turano's site HERE.
You can connect with her on Facebook HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.