love to paint

Over the years, I've read Jen Turano's books as they've come out.  The first of a new two book series Apart from the Crowd is what I read last week.   Behind the Scenes centers around Miss Permilia Griswold (could she have a worse name?). The story begins with a ball in New York City's high society--one of the events of society's season.  Miss Griswold is likable--a Cinderella of sorts surrounded by her ugly stepmother and unkind stepsister. One big difference in this Cinderella tale is that Miss Griswold's father is only absent, thankfully, and not dead. At the ball, she overhears threats made about a man's life and she attempts to warn him.  This book did make me laugh out loud as Ms. Griswold attempted to save Mr. Rutherford when she overhears a threat on his life, but which he doesn't give any credence. This story is a bit like high school--you have the in crowd and the outsiders.  And as the story goes on, you realize the significance of th...

A few years ago I started reading Jen Turano's Christian fiction novels and reviewing them.  I still remember how much I enjoyed the first one because it made me laugh.  Her novels have continued to do that for me.  Her latest one is the second in a new series she's written, titled In good Company . The first book in the series told the story of Harriet Peabody (After a Fashion).  This second book tells the story of one of good friends Millie Longfellow and her adventures being a nanny.  Millie has this peculiar habit of liking big words, carrying a dictionary with her, and often using those words incorrectly.  It's very funny, really.  My eleven year old daughter read the first two pages and told me, "Mommy, I like this one."  She's not going to read it, but she did appreciate the humor of it.  She hates romance and I wouldn't let her read it because it's not a kids book.  But, I did really enjoy it.   Millie is a nanny who ...

A few years ago, Jen Turano wrote A Change of Fortune .  It was a fun, humorous read that made me laugh outloud.  I enjoyed the other stories in that series that Ms. Turano wrote, but not nearly as much as the first.  The humor was not as potent in the sequels. BUT, in the first book of Ms. Turano's new melodramatic series, the humor has returned!   After a Fashion is the first book (I suspect) in a new series about three friends.  I laughed as I began this book.  It is a melodrama, but a fun one.  Harriet Peabody, the main character, made me smile.  I appreciated her integrity and spunk.  She was admirable, but flawed.  But, first, I'll back up a moment. After a Fashion is a historical Christian romance set in the 1800s (a similar setting to Ms. Turano's first series).  The story begins with Harriet Peabody, a hat maker being assigned the troublesome task of delivering  some hats to a Miss Bellingham, a difficult and ...

A while ago, I read the first book in Jen Turano's Christian fiction series that began with A Change of Fortune.  I enjoyed it.  It just fun to be lost in a book for a little while.  I don't usually follow a series, but I did end up reading each of the books in this series.  It was just light Christian romance fiction.  Last week, I finished reading the last one, A Match of Wits .   This story centers on Agatha Watson and Zayne Beckett.  Many books within a series are written as stand alone novels.  Others need to be read within the series in order for the reader to understand and know the characters.  That is the case with this book.  Read the books before it first.  Each one adds details that you'll need to know in order to understand the interactions and dynamics of the relationships between the characters.  Agatha is a spitfire and Zayne is the recovering scorned former beau of another.  Agatha gets herself in mes...

I've known many women who read all of the books in a series.  Karen Kingsbury is known for writing book series with five to eight books in them.  Series typically drive me crazy because they leave me hanging at the end of the book and I have to wait for the next one.  That happened to me with the Cedar Keys novels.  The books were released so far apart that I couldn't remember what had happened in the other books and who was who.  It was quite frustrating for me.   When Jen Turano began her series of books that began with A Change of Fortune , I wondered how the series would go.  The first one was a funny melodrama and I had high hopes that this would be a fun, lighthearted series to read.  The first book turned out, in my opinion to be the best one of the series.  The others seemed to all follow the same kind of formula revolving around the same families (which I did like), which seemed to be entirely (entirely!) predictable.  I misse...

Last year, I read a Christian Fiction book that I really enjoyed, A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano.  It was a melodrama, which is apropriate--I think--for historical fiction.  Why I liked it was that it was funny.  There were a few scenes that genuinely made me laugh.  I have found this to be rare in Christian fiction.  Because of this, I looked forward to reading the second book in the series.   The second book is titled A Most Peculiar Circumstance .  This story focuses on Miss Arabella Beckett, the sister in law of the main character from A Change of Fortune, Eliza.  She is in trouble at the beginning of the story and Mr. Theodore Wilder rescues her and returns her to her family.  The remainder of the story focuses on the chemistry between these two characters and threats to Miss Beckett's safety.   The verdict? The writing is fine.  It isn't unusually good, but it's fine.  I didn't laugh the way I had hoped I mig...

It is a rare book that can make me laugh when it comes to Christian fiction.  Really that's because I haven't many Christian authors who incorporate humor well into their writing.  This morning I finished reading A Change of Fortun e by Jen Turano.  On the back of the novel, it identifies this book as her first published novel.   I enjoyed it.  It's a Christian historical romance fiction book.  The story centers on Eliza Sumner who has traveled to America in the late 1800s to reclaim her lost fortune. There is one scene from the book that made it a good book for me.  It was the humorous scene on pages 102-103.  I was left with a good feeling about the whole book because of that scene.  I even read the scene out loud to my husband (which I never do!) and he laughed.  I laughed so hard because I cried.  The scene came out of the blue but perfectly fit in the tale.    I enjoyed the characters.  They were likea...