Playing the Part by Jen Turano

 Bittersweet is the perfect word to describe how I felt after reading through this book. Playing the Part by Jen Turano is the final book in the Ladies of Distinction series.  It is the story of Lucetta Plum, a rising actress in New York City.  When her stepfather Nigel barges into the hall to her dressing room, she discovers that he bet and lost Plum Hill, her family's plantation in Virginia in a game of cards with Silas Ruff. The problem? Lucetta has the deed and it is legally hers and she is not giving up her family's home . So to honor the debt that he owes, Nigel decides to give Lucetta instead of the plantation to Silas Ruff so that he can honor the gambling debt.  Lucetta is FURIOUS! He is not her father and he has no right to bet her away in a game of cards. Knowing that what happened is not legal and that she does not belong legally to Silas, Her bodyguard, Mr Skukman decides for her safety that she needs to secretly leave the city, because Silas is known to be insane. Silas has been obsessed with Lucetta for years, watching almost all of her shows and trying to get her to go out with him, ( he is one of the reasons that she employed a bodyguard) So Lucetta and Abigail ( who is the elderly lady that has been taking care of her) disguise themselves and ride off in search of Abigail's grandson's castle Ravenwood. Now Ravenwood was not a ordinary castle and Abigail's grandson Bram Haverstein, was not a ordinary person.  Outside of Ravenwood's wall there sat a tomb, a giant tomb marking the entrance and inside the grounds of the castle there was actually a moat! Bram liked the mysteriousness of the castle and the grounds, let's just say that it "inspired him" ( I cannot tell you anymore ) but Bram was so tired of ladies and their mothers trying to get in to the castle with the hopes of securing a marriage with him  just because he was wealthy.  Bram was surprised one morning when his servants told him the grounds had been breached and they wanted to bring out the cannon ( Yes, a real working cannon in 1882 ) so he decides he will have a word with the intruders. Unfortunately, someone let the dogs out before he could reach the intruders and the dogs decide to chase one of the intruders and the intruder fell into the moat. As Bram went to save the man , he was shocked to discover that the he was actually a she, and that the intruder was Lucetta Plum, The actress that he has had a crush on forever.
Lucetta and Bram immediately get off on the wrong foot when all he keeps telling her is that he is a huge admirer of hers.
Lucetta gets the wrong opinion of Bram because she thought that when he was saving her in the moat, that he was actually trying to drown her.  The more that Lucetta and Bram are around each other, the more they clash because neither one is who the other thinks they are. Then Lucetta is kidnapped by Silas. Will Bram be able to save her before it is too late?  Lucetta thought that Bram is insane, mysterious and over- chivalrous and Bram thinks Lucetta is who she portrays on the stage, a fragile young lady who has a very delicate nature. But maybe they were both just playing parts?

So what did I think about the book?
I thought that it was the perfect conclusion to the series.  Just to give you a quick overview of the series, The Ladies of Distinction series follows the lives of Harriet Peabody, Millie Longfellow and Lucetta Plum, three unlikely friends who were living in the wrong side of New York City called the Lower East Side and how God was able to put the pieces together and show them the lives he wanted them to live. The series including this book are filled with humor ( like being chased by a dress hating goat or a piece of armor that seems to walk by itself ) and romance ( Of course like any good book the girl should fall in love with the guy.) but they also have a good message behind them.   I think that specifically to this book, that the author did a great job  with the characters and with making the plot so interesting that you do not want to put the book down, seriously, my sisters were beginning to wonder if I would ever hang out with them because I all I wanted to do was read this book :)  Even though this book is part of a series you can read it as a stand alone too, though I would recommend reading the other two because they are great books.
 I would recommend this book to someone who wants a funny, witty romance story with a hint of mystery and danger.   Overall I rate the book Five out of Five stars *****


I definitely suggest checking out Jen Turano's other books, She is one of my favorite authors and I love all of her books! Here is the link below to check them out! 
http://jenturano.com/category/books/

Happy Reading :)

 I would like to thank Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was not asked to write a favorable review, Just a honest one.