Diamond in the Rough by Jen Turano

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Story Notes

Jen Turano presents her readers with the second in her American Heiress series that will leave you alternately rolling in laughter and rolling your eyes at the incredible happenings in Poppy’s never dull life.

Jen Turano has a gift for taking an ordinary story and making it an adventure of incredulous happenings and sharply witty conversations. She begins her latest story in true form with a young woman named Poppy who has just committed a social faux pas that could eliminate her chances of becoming a Diamond of the First Water. Not that she has any real desire to become such but circumstances insist that she do so to convince her strict grandmother to provide necessary funds to her family for recent financial issues. Poppy seems to have a talent for attracting trouble despite her good intentions and in an effort to help her improve her societal behavior, her grandmother asks Reginald Blackburn to teach Poppy some of the secrets of winning society over. But try as she might, Poppy cannot seem to avoid making further mistakes and bringing her friends right along with her. The most ironic thing is that her misadventures spur some of her shy friends into becoming more bold and assertive in their own lives. If only she can make it through the season with enough dignity still intact to please her grandmother enough to fulfill their bargain. Reginald Blackburn has come with his cousin, Charles, to America to help Charles choose an heiress as a bride. Agreeing to do so only with the understanding that his own identity remain hidden, Reginald begins his quest to find as much information about the possible candidates to pass along to Charles. Little did he expect to find himself agreeing to also help Miss Poppy Garrison navigate her way through the perils of upper crust society. Often frustrated but fascinated by the talent that Poppy has for misadventures, Reginald seeks to help Poppy understand the best response to the situations she finds herself in. As he gets to know Poppy better, Reginald begins to question if he should tell Poppy who he really is and see if she will still treat him the same as before. Continuing his deception becomes even more difficult when he unexpectedly finds himself falling in love with this quirky but very special lady. If only he could find a way to ensure she could love him for himself alone and not for the money his family has. As you will see when you read this fun story, there is a lot to love. Not only are the main characters really great with their actions and responses but the secondary characters often come in with some great lines and conversations. I love that Ms. Turano creates a complete story that is so realistic in its telling it makes you want to be in the story taking place. There is also a subtle inclusion of spiritual journey that is not pushy but naturally occurring. The characters grow throughout the book and all become better people because of their meeting each other and facing challenges together. I will certainly be recommending this excellent book to others and am very much looking forward to purchasing a copy of the book for my shelves. Hope the next one is out soon!

I received a complimentary copy of this E-book from Bethany House Publisher’s via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I will receive no fiscal compensation for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK

I was on a road trip and was looking for something fast, easy, and amusing to read. Also, I’d kinda given up on this author’s books, deeming them not my style, but then earlier this year I read a book of hers that I actually enjoyed, so I thought I’d give this one a go.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK

“Oops, I probably shouldn’t have requested this book for review” was what I thought about the book.

My disclaimer is this: I’m not the target audience for this author, and therefore I’ll refrain from requesting more of her books for review in the future because I don’t feel like my reviews give a fair picture of her writing.

Miss Jen writes over-the-top, crazy instances that wouldn’t actually happen in real life, especially during the time periods that her books take place. Her characters are also generally fairly unrealistic. I understand that this is on purpose to create amusement in the reader and that’s great. I know it’s a talent to be able to write like Miss Jen does and she’s good at her job. It’s just not a style I enjoy.

The first half of this book was going to get a solid two stars from me, but then the second half of the story snagged my interest and I upped my rating to three stars. Once again though, this is completely subjective and has a lot more to do with me rather than the writing or plot.

CONCLUSION

My conclusion is that this review is going to be wholly unhelpful for y’all because I’m pretty much just saying the book wasn’t my style and so, therefore, it drove me slightly crazy to read it. But, that it’s not a reflection of the book itself. So helpful, right?

Really though, I’d be delighted to hear from you as to if you like this style of book?

I do sometimes enjoy reading something along the lines of this story – mainly if I’ve had an incredibly busy and mind-numbing week, and I need to just relax. This book was very comparable to Hallmark movies.

RATING

I’m giving Diamond in the Rough 3 out of 5 stars. I’m thankful to Bethany House Publishers for giving me an e-copy so I could review it for y’all.

Diamond in the Rough is book two in the American Heiresses series by Jen Turano. It is not necessary to have read book one in order to enjoy this one.
Summary: Poppy Garrison is in between a rock and a hard place. Her family has run into unexpected financial troubles, and although her grandmother has agreed to provided the needed funds, she has one stipulation-Poppy must come to New York City and participate in the social season.
Although she agrees, Poppy has more than a penchant for mistakenly landing in the most awkward of situations. Can she survive the season without embarrassing her family completely? Only time will tell!
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and this book is wonderful as well. It was so much fun to read about all the impossible situations Poppy manages to get into-and unwittingly drag along her family and newfound friends in the process.
If I was to find any fault though, I would mention that there are so many characters, I found them difficult to keep straight at times. Other than that, this book is a perfectly delightful read, and I highly recommend it!
I would like to thank Bethany House for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!

Diamond in the Rough, book two from the American Heiresses series, is just what I expect from Jen Turano - entertainment, delight, fun, sweetness and inspiration. I give it five stars. I can not wait for book three.

Ms. Turano has been a favorite author of mine for a while, so when I was given the opportunity to read this newly released book in return for a review I was quite thrilled. This storyline is a historical fiction genre. It centers around society in the New York 400 of elite families when young women are presented to society seeking potential marriages that would benefit. both sides. Often, British would seek American heiresses in exchange for a title in order to save their crumbling estates in England.

I enjoyed how the storyline was presented with a grandmother who desired to present her granddaughter who did not grow up in NY to society for her first season. The grandparents were estranged from their only daughter, Poppy's mother, because they were not satisfied with the man she chose to marry. I greatly enjoyed how the story unfolded bringing the family back together again while also following Poppy's experience in her first "season" in NY with all of the balls, etc. Ms. Turano writes with a wonderful sense of humor, and I found myself laughing out loud much of the time as I read this book.

My only disadvantage with this book likely stemmed from it not being the final edited version. There was a fair amount of grammatical errors, which tend to remove some of the fun experience of the storyline. However, these errors were not so blatant that I couldn't still fully enjoy the experience and humor of this story. I will definitely be watching for more books from this author going forward!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Poppy Garrison is more used to working on a horse farm than mingling with New York's elite four hundred. When she accepts her estranged grandmother's offer to give her a "season," she soon discovers that her klutzy ways and outspoken manner make her stand out--and not in a good way. A visiting Englishman, Reginald Blackburn, gets her out of one dangerous scrape after another. At the urging of Poppy's grandmother, he even acts as her social tutor to help her better fit into New York's social setting.

As Poppy draws the apparent attention of one lord and one rich businessman, events take a more dramatic turn. Are all of the kerfuffles in Miss Garrison's wake merely due to clumsiness, or is she actually the victim of sabotage? Can Poppy become a diamond of the first water, or is it enough to hope that she will survive the social season with her life intact?

In true Jen Turano style, this book shows Poppy in one hilarious fiasco after another. At the beginning of the story, we find her dancing a quadrille when her tiara attaches itself to the sleeve of her diminutive partner's jacket. Reginald, a brooding and proper Englishman, is intrigued by Poppy's carefree ways and generous with his etiquette lessons. Although he is, purportedly, supposed to be helping his titled cousin find a bride, he finds himself growing attracted to Poppy himself. But will the secret Reginald is keeping from Poppy prove heinous enough to drive them apart?

This enjoyable farce has a bit of the Jeeves and Wooster flavor to it. The story is good for a few chuckles and falls heavily on the comedy side of romantic comedy. Although it is the second in the American Heiresses series, the books stand alone.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In Jen Turano's latest tale, Diamond in the Rough, you will meet Miss Poppy Garrison. Poppy has come to New York City to stay with her grandparents as she takes part in the social season. Poppy has grown up in the country on a farm, where her parents have been breeding horses. Country living is all Poppy has known. She will soon run into a lot of rules and ways of living that she knows nothing about!

Poppy's grandmother, grand dame of the social scene, is only interested in Poppy making a success of her first time out in society. You will soon see Poppy causing one fiasco after another as she attempts to blend into this new world!

When Poppy meets Reginald Blackburn, newly arrived from England to help his cousin attempt to find a bride, her life is about to get even more interesting. Hang on as you watch Poppy and Reginald find themselves in the midst of some situations, of which society would never approve!

Hang on until the final page. You will not believe the ending of this tale!

Diamond in the Rough was not the type of book I normally read. In fact, its my first Jen Turano book. It was great fun, sometimes laugh out loud fun, with the accident prone Poppy and her antics. She always seemed to be getting into trouble: and usually in a funny way. In an early scene she ends up with her top end hanging out of a window.

What with that and her unconventional family situation, she's far from a typical debutante, but she nevertheless catches the eye of Reginald Blackburn. In fact a couple of times he has to catch her physically. And rescue her on a couple of occasions. This is not done in a degrading way, it comes over as charming and its all part of the fiascos she gets into , often because she's trying to help someone herself.

At times, I must admit it was a little hard to keep track of all the characters, but overall I enjoyed this story as a light and fun read set in New York in the late 1860s.

The only thing I felt was a little implausible was that Poppy and even Reginald extreme surprise at the plight of the poor, and the implication they had basically never seen a poor person. There were charitable organization and projects to help the poor in Britain at this time and before, I think Reginald would not have been quite so naive.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be like the many Regency novels I've read, and though it has some similarities with the upper class of society it was much more modern. And it should be, as the Regency era only lasted from 1811-1820 (thank you Wikipedia) and this takes place in 1885. So, while I have probably miscategorized many books as being Regency novels when they are, in fact, Victorian, one need not get hung up on the details of what to call what era. The point is that the social setting is among the wealthiest and "important" people in New York, and the main character, Poppy, is forced to socialize among them in order to save her family financially.

There is a bit of a My Fair Lady feel to Poppy being taught etiquette by Reginald Blackburn. The story was pretty lighthearted even throughout the crazy circumstances that came about. I didn't develop deep connections to the characters, but they were likable, and it was an entertaining read.

Poppy Garrison is such a loveable character!

Bless her heart, she has some of the funniest problems. Now, one wouldn't think there would be many circumstances that would be noteable, let alone hilarious, in a New York Four Hundred social season, but Poppy manages to entertain us with all of her antics.

The perfect person to offset Poppy is Reginald Blackburn. The prim, proper Reginald is tasked with giving Poppy etiquette lessons... the results are hilariously funny.

I loved this book.
I hope you choose to pick up a copy, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Diamond in the Rough is the second book in the American Heiresses series, although it is not necessary to read the first book (Flights of Fancy) before reading this one. Of course, Flights of Fancy was a fabulous book and if you like fun historical romance novels you will love it.

Miss Poppy Garrison's grandmother has finagled a way to involve her in the 1985 New York social season, and the book begins with a hilarious account of the disastrous results. As usual, Turano has created a character who, despite her best efforts, gets literally tangled up in the midst of an important dance and causes a scene that is definitely not considered appropriate by high society. As a person who has two left feet, I could immediately sympathize with Poppy and the situations she finds herself in.

As the book continues, mishaps and misunderstandings continue for this young woman who really has the best interest of others at heart. I realized about two-thirds of the way through the book that my face hurt from smiling so much as I read! I love Turano's books for this reason -- it is so seldom than any author is so brilliant at engaging the reader in such crazy and yet somehow realistic escapades that I laugh out loud. They are a great way to escape the drudgery and disasters that headline our daily news.

But these books are filled with so much more than just funny events. The characters have depth, intriguing secrets, and fascinating conversations. In addition, I love the historical details that are included. The descriptions of the clothing (and their advantages/disadvantages) have me both wanting to try something so beautiful and glad we don't have to wear such things these days! While I typically don't care much for romance books, there is so much more here that I don't mind the occasional predictability about who falls in love with whom.

Diamond in the Rough is a story of trying to fit in, wanting to change the world, and helping to open the eyes of others to needs they had ignored.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every book Jen Turano has written, and I will read every book she writes in the future.

I think Jen Turano’s books are easy to love because she has the ability to write seamless plots, touching romance, and truly hilarious heroes and heroines. This novel follows her usual writing style with even more likeable characters. I never tire of reading about their hilarious escapades—she is so creative! Poppy is the perfect heroine to love, with her no-nonsense, practical sense that seems to crack into Reginald’s stern exterior. I enjoyed reading about how they affected and changed each other for the better. It was easy to laugh at the scenes, but the humor did not detract from the deeper spiritual messages and serious character growth. There is also an element of mystery. I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what this author pens next!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This is an absolutely hysterical historical romantic comedy!

This wonderful story can easily be renamed Poppy’s Madcap Adventures. It kept me laughing from start to finish.

I fell in love with Poppy and her unconventional way of moving through high society from the beginning. Reading the reactions of “proper” society people was just as amusing. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how many of the other characters developed and came into their own as the story progressed.

It wouldn’t be a Jen Turano novel if there weren’t high society ladies carrying around pistols. I love how she always manages to write such quirky characters that it fits with the story though. The other tidbit that I’ve come to expect from this author are funny animal scenes. In this story they were at least about typical household pets.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All of the opinions expressed are my own.

Disclaimer: *Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

Poppy Garrison is the oddest character I’ve ever come across in fiction. She’s a magnet for trouble, but of a sweet and innocent disposition. The unfortunate events that seem to come her way are downright funny. Every chapter had me laughing out loud.
Reginald Blackburn, a duke who’d rather keep anonymity, travels to New York to help his cousin, a newly minted earl, find an American heiress to help maintain his estates back in England. The cousins have a Mr. Darcy and Charles Bingley subtle feel to them, which I quite enjoyed (being the Austen fan I am). When Reginald’s path crosses with Poppy, it’s one that takes unexpected twists and turns until we reach the end of the novel.
I loved the characters, even Poppy as quirky as she is. The author does a great job with the vivid descriptions of New York City in its early years, and seamlessly binds fact and fiction together with the mention of some members of the New York Four Hundred.
I quite enjoyed the second installation of American Heiresses, Diamond in the Rough.
This novel reads well as a stand-alone title.
I received an ecopy from the publisher through Net Galley. All opinions expressed are my own.

I can not even begin to tell you reading Jen Turano books brighten my day. The humor and trouble her characters get into makes my husband ask... "Is that another book by that author Jen something or other?" Yes!!!!

Poppy is everything I would hope I'd be had I been born in that time! She's speaks her mind and is her own person. She cares about people. She is not afraid to fit in. I loved this book from start to finish!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the Publisher and was under no obligation to post a favorable review.

Jen Turano delivers another rollicking good time as you follow Poppy Garrison and her introduction to New York society. Poppy can manage an unruly stallion, but is unseated by the magnitude of details she must remember about each social event. She does not understand why society members would attend the opera if they aren’t going to watch it, and she finds herself at war with the snails served at dinner. Her grandmother hires Reginald Blackburn to teach her social graces, but Poppy May be too much even for the brooding Mr. Blackburn to handle.

This latest installment in Turano’s series is a 1900’s Jane Austin-esq look at New York Society. There’s some romance brewing, but not always the ones you expect. When you reach the last page you’ll be wanting more, thankfully Turano’s next book is already in editing!

Another great read by Jen Turano. This book really took me back to Turano's earlier writing and reminded me why I fell in love with her books. Turano really brings the humor with this story!

Laugh out loud funny! It has it all a stuff grandmother ...a lovely girl from the farm .. enter a handsome man most women are throwing themselves at and it is a Jen Turano book! This is book 2 in the series of the American Heiresses and honestly I somehow missed book 1 ...which I will be going back to read! I do not think you need to read book 1 in order to understand 2 as I did not have any trouble reading this.

Plot is this ... Grandmother wants her granddaughter is willing to help Poppy's family farm but at a cost. She must let her introduce her into high society. That doesn't go so well for Poppy as she is a farm girl who lives life to the fullest ... enter a handsome man and some etiquette lessons and the laughs ensue.

This book does not disappoint!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC copy for my honest review

Poppy agreed to attend a New York season with her grandmother, Viola, in exchange for some financial assistance to her parents. But Viola's plans to turn Poppy into a Diamond of the First Water don't seem to promising until mishap after mishap plagues her. Until Reginald Blackburn (secretly the son of a duke) agrees to help train her. The two quickly form a friendship and hilarity and adventures ensue.

I really enjoyed this title, Poppy was such a fun character. I appreciated that even though some plot elements were obvious, Turano still manages to keep me guessing a little bit as to the process of how things will work out.

As always, Jen Turano's characters are witty and humorous in their banter. This is one of my favourite of the books by this author so far. Poppy Garrison is such a fun character. Her grandmother is determined that she will become a Diamond of the First Water, but Poppy couldn't care less. She's outspoken and genuine, something that the Four Hundred of New York are not used to.

Reginald Blackburn sounds like a stick-in-the-mud, but of course as the story goes along he shows his humanity more and more. He has a soft side under that very proper British exterior. These two are quite the combination!

I really enjoyed this book. My only complaint is that there was such a large amount of dialogue, but at least it's pretty hilarious. I appreciate the combination of historical detail and humour this author infuses into her stories.

This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.