Playing the Part

I received a copy of PLAYING THE PART by Jen Turano from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.  It is book three in the Class of Their Own series.

If you follow my reviews, you know I have a sweet spot in my heart for Bethany House books.  I also adore feel-good historical fiction.  There is nothing like settling into the past to meet some new friends, and the Christian elements only help to make it more meaningful.  

Sadly, this on didn’t do it for me like most Bethany House novels.  I have not read the other books in the series, so that might be why.  Please take my review with a grain of salt.

The good: The story is definitely a light read.  There is a bit of danger, but never anything too dire.  Overall it is just a fun  tale that is appropriate for all ages. 

The bad: The story takes place in New York City, and I love it there.  Granted, I visit the modern New York City, not the one of 1882, but I had trouble picturing the scenes.  I also felt like there was too much Telling.  Maybe this bothered me because I’m an author and many editors have drilled into my head to Show not Tell.  Telling parts jump out at me now in stories, and this one seemed to have a lot of instances. The story felt flat and I never managed to connect with any of the characters.