In Good Company by Jen Turano

 

Everett Mulberry has recently, and very unexpectedly, been named the guardian to three young children, which is severely curtailing his courtship of the elegant Miss Caroline Dixon, and his latest nanny just quit. Now what is he going to do? He could hire the fun-loving Millie Longfellow, who was just let go from her latest nanny job, but the thought of taking Millie to Newport with his three wards for the summer has him hesitating. 

"...and it had absolutely nothing to do with her lips. It all had to do with the lady's eyes. That they were a perfectly ordinary shade of green was not in dispute. But that ordinary green, framed by dark lashes, always held a distinct trace of...mischief."

"That mischief exactly explained why he wouldn't, or couldn't, consider hiring Miss Longfellow to watch after his wards, because everyone knew that where there was mischief, trouble was certain to follow. (And) ever since he'd become the unlikely guardian to three unruly children over five months before, Everett had witnessed more trouble than he'd ever thought possible."

This is a delightful romance! Turano's books are cute and clean and always have a lot of humor in them; and I love that Gilded Age time period. The banter between Everett and Millie was fun, and the way she handles his three wards had me laughing out loud. There's even a nod to Pride and Prejudice in their romance that I enjoyed. Plus, Millie carries a pocket dictionary around with her and is always looking up words like execrable and disparage. What's not to love?

Happy Reading!

A Gilded Grave...

This mystery by Shelley Freydont takes place in 1895 among the extravagant mansions of Newport, Rhode Island's elite. It is Deanna Randolph's first summer season at Newport.  She's excited to meet Lord David Manchester, the visiting Barbadian sugar magnate, and his beautiful sister, Madeline. But things get complicated when, at her very first ball, her friend's maid is found dead. At first it looks like the maid accidentally fell from the cliffs, but then the police conclude she was pushed. And Deanna is determined to help figure out who murdered the young maid and why.

I love books set during the Gilded Age, and the Newport setting of this one makes A Gilded Grave even more fun. Then there's Deanna Randolph and her maid, Elspeth; this fearless duo love to read dime novel detective stories at night, but they soon discover that real sleuthing is a little more dangerous than they thought, especially when a second maid ends up dead. I liked them. I also liked that Deanna is a bit of a tom boy who chafe's under the constraints that Newport society places on her as a "proper" young lady. She's smart and funny and very determined. Then there's Joe Ballard. His father and Deanna's are in the sugar business together, and at one time everyone thought he and Deanna would get married. But they didn't. And Deanna isn't sure if they're even friends any more. Though they once were. Their relationship is my favorite part of this novel, though the mystery itself is nicely complicated with more than one twist and turn. Freydont's writing is not only enjoyable, but entertaining, too. If I rated stories with stars, I'd give this one four out of five.

Happy Reading!

A bookish bonus:  A Gilded Grave also fulfills the Rhode Island category for the 2016 Reading New England Challenge hosted by Lory of The Emerald City Book Review.