Playing the Part by Jen Turano

Lucetta Plum is an actress on the rise in New York City, but must abandon her starring role when a fan's interest turns threatening. Lucetta's widowed friend, Abigail Hart, seizes the opportunity to meddle in Lucetta's life and promptly whisks her away to safety at her eligible grandson's estate.

At first glance, Bram Haverstein appears to be a gentleman of means--albeit an eccentric one--but a mysterious career and a secret fascination with a certain actress mean there's much more to him than society knows.

While Lucetta has no interest in Abigail's matchmaking machinations, she can't ignore the strange things going on in Bram's house and the secrets he hides. As the hijinks and hilarity that Bram, Lucetta, and their friends are swept into take a more dangerous turn, can they accept who they are behind the parts they play in time to save the day?

Playing the Part is the third book in the A Class of Their Own series by Jen Turano, and it flows in wonderfully with the other two novels in the series. After Millie and Harriet find love, Lucetta alone is left for Abigail to contemplate matchmaking. And when Lucetta's life and freedom is threatened, Abigail brings her to Bram, her grandson's, house. The interactions between Bram, Lucetta, and their friends, relatives, and Bram's household staff are hilarious and engaging. The plot line is well written and filled with moments of comedy, suspense, danger, and of course romance. The whole book is very lighthearted and even the moments of danger are obviously not life threatening. However, the main characters did have their moments of serious reflection on their own and with one another as they began to understand their own failings and their misconceptions about one another. There are several great moments throughout the book where Lucetta and Bram are both completely taken by surprise when they learn the other one's secrets.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Parts were predictable, and the romance between Bram and Lucetta seemed unreal at times, but as a whole it was a lighthearted yet still contemplative novel that kept me glued to the pages with its comedy and storyline. I received this novel from Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for an honest review.