Behind the Scenes by Jen Turano

Behind the Scenes by Jen Turano ISBN-13: 9780764217944 Trade Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Bethany House Publishers Released: April 4, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Miss Permilia Griswold may have been given the opportunity of a debut into New York high society, but no one warned her she wasn't guaranteed to "take." After spending the last six years banished to the wallflower section of the ballroom, she's finally putting her status on the fringes of society to good use by penning anonymous society gossip columns under the pseudonym "Miss Quill."

Mr. Asher Rutherford has managed to maintain his status as a reputable gentleman of society despite opening his own department store. While pretending it's simply a lark to fill his time, he has quite legitimate reasons for needing to make his store the most successful in the country.

When Permilia overhears a threat against the estimable Mr. Rutherford, she's determined to find and warn the man. When Asher doesn't believe her, she decides to take matters into her own hands.


My Review:
Behind the Scenes is a Christian romance set in 1883 in New York City. Having read Turano's books before, I expected unconventional characters who don't care what society thinks and humor resulting from the silly situations they end up in. Unfortunately, the characters were borderline insane in this one, and their irrational behavior is intended to get the laughs.

I expected Permilia to be observant and clever. But, no. She danced a complete quadrille without noticing that everyone else was doing a set pattern and only she was making up steps. Her dancing usually results in injury to others, yet she agreed to dance with two men whom she likes. Really? The first 35% of the book was this lavish ball where Permilia blundered into trouble or panicked when men tried to talk with her.

Despite Asher inexplicably being attracted by Permilia's blundering (and perfume) at the ball, he refused to take her warning about an assassin seriously. The book description made it sound like Asher and Permilia would work together to figure out who's after them. Nope, they left figuring that out to other people. Permilia spent more time trying to figure out what God wanted her to do with her life. And more scenes were about various woman throwing things or trying to strangle each other than on murder attempts by an assassin.

There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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