Jen Turano: Out of the Ordinary

By Kelly Bridgewater

Miss Gertrude Cadwalader hoped her position as the paid companion to Mrs. Davenport would be easy. But as she becomes acquainted with her employer, she realizes the wealthy Mrs. Davenport has a strange tendency to be a bit light-fingered with other people's trinkets. Gertrude is relieved when Mrs. Davenport decides to have a quiet summer away from the social scene--until the woman changes her mind in order to help a young socialite launch into society.

When Gertrude is caught in the act of trying to return one of the trinkets by Mrs. Sinclair, the mother of shipping magnate Harrison Sinclair, the woman jumps to an unfortunate conclusion. Harrison is determined to mend fences with Miss Cadwalader, but he's unprepared for the escapades a friendship with her will entail.

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My Thoughts:

I adore Jen Turano's writing. She creates such realistic historical characters that jump off the page. Her heroines are never the typical women of the time period. They enjoy acting out of the societal norms, which I love. Her writing is crisp and clean with abundant descriptions to keep me in the setting. There isn't too much or too less description. Just enough to keep my imagination flowing as the characters move around in the setting. I was really excited to read Out of the Ordinary, and Turano didn't disappoint.

In Out of the Ordinary, I really enjoyed getting to know Gertrude Cadwalader a  lot more. She is an unique individual with a personality to match. She is independent and isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in. The hero, Harrison Sinclair, is a color-blind man who wears horrible non-matching clothes, even by today's standards. But even through the outward appearance he portrays, Gertrude sees past all that and falls in love with the sweet and protective man underneath. Their romance has a friendship base and makes for a great love story.

I have read many reviews where they mention that Turano is a hilarious writer. Usually, I don't find anything funny about her plots, but this time around, she really did make the plot funny. She put Gertrude in a number of different scenarios that made me shake my head and smile. I really enjoyed how toward the end Turano had Harrison take notes from romance novels on how to whoo Gertrude back and they all went horribly wrong. It was funny! I really enjoyed this novel and wanted to read it in a day, but life happened, and I did finish it in four days. I loved this story.

Overall, Out of the Ordinary by Jen Turano is anything but ordinary. There are moments of pure laughter with a delightful cast of characters that had me flipping through the pages to see what other situation they can find themselves in. I truly LOVED this story, and I can't wait for the next installment in this series from Turano. Fans of Lorna Seilstad and Cara Lynn James should pick these books up.

I received a complimentary copy of Out of the Ordinary by Jen Turano from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars