From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: Review of Diamond in the Rough by Jen Turano

Author: Jen Turano

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Publication Date: September 3, 2019

To save her family from financial ruin, Miss Poppy Garrison accepts an unusual proposition to participate in the New York social season in exchange for her grandmother settling a family loan that has unexpectedly come due. Ill-equipped to handle the intricacies of mingling within the New York Four Hundred, Poppy becomes embroiled in one hilarious fiasco after another, doomed to suffer a grand societal failure instead of being deemed the diamond of the first water her grandmother longs for her to become.

Reginald Blackburn, second son of a duke, has been forced to travel to America to help his cousin, Charles Wynn, Earl of Lonsdale, find an American heiress to wed in order to shore up his family estate that is in desperate need of funds. Reginald himself has no interest in finding an heiress to marry, but when Poppy’s grandmother asks him to give etiquette lessons to Poppy, he swiftly discovers he may be in for much more than he bargained for.

Diamond in the Rough is a really funny and very sweet romance. Reginald is hired to teach Poppy proper etiquette in the hopes that she will becoming a proper lady ready for New York society. He quickly finds out he has his work cut out for him. I absolutely adored this book. From the start, I loved Poppy. She was a breath of fresh air. I loved her ability to laugh at herself and how she threw her whole being into whatever she did. The banter between Reginald and Poppy was a lot of fun. Their journey to love was a joy to watch.

Along with Poppy and Reginald's romance, the rest of the story is full of great characters. Murray was my favorite. I loved the friendship that developed between him and Poppy. I would have loved to see his point of view in the wooing of his love interest. The book deals with forgiveness, family and being true to yourself.

I didn't read the book that came before this one, but that was OK It worked very well as a stand alone. I do want to go back and read Flights of Fancy. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who loves clean historical romances. I would be surprised if you weren't left smiling like I was in the end.