Diamond in the Rough {A Book Review}

** I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts are 100% my own. 

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.

Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author and lives in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. Visit her website at www.jenturano.com.

Diamond in the Rough is book two in Jen Turano's American Heiresses series. While the first book- Flights of Fancy- has been sitting in my to be read pile for some time, I must admit that I'd not yet had the chance to read that one before I started this one. Still, you do not have to read the first book to enjoy this one. I cannot say for sure if there is any crossover of characters between the two, but I can say that I certainly didn't feel as I'd missed anything as I was reading. One thing that did become quite clear to me as I read was just WHY I'd heard so many great things about Jen Turano's work... this book was absolutely fantastic.

To be honest, humor is not an attribute that I would typically think of when thinking about historical fiction. Those I've read in the past might have a few moments here and there, but overall were more serious and subdue. Fights of Fancy on the other hand had me laughing right from the very start as we're introduced to Poppy with her tiara snagged on her dance partner's sleeve! One of my favorite books as a teenager was Princess Diaries, and I immediately was reminded of that as I read this one as both feature accident prone girls unaccustomed to the strict mannerisms required in their new settings. As in that beloved book, this leads to some hilarious and often over the top scenarios that tend to shake up the more uptight environment... and I absolutely loved it. I constantly found myself grinning and literally laughing out loud as I followed Poppy on her many misadventures. This was certainly one of those stories that I didn't want to end, as I found myself enjoying it way too much.

Though it was the comedy that I loved most of all, the romance was a close second. I loved the banter between Poppy and Reginald and certainly found myself rooting for them to come together in the end. There was also a bit of a mystery towards the end that added a little something extra to enjoy.

Overall, this was a fantastic read! Not only do I look forward to reading more in the series, I think I've found a new author to add to my growing list of must reads! I am excited to read more in the future.