Plain Jane
Series: A House for the Season, Book 2
By: Marion Chesney / Narrated By: Lindy Nettleton
Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
Oh thank GOD! A much better book than the first in the series. And huzzah—no rape scene!
Book 1 in the House for the Season series had me rooting for the lovable cast of servants but appalled with the Hero (A misogynist with rapist tendencies) and the heroine (A slow-speaking git). Thank heavens that Plain Jane continued with the endearing main characters but added two romantic leads that I could root for.
The Hart sisters, eldest Euphemia, the dazzler, and youngest Jane, the plain one, have come to London so that Euphemia might knock the socks off some rich man during the London Season. The house for the Season is just the right price, namely low as it’s considered to be an unlucky address due to suicides, unexplained deaths, financial reversals suffered by occupants that have stayed there.
And it’s that unexplained death that has Plain Jane all in a curious dither: What on earth, WHO on earth, killed Clara several years before? She meets up with the man of her dreams, the dashing Lord Tregarthen she saw fight a boxing match ten years before, and the two team up to solve the mystery. It’s all a hum for Tregarthen who thinks Jane quite “taking” but who isn’t thinking of her as a romantic interest due to her just-left-the-schoolroom years. Jane makes many wretched social blunders due to her desire to think the worst of people, but it’s these tender years of hers that keep Tregarthen from developing a disgust for her.
On her own part, Jane thinks that gentleman from the boxing match in her childhood is a bit of a fop; she tries talking of serious things like the wars with Napoleon, and he comes back with quips about his tailoring. Turns out, he’s seen more than his fair share of horrible things, and he kinda tunes out rather than delve into past horrors.
It’s a sweet little one-sided romance, and the story does have a cozy little mystery unfolding. Honestly, I thought Clara’s death wouldn’t be looked into until Book 6 or something, but I guess I was wrong. Doesn’t matter as it made for a RELIEF of a Book 2 for the Series.
>PHEW<
I liked Lindy Nettleton as a narrator better this go-round also. Maybe she just couldn’t carry off Fiona’s Scottish brogue in Book 1, or maybe she just spoke too slowly? I dunno. All I know is that I liked her voices for Jane, Tregarthen, and Jane’s family well enough.
On the Homefront, the servants of 67 Clarges Street in the heart of Mayfair are getting along. Lizzy’s crush for Joseph has deepened a bit with a small act of kindness on his part (It doesn’t take much for Lizzy’s heart to go all aflutter). And Rainbird maaaaay be falling in love with the pretty French maid the Harts have brought with them.
It might not be as good as The Poor Relation, no. But I am relieved to be looking forward to the next book in the series. Besides which? The servants now have a Cat for the Kitchen!!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.