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A review by emmalb1984
The Penniless Debutante by Janice Preston
5.0
Janice Preston’s ‘Lady Tregowan’s Will’ series ends with the story of Aurelia Croome, who finds herself removed from her life of poverty through the inheritance, but stumbles into potential trouble when she meets, and begins to fall for Max Penrose, the current Lord Tregowan, otherwise known as the one man the sisters are forbidden to marry in order to claim their share of the will.
One of the interesting concepts of this story is that, although it is book three in the series, Aurelia is actually the first of the sisters to arrive in London, and, having read the first two books (although the story works perfectly well as a stand-alone), it is nice to see what Aurelia was doing before the others arrived and to get to know her character independently of the other members of the family.
Aurelia’s journey to London with Max is both a good plot device for the characters to form a connection and an entertaining opening section to the story as Aurelia is in full knowledge of who Max is in relation to the will, whilst Max is blissfully ignorant as to where is travelling companion is going. As the two begin to bond, the reader becomes almost immediately invested in the pair and you quickly start wondering how the caveats of the inheritance could be circumvented in the pursuit of a happy ending, and it is thanks to Janice Preston’s excellent writing and plot-pacing that, whilst we are aware of the implications of Aurelia falling for Max, we still look forward to them overcoming the obstacles and finding a way to make things work.
A strength of Janice Preston’s writing over this series has been to see some of the scenes from the other books played out from Aurelia’s point of view in this book, and it is good to see Leah and Dolph’s marriage and Beatrice and Jack’s romance emerging through different eyes and both events then force Aurelia to consider what she wants from life. Given her brush with destitution prior to finding out about the will, it is understandable that she is wary of giving up her new found comfort for a future with Max, but the author provides her characters with plenty of food for thought throughout, and, whilst a happy ending seems somewhat improbable at times, it is heartwarming to watch the growth of both Max and Aurelia as the story develops.
One of the things I loved most about this story was it’s message that sometimes love does conquer all, and as we head towards the conclusion there is still doubt as to whether Aurelia can find her happy ever after with Max, but the wonderfully romantic scenes between them as the pair fight their feelings give hope and leave you smiling as Aurelia starts to realise that being happy is her goal, and, having found her sisters and seeing them happy, she realises that giving up Max is not going to make her happy in the end.
As always, there are some entertaining secondary characters who add so much to the story including the delightful Mrs. Butterby (the unsung hero of all three books), Mr and Mrs Austerly, and the scene stealing Simon Effingham who really needs his own book at some point. The characters we have met in the previous books all add to the plot, and along with Max and Aurelia create a memorable London Season.
A fitting conclusion to a wonderful series, ‘The Penniless Debutante’ is another delightful book from Janice Preston filled with romance, humour, emotional moments and memorable characters who capture your heart, and which compels you to keep reading to the very end.
One of the interesting concepts of this story is that, although it is book three in the series, Aurelia is actually the first of the sisters to arrive in London, and, having read the first two books (although the story works perfectly well as a stand-alone), it is nice to see what Aurelia was doing before the others arrived and to get to know her character independently of the other members of the family.
Aurelia’s journey to London with Max is both a good plot device for the characters to form a connection and an entertaining opening section to the story as Aurelia is in full knowledge of who Max is in relation to the will, whilst Max is blissfully ignorant as to where is travelling companion is going. As the two begin to bond, the reader becomes almost immediately invested in the pair and you quickly start wondering how the caveats of the inheritance could be circumvented in the pursuit of a happy ending, and it is thanks to Janice Preston’s excellent writing and plot-pacing that, whilst we are aware of the implications of Aurelia falling for Max, we still look forward to them overcoming the obstacles and finding a way to make things work.
A strength of Janice Preston’s writing over this series has been to see some of the scenes from the other books played out from Aurelia’s point of view in this book, and it is good to see Leah and Dolph’s marriage and Beatrice and Jack’s romance emerging through different eyes and both events then force Aurelia to consider what she wants from life. Given her brush with destitution prior to finding out about the will, it is understandable that she is wary of giving up her new found comfort for a future with Max, but the author provides her characters with plenty of food for thought throughout, and, whilst a happy ending seems somewhat improbable at times, it is heartwarming to watch the growth of both Max and Aurelia as the story develops.
One of the things I loved most about this story was it’s message that sometimes love does conquer all, and as we head towards the conclusion there is still doubt as to whether Aurelia can find her happy ever after with Max, but the wonderfully romantic scenes between them as the pair fight their feelings give hope and leave you smiling as Aurelia starts to realise that being happy is her goal, and, having found her sisters and seeing them happy, she realises that giving up Max is not going to make her happy in the end.
As always, there are some entertaining secondary characters who add so much to the story including the delightful Mrs. Butterby (the unsung hero of all three books), Mr and Mrs Austerly, and the scene stealing Simon Effingham who really needs his own book at some point. The characters we have met in the previous books all add to the plot, and along with Max and Aurelia create a memorable London Season.
A fitting conclusion to a wonderful series, ‘The Penniless Debutante’ is another delightful book from Janice Preston filled with romance, humour, emotional moments and memorable characters who capture your heart, and which compels you to keep reading to the very end.