REVIEW: “Storing Up Trouble” by Jen Turano

 

About the Book...

*Title: Storing Up Trouble

*Author: Jen Turano

*Genre: Christian Historical Romance

*Series: Book #3 in the American Heiresses series

*Recommend for: ages 14 & up

My Personal Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐️

📖Synopsis

When Miss Beatrix Waterbury's Chicago-bound train ride is interrupted by a heist, Mr. Norman Nesbit, a man of science who believes his research was the target of the heist, comes to her aid. Despite the fact that they immediately butt heads, they join forces to make a quick escape.

Upon her arrival in Chicago, Beatrix is surprised to discover her supposedly querulous Aunt Gladys shares her own suffragette passions. Encouraged by Gladys to leave her sheltered world, Beatrix begins working as a salesclerk at the Marshall Field and Company department store. When she again encounters Norman on a shopping expedition, he is quickly swept up in the havoc she always seems to attract.

But when another attempt is made to part Norman from his research papers, and it becomes clear Beatrix's safety is also at risk, they soon discover the curious way feelings can grow between two very different people in the midst of chaos.

💭My Thoughts 

"He was the most annoying man she'd ever known, but there was something about him that appealed to her."

Overall, this was a fun read!

I took a chance reading this third book without reading any of the prior books in the series, but it actually seemed okay to do so. I wasn't confused and there were only a couple mentions of characters from the other books towards the very end. However, I may go back and read those other two books, because this one was pretty enjoyable!

Just like the other book by this author that I read, this was simply a cute, fun, lighthearted romp...definitely unrealistic at times, but again, that doesn't always bother me. I really enjoyed how Norman and Beatrix were not instantly attracted to each other, and just how plain annoyed they got with each other 🤭 The banter was great and there was lots of humor throughout!

I will say that I'm not sure if I love this author's writing style. Personally, it comes across as a bit...wordy? Unnatural? I'm not sure. Also, it might have just been me noticing it being fresh from lots of creative writing courses, but I thought that all the characters talked basically the same exact way, with little variety or distinct voices. There was also a major lack of foil characters :( They aren't strictly necessary, I suppose, but I feel like the story and character development could have been improved with a foil character or two, personally.

One final little note/nitpick is that I kind of liked Norman with Theodosia better than with Beatrix...But for some reason I always seem to like the wrong pair of people in romance books 😭

All that aside, it was enjoyable! There were admittedly some cheesy moments, but I also laughed a lot and it was altogether a good read! I'm excited to continue reading books by this author 😊

⚠️ Broad content notes

Not too much to note, really. There's a thread of romance, so some attraction, noticing, flirting, and kisses (up to mildly descriptive as well as discussion of kissing); injuries, pain, shooting someone. (it's not as bad as you think and was actually quite humorous😂)

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Bookishly yours, 

Lottie M.