A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano

I am a secular reader and not typically in the habit of reading inspirational romances, but I got this when it was free for download from the Kindle store a while ago because one of my friends enjoyed it, and I trust her reviews. I think inspirational romances tend to work for me better when they're historical fiction, since people tended to be much more religious in the past than they are today, and it was much more a part of daily life.

Eliza used to be an English heiress until her father fell ill, and her ex-governess absconded with her father's ex-man of business with all of his money, leaving her penniless. After her friends abandoned her and her fiance jilted her, Eliza was forced to chase down those evil thieves to the United States (New York), while posing as a governess to an illustrious soap manufacturer.

One day, while evening out the numbers at a society dinner, her blundering catches the eye of two brothers who are also railroad magnates, Zayne and Hamilton Beckett. As it turns out, they're also looking into the same man that Eliza is pursuing, because he's acquainted with another nefarious fellow named Eugene. She finds this out while trying to break into "Lord Southmoor's" house and seeing the Beckett brothers already there.

Her scheming loses her her governess position and she ends up staying with Hamilton, who has two young children. As it turns out, he's a widower and his children are lonely. They take an instant liking to Eliza, and conveniently enough, the oldest child she was "governing," Agatha, now has more freedom and visits with Eliza (and the handsome Zayne) on a regular basis, even as all four of them gradually draw closer and closer to uncovering the wrong that has been done to all of them.

So this was fine. It's very much a "shenanigans" type of story, written with the intent of being light-hearted and humorous. I was more or less in the mood for that so it worked for me, although towards the end, I got bored and began to skim until the final confrontation. I just didn't really care all that much for Hamilton as a hero. I thought he was kind of a jerk. He apologizes for being a jerk and has the self-awareness to realize what a cad he was, but I definitely wasn't invested in him at all.

If you're looking for a light, clean romance, this is your book.

2.5 out of 5 stars