Kara G. reviewed on 7/24/2013 + 82 more book reviews

ohmygoodness, what a GREAT story!!!! I absolutely loved Arabella from the moment her story begins and her journey kept me reading until the wee hours of the night. The more I read the more delighted I felt. I noticed other descriptions of circumstances within the book similar to the title, here are a few of them: unfortunate circumstance, fortuitous circumstance, disturbing circumstance, lucky circumstance, and slightly alarming circumstance. The book begins with Arabella in jail because of a certain crime she had no involvement in, but because shes in the wrong place at the wrong time things go from confusing to dastardly in a hurry! From the moment she sees Theodore, her family sends him to bring her home, she is extremely attracted to him which makes her feel peculiar at once. However, their opinionated mindsets have them clashing immediately and they fall into a comfortable pace of one upping each other in witty banter.

Theodore is furious to find Arabella in jail after promising her family he would find her and bring her home safely. She is gotten into unnecessary trouble and he is beside himself trying to resolve the situation. However, the deeper he probes into this investigation Arabella has uncovered the more he realizes she wont be safe until justice has been carried out.

Both of Arabellas brothers are in this story which complicate things in hilarious ways, Arabella meets her sister-in-law, Eliza, in this book and they instantly become great friends, and there are other characters who get thrown in that enhance the plot nonstop. Turano is brilliant at bringing the action to life with unforeseeable results that put Arabella and her friends in tricky circumstances. I laughed loudly more than once, my jaw dropped a few times and I was amazed at how quickly I turned the pages to see what would become of Arabella next. I would LOOOOVE to see this book become a movie, its just that good!

There is violence and mystery also thrown into this delightful book, but it only makes things more interesting as Theodore and Arabella resist the obvious attraction felt between them while keeping their friends safe, attempting to stay out of jail, becoming privy to a news story that sends these ladies of distinction undercover, dealing with the womens suffrage and the endeavor of Arabella helping women be aware about their lack of rights, and all the while thwarting the different plans of marriage from Arabellas mom!! Despite the roles of sexism, womens suffrage, and corrupt men protected by the sheriffs department; there is such heart, devotion, sweet chemistry with Arabella and Theodore, and characters determined to do the right thing in standing up for Arabella that even if the plot is predictable in some ways it doesnt diminish the enjoyment of the story one bit. I had SO much fun reading this and Ive learned that if this author writes a book, Im definitely in line to read it! Turano has a gift for giving her readers witty banter, feisty characters, devoted friendships, gallant gentlemen, and troublemaking schemes with the right touch of depth balanced with romance..you cant help but fall in love with these ladies of distinction and their ability to tip the scales of what society expects of them (includes discussion questions at the end). Looking forward to Turanos next book, coming out later this year!

I want to thank the Bethany House for the free review copy they provided. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.

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