The Debutante by Kathleen Tessaro


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was drawn to this book primarily because of the cover and if not for it, I would never have heard of Kathleen Tessaro, period. The pink and black with its bling bling high heels, appealed to the girly side of me immediately.

The book has very interesting setting and a like-able lead, I found the characters a little underdeveloped overall and as such you don’t really grow to root for one or the other. But, the story makes up for it, written in a very light way with a touch of grit with all the dark side of the partying high roller world. I liked her style of writing and it was excellent storytelling.

The story starts in London in the office of Deveraux and Diplock, Valuers and Auctioneers of Quality where the firm’s owner, Rachel Deveraux is sending her long standing employee, Jack Coates off to an English estate in the country on a valuing job with her niece Cate who has recently (and mysteriously) returned from New York. A simple and innocent set up to begin with and the description of this amazing and intriguing old home called Endsleigh thrown in with this opening to the book draws readers in.

Each of the characters has a back story that comes out in time, though I found them a very basic in development, enough to get you interested in them but not quite so much that you wince with them, cry with them or cheer for them. For its purposes, it is sufficient I suppose.

This lack of space for these living characters may be due to the space given to the non-living characters which are included by way of a letter from Baby Blythe to her sister at the beginning of each chapter. Her story begins when Cate finds a shoe box in a locked room and kept it to herself, commencing on a journey of discovery. I found the letters very interesting although a tad disconnected, but their inclusion is what made this book special.

For an almost mystery and light romance, the book did its very best and gave its best turn. I will definitely pick up another of her books if I ever come across them but at the moment, they are not so great that I will go in search for another of her work.