THE ART OF LOVE AND LIES - Rebecca Anderson
Shadow Mountain Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-63993-108-8
August 8, 2023
Historical Romance

Manchester, England-1857

Rosanna Hawkins will firmly tell you that she is a reproductionist and not a copier. When it comes to recreating the paintings of the masters, she is the best, at least that is what Anton Greystone tells her. He is the man that sells her reproductions to wealthy families who can’t get the real works of the masters they love. Rosanna makes a good living doing this.

She spends her days at The Art Treasures Exhibition, which has come to Manchester, England for a couple of weeks, to draw the works of famous painters. The exhibition houses some of the most famous works in the world, most notably art works by Michelangelo. While there one day she meets Inspector Martin Harrison who is there to protect the works of art hung up in the exhibition.

Martin is from Manchester but left after his father was found guilty of the crime of selling stolen goods and then was sent to Australia. Martin is a salt of the earth kind of man with a strong moral compass. When he meets Rosanna, he is instantly smitten. After that, he looks for her as he partakes in his daily rounds around the exhibition. Over the coming weeks, Rosanna and Martin run into each other and Rosanna explains the works of art to Martin.

THE ART OF LOVE AND LIES is a sweet romance with a couple of twists I did not see coming. Rosanna comes from a wealthy family that allows her to have her independence for her and her sisters, Lottie, and Ella. All three of them have endeavors into the arts. Rosanna rents a room in a boarding house and pays her own way while recreating famous painter’s work. She was not encouraged by her art teachers to produce works of her own and sometimes Rosanna had a desire to do so.

Anton Greystone reveals himself to be a villain and a scary one at that. When Martin finds out that Rosanna, as he puts it, is a forger, the would be couple, have a few bumps in the road before finding their happiness.

If you are the type of romance reader that likes a relatively clean romance (there are only two kisses in the story) that is well researched and with a heroine that can be annoying but interesting and a hero who blushes but who is strong and moral, then THE ART OF LOVE AND LIES is for you.

Avis Yarbrough