The Art of Love and Lies
Proper Romance Victorian Series
An artist and inspector are on a mission to recover a stolen painting in Rebecca Anderson’s Victorian romance novel The Art of Love and Lies.
Rosanna is a masterful forger—though she prefers calling her paintings reproductions. They’re sold as parlor versions of great works by her agent, Anton, a rakish but severe man. Still, she aspires to create original work of her own. She attends an artistic exhibition, hoping to improve her skills.
The exhibition is a vibrant microcosm of society, representing splendor, royal interests, and mercantile greed. There, Michelangelo’s Manchester Madonna is the centerpiece—though Rosanna is also sent into thrills by Inspector Martin, the head of security.
In the story’s fun interplay of rare treasures with easy attractions, Rosanna and Martin are a winsome pair. Their exchanges across several encounters reveal each other’s charms: she’s inventive; he has a checkered family history and is a neophyte when it comes to understanding the value of art. Tension arises because of their differences in opinion regarding artistic replicas and criminal acts, even as Rosanna becomes unsure of the ethics of her work. She learns that paintings have been stolen and replaced with her copies; she hopes to apprehend the culprit—with Martin’s help.
The novel’s pursuit scenes are thrilling, as is its intrigue around how Rosanna and Martin will get past his misconceptions about her. They learn to see the world anew through one another, even as they ask provocative questions about facts, truth, and forgiveness. And ebullient news clippings are included throughout the novel; in them, a gossip-prone journalist opines, critiques, and waxes poetic about the exhibition, informing and teasing out the story’s developments.
In the enchanting romance novel The Art of Love and Lies, an art thief can’t prevent love from blooming.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
