Customer Reviews

Artistic License (Black Lace)

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I am a big fan of the Black Lace series, but this is one of my favorites. LaFay's richly descriptive prose drew me into the world of Renaissance Italy, and her portrayal of the struggling artist Carla Buonomi, who has to disguise herself as a boy in order to pursue her dream, stayed with me long after I had finished the book. This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy erotica as an overall sensual experience; all of the senses are engaged in this story of a young woman's development as a creative and sexual person. The writing is juicy, bawdy, and fun to read. My only criticism would be that some of the language is anachronistic, but I found that easy to overlook. This is a very special novel.

WOW ... you can't imagine how many books one has to read in this genre before a gem is found that actually has an interesting story well written with superb character development and real life erotica that does not entail the women getting the living daylights beaten out of her .....

This novel deals with a young girl, Carla, during the Italian renaissance finding family life untenable afer being pleasantly seduced by her older cousin, Stefano. Unable to endure the shame she disguses herfelf as a young man, since women alone would really not fare well in the streets, and makes her way in the world.

Carla changeds her name to Carlo and is immediately taken in by a master painter, Piero, who was a Guild member (Artist union). During this time only Guild members were allowed to sell their paintings while younger artists had to content themselves with apprenticeship positions relegated to the painstaking tasks of mixing and preparing paints for the master.

Carla managed to keep her identity secret even though she began to like another apprentice, Marco, who was also working for his Guild licence.

Of course without giving away the story, the novel is solid and holds together, with Carla trying to live her life as a man while yearning for pleasures of the flesh as a woman. It's very easy for the reader to identify with Carla's plight and the frustration of the girl trying to live through the rules and norms of the renaissance society are very very palpable ...

The author spends considerable time with the exciting life story of Carla while keeping sexual tension and erotic interludes in the forefront ....

Artistic License is one of the most erotic historical novels I have read in quite a while. Vivienne Lafay creates a wonderful story with beautiful prose and almost palpable descriptions set during Renaissance Italy. The novel tells the story of Carla, a young woman who escapes her home after she is seduced by her cousin. In an attempt to protect herself from ruffians on the street and to keep her identity a secret, she changes her name to Carlo and disguises herself as a man. She is taken by an artist named Piero -- who discovers she is a woman and offers her shelter in exchange for sexual favors. She becomes his lover and artistic apprentice trying to become a guild member to sell paintings. But everything changes when she meets fellow apprentice Marco. Marco doesn't know that Carlo is actually Carla, and hiding her desire for Marco and concealing her real identity becomes all the more difficult for Carla. There are various twists throughout the novel.

The erotic scenes are wonderful and smoldering, yet lyrical and sensual as well. I couldn't keep the book down. The sexual tension between Carla and Marco alone makes the book a worthwhile read. The characters are well developed and the story is beautiful, nuance and full of layers and memorable prose. Erotica is seldom written so rich and lyrical. Most erotic novels, especially the Black Lace ones, end up reading like Penthouse letters and Artistic License (along with The Captivation, The Ninety Days of Genevieve, and a few others) is the rare exception. If you're in the bargain for a historical erotica that tells a compelling story and is intelligent to boot, do not hesitate to pick up this gem.

I've read many Black Lace novels. This one was average, or maybe a little below average in my view.

Carla wants to be an artist,but females are not allowed to do anything that interesting in Renaissance Italy. So, she disguises herself as a boy, and goes to work in Piero's studio. Piero soon discovers her secret. He makes her his not unwilling lover, but it's Marco, a young apprentice she really craves. How can she seduce Marco when he thinks she is a boy?

I couldn't really get into this story because I thought Marco was not a particularly interesting love interest. He was rather one dimensional Also, it seemed like the author suddenly realized she was running out of time, and ended the book bery abruptly.

This was not my favorite Black Lace novel, but it was far from my least favorite.

Not one of Lafay's best books. Some scenes were medium-hot while many others were just flat. The plot was pretty good.