Customer Reviews

The Painted Lady

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Will I ever be so lucky as to find another lovely romance novel in this lifetime ? WOW ! That's 1 way to put into words everytime I finished re-reading it ( done 'bout 99 times already =P ). How often Fleur's haunting green eyes gazed down upon him from the walls of his cousin's home in London ! When Anthony first set his cool gray eyes on Fleur from a distance in a restaurant, she was full of life & love, with her famous husband on her side. He saw her again 2 and a half years later. But this time Fleur is a penniless widow with a frozen heart due to the loss of her baby & husband. Desperate for money to pay her blackmailer, she accepted Anthony's marriage offer, thinking that she could fool him into believing that she married him for love & affection. When he found out her terrible secret, she had no choice but surrender to his terms : her freedom & a fortune to live on if she agreed to 5 nights of unquestioning, unrestrained surrender to what he planned to teach her. I love the sensuous development of the story when Fleur's heart is melting layer by layer with each of Anthony's lazy seduction. Every misunderstanding & quarrell is painfully gut-wrenching & oh what an ending ! Of course, as the previous reviewers hinted, the love-scenes literally burn up the pages & left me clamoring for more from this unknown author. I don't know why she didn't make it to the top of the best of the best-seller list. U have got to read it to believe my gushing review !

It's impossible to assign stars to a book like this which makes you want to tear your hair out! ** SPOILERS AHEAD ** Fleur Brooks is married to an outgoing wastrel artist who drinks himself to death at the beginning of this book. Fleur is beautiful, graceful, and loves her husband adoringly. Anthony Cramwell is a baronet - rich and seemingly idle - who becomes obsessed with Fleur at first sight. This book starts off with allure. Anthony waits 2 years to get his shot at her (how romantic!) and courts her like a gentleman. Then a blackmailing plot involving lurid paintings Fleur's husband painted of her turns their courtship into a quicky marriage, followed by nearly a YEAR of being cold and barren towards each other. All explodes with the discovery by Anthony of the blackmail substory, and he 180s into this debauched sadistic soulless creature who wants nothing more than to 'extract a pound of flesh' from Fleur. The sexual submissiveness he demands from her is definitely erotic in its own way. At the same time, Grahame is short on the actual descriptive details standard in most modern romance novels, so while psychologically steamy, some of you like me may not be totally satisfied. FYI, if you need your heros to be faithful, this is not the book for you.

Other reviewers have called Fleur self indulgent and self obsessed. Though I found her sympathetic, I can't disagree. I think it's partially a result of the entire story being in her first person narrative. Since the reader is constantly in her head, her emotional introspection can be a bit overwhelming at times. In Fleur's defense, her inability to voice her love for Anthony is not unbelievable. But it makes you want to strangle her at times.

The other shortfall with first person narrative is that you only see Anthony through Fleur's eyes. In this case, Anthony does this Dr Jekyll-Mr Hyde thing, and while Grahame gives you plenty of clues for the reader to intuit what he's going through, you still have to work really hard to do so.

In sum, this is a book for only us self-flagellators out there. I would label this "regency noir" for sure. I found myself alternately wanting to throw the book at the wall, then putting the book down and contemplating starting a new one, and lastly picking it up again (during lunch breaks) bc I couldn't help myself. Is it worth reading? Absolutely. Needless to say there's a happy ending but it's sheer hell to get there. To top off my completely schizophrenic review, let me just say that Lucia Grahame's prose is lovely. Some of the dialogues between Fleur and Anthony made me weep.

This romance novel, which I finally tracked down after years of searching for (I read it from the library and never found it later) is simply one of the very best romance books I've ever read. It is extremely well-written.

Fleur is a penniless widow of a famous artist, and unbeknownst to her, Anthony, a rich baronet has loved her from afar for years. Fleur has also been the subject of her late husband's paintings, and some are not meant for the general viewing public. Now that she is free, he has proposed. Fleur has been scarred from her marriage and her husband's dirty dealings, and agrees to marry Anthony, but not because she loves him yet. Her problems are just too overwhelming, and Anthony is a way out. However, Anthony catches on, is devastated, and plays out a game with Fleur to unfreeze her heart. For five nights,she must show him unlimited sexual pleasure.

This romance is magical as Anthony does manage to delve into Fleur's internal pain and allows her be free to love. The sexual scenes are fairly graphic but tasteful...and so tantalizing. The ending made me cry. Lucia Grahame, please write another book!

This is one romance I've read at least 10 times. A keeper forever. If you can find it, buy it.

Sometimes I don't know how an author could ever come up with a plot, and this one is terrific. I think the author captures well someone coping with depression after the loss of a husband who was less than perfect. Those memories blur the bad spots and sometimes trick us into not living for the future. Extremely well written and moving, with some great sex

Oh, my god!! I loved this book, couldn't put it down, read it for several hours straight until I finished it. This is an extremely well-written and poignant story about the pain of unrequited love. The love that Anthony felt for Fleur was so beautiful, that it makes how she treated him that much sadder (although she had her reasons). On the subject of Anthony's infidelity, I also felt that the author handled it very well--how was he supposed to react after Fleur plainly showed him by her words and actions, that she did not want him to touch her? He was in terrible emotional pain, and to his credit, he was not the one who told Fleur about the infidelity, he only confirmed it. He also sought out ladies who resembled Fleur. As to the sexual bargain he made with her, in the context of the story it makes sense, and I do not feel that Fleur was mistreated. He was far more generous and patient with her than she deserved. From what I have read, this was the only novel by Ms. Grahame, and that is really a shame, as she has so much talent. I've read thousands of books, and I rank this among the best romances.

I'VE READ THIS BOOK SEVERAL TIMES, AND STILL LOVE IT. SIR ANTHONY IS THE KIND OF HUSBAND ANY WOMAN OUT THERE WOULD WANT. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BEAUTIFULLY-WRITTEN STORY. FROM THE FIRST PAGE TO THE LAST, IT CAPTIVATES ME. THE LOVE SCENES ARE HIGHLY-IMAGINATIVE, AND THE ENDING IS SO BEAUTIFUL IT MAKES ME SIGH. I'M STILL WAITING FOR THE AUTHOR TO RELEASE MORE HEART-BREAKERS LIKE THIS ONE. PLEASE...PLEASE WRITE AGAIN !!!

I can't understand why anyone would deem to call this book a romance. Its simply appalling to me to think that these two protagonists can even be in love. I found many parts of the book depressing and some that were downright disturbing. And to call this book one of the best romances ever is just ridiculous.

*semi spoilers*

Desperate times call for desperate measures so I cannot argue against the heroine, Fleur, marrying Anthony (very wealthy nobleman) even though she does not love him at all. He is wildly in love with her. But I have problems with her callous treatment of him. She knows the depth of his love so why does she purposely tell him that she feels no passion for him at all? Isn't that a bit cruel considering his treatment of her up to this point? Why would she hurt him so if she claimed earlier to care for him? And we know that she feels a slight attraction, so why not work on that instead of purposely stabbing him in the heart?

The worst part of the book is when Anthony finds out about the paintings and the blackmail (the reason for Fleur's needing money). If he loved Fleur, like he claims to, he would have never done the despicable things he did after he found out. He punishes her by; deliberately humiliating her, committing adultery MANY times and describing the episodes with relish and lets not forget keeping her a virtual prisoner and pseudo-slave at his beck and call. The loves scenes are not sexy/tender but degrading and lurid, meant to teach Fleur a lesson and show her who is master. The vast majority of the book emphasizes this mistreatment, so the brief ending where they kiss and makeup just doesn't cut it for me.

*end spoilers*

Sorry, I don't see anything remotely romantic about this book. Its a book about obsession and NOT love.

This is a book I've read at least 3 times! Every time I read it, I feel I could read it again. The ending is the type that brings happy tears to your eyes. You are on a rollercoaster with Anthony and Fleur--and it's a wonderful ride. Sensual, romantic, adventurous---everything you could look for in a historical romance. Oh Ms. Grahame, I concur, write again!

The story was a really good one, but there was a sense that the author was "trying too hard", using words that were too flowery, too grand. I wanted to put it down a few times, but the story was captivating me and just then, something good was about to happen! I finished it, but really would give it a 3.5, if that was possible to show!

The storyline and basic attractions of this book have already been discussed above. I have read many hundreds of romance novels, and this lovely book still rates in my top five. I am always on the look out for a new book by this author, and I wish he/she would write more! If you enjoy Linda Howard, Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, Nora Roberts, JD Robb, and Judith Ivory, BUY THIS BOOK ANY WAY YOU CAN GET IT! I only wish I had a hard cover, as I have about worn my paperback copy out!