By Mimi Matthews
Belles of London Book 4
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice rating: 🌶️
Blurb
A silver-haired equestrienne and a charismatic artist turn a scandalous bargain into a vibrant portrait of love.
Stella Hobhouse is a brilliant rider, stalwart friend, skilled sketch artist—and completely overlooked. Her outmodish gray hair makes her invisible to London society. Combined with her brother’s pious restrictions and her dwindling inheritance, Stella is on the verge of a lifetime marooned in Derbyshire as a spinster. Unless she does something drastic…like posing for a daring new style of portrait by the only man who’s ever really seen her.
Aspiring painter Edward “Teddy” Hayes knows true beauty when he sees it. He would never ask Stella to risk her reputation as an artist’s model but in the five years since a virulent bout of scarlet fever left him partially paralyzed, Teddy has learned to heed good fortune when he finds it. He’ll do anything to persuade his muse to pose for him, even if he must offer her a marriage of convenience.
After all, though Teddy has yearned to trace Stella’s luminous beauty on canvas since their chance meeting, her heart is what he truly aches to capture….
Category: Historical Romance
Read if you Like:
🐎 Disability rep
🐎 Closed-door
🐎 Artist hero
🐎 Controlling families
🐎 Marriage of convenience
My Thoughts:
While I really enjoyed Julia and Anne's stories, neither quite captured the magic of Evelyn's story for me. However, Stella's story might just do that! I loved watching Stella come into her own and find a place where she could be her whole self!
I also loved watching Teddy and Stella bond. They had a lot in common and I loved how much they appreciated each other even though the rest of society did not see their gifts. I thought they had a really special bond.
I am always blown away when I finish a historical romance and read the author's note about all the time they put into the research for the story. I really appreciated that Mimi Matthews spent a lot of time understanding what it would have been like to be in a wheelchair during the Victorian period and showed us that research through Teddy's character.
If you like a historical romance this one is sweet and informative! Teddy and Stella both need someone and watching them find that they don't just need someone they need each other is a wonderful journey.
Thank you to Berkely Romance for providing me with an ARC. All opinions are my own.
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