The Painter's Daughter by Julie Klassen Publisher: Bethany House (2015)
eARC (464 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Also by this author: The Secret of Pembrooke Park, A Castaway in Cornwall
Reading Challenges: 2015 Color Coded, Read 2015
Synopsis
Sophie Dupont, daughter of a portrait painter, assists her father in his studio, keeping her own artwork out of sight. She often walks the cliffside path along the north Devon coast, popular with artists and poets. It’s where she met the handsome Wesley Overtree, the first man to tell her she’s beautiful.
Captain Stephen Overtree is accustomed to taking on his brother’s neglected duties. Home on leave, he’s sent to find Wesley. Knowing his brother rented a cottage from a fellow painter, he travels to Devonshire and meets Miss Dupont, the painter’s daughter. He’s startled to recognize her from a miniature portrait he carries with him–one of Wesley’s discarded works. But his happiness plummets when he realizes Wesley has left her with child and sailed away to Italy in search of a new muse.
Wanting to do something worthwhile with his life, Stephen proposes to Sophie. He does not offer love, or even a future together, but he can save her from scandal. If he dies in battle, as he believes he will, she’ll be a respectable widow with the protection of his family.
Desperate for a way to escape her predicament, Sophie agrees to marry a stranger and travel to his family’s estate. But at Overtree Hall, her problems are just beginning. Will she regret marrying Captain Overtree when a repentant Wesley returns? Or will she find herself torn between the father of her child and her growing affection for the husband she barely knows?
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My Review
Sophie Dupont, the daughter of the portrait painter Claude Dupont, is the muse of the wealthy painter Wesley Overtree. It was because Wesley was the first to tell her she was beautiful that she agreed to be his muse. That is until Wesley decides it is time to go to Italy and find another muse. Little does Welsey know that he is leaving behind a pregnant Sophie.
When Captain Stephen Overtree comes to Devon to try to find his brother, he meets Sophie Dupont. It doesn’t take Stephen long to realize what has happened to Sophie and so he offers her a marriage to save her reputation. As a soldier, Stephen believes he will not live out the year and so Sophie accepts.
What Sophie didn’t know was that Stephen had found a miniature of her painted by Wesley the year before. Since then, Stephen has carried around this miniature and hoped to someday find the woman who inspired it.
Sophie and Stephen have a quick elopement and then Stephen takes Sophie to his family’s home, Overtree Hall. Sophie isn’t treated the best by the Overtree family simply because she is not from the same class as them. They don’t know the real reason Stephen married her.
There are quite a few secret kept by characters throughout the book. It is very interesting when some of them are made known and it doesn’t happen all at once. I really enjoyed this novel even though it isn’t what I would typically read. It was obviously well researched and the characters all had depth. Personally, Stephen was my favorite.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. If you are looking for a good Christian romance set in the regency era, this is a great choice.
Which Reading Challenges?
- You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
- Color Coded Reading Challenge (Word Implying Color – Painter)
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley for
review consideration. This in no way affects my opinion of the title
nor the content of this review.
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