Trope Round Up: Historical Romance Books with Lady Painters

Portrait of the Duke by Alexa Aston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Suddenly a Duke series. We start with an adorable prologue with an outspoken teenager warning away one of her spoiled sister’s suitors and letting him know that he isn’t a real contender being merely a viscount. Despite the age-gap and both of their youths, there’s a spark of chemistry between them. Ten years later, Lady Margaret is finally ready to make her debut after caring for her ill-mother, mourning her death, and mourning her father’s death. However, Margaret has no intention to marry, but to build a business painting portraits. Our young viscount, Daniel, is now a duke looking to marry this Season. He’d sought out Margaret in previous years, but she was nowhere to be found. As he sees her in the present, there’s an existing connection between their grandmothers who had been friends in their youth. Daniel’s grandmother is the best wingwoman around, making sure to keep Margaret close by, and supporting her art. This was a relatively low-angst book with an instant attraction between our main characters. There’s the petty spoiled sister in the background, but she doesn’t interfere too badly. Great book if you’re looking for an easy read and a good time.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne by Elisa Braden (2015)

Lucien seeks revenge against the man who caused his sister’s suicide and killed his brother in a duel, so he sets out to seduce and ruin that man’s sister.

He successfully compromises Victoria at a ball, proceeds to marry her, and then ban her from speaking to her brother ever again.

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The Week the Wallflower Was Wanton by Eva Devon (2021)

Lucy is a debutante who would rather be painting than finding a husband, so she propositions a renowned rake to ruin her. They spend a week together doing whatever needs to be doing for her ruination and somehow she cracks into his hardened heart after all.

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A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Recently widowed countess Eliza finds that her inheritance is dependent on her staying away from any scandal. The new earl, Lord Somerton, is the nephew of her late husband and happens to be a former suitor that was rejected when Eliza’s parents forced her to marry. As a widow, Eliza finally has a small taste of freedom when she spirits herself (and her cousin) away to Bath to visit before she makes her way back to her family’s home. Eliza ends up meeting the charming and scandalous Lord Melville and tries very hard to avoid him due to his reputation. Eventually Melville convinces Eliza to paint his portrait and she seizes this opportunity to utilize her artistic talent. Additionally, Somerton has renewed his acquaintance with Eliza and they confront their romantic past. We have a slowly building love triangle here, where you’re mostly rooting for Eliza to break free of her oppressive marriage and reunite with her long lost love, but then we start to see her friendship with Melville develop and wonder where that will lead. Since this book was a single POV (only Eliza’s), it wasn’t clear who the ultimate love interest is going to be, and I was intrigued to find out who she ended up with. There are also some delightful side pairings that we discover along the way as well. Despite this being a super low-steam book, the emotional build-up was really well done and it was an enjoyable book to read.

Advance ebook provided by Penguin Random House via NetGalley.

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Painting the Duke by Georgina North (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Vivienne is an orphaned lady who lives with her aunt and uncle and is known for refusing multiple marriage offers. She actually has a secret life as an oil painter and many of her anonymous works are showcased at royal exhibitions. This season, a handsome duke, Brick, is back in town after being banished for many years. He’s not exactly looking for a wife, but is intrigued by Vivienne and is somehow egged into betting that he is able to secure her hand in marriage. He definitely has his work cut out for him, since she is very outspoken with him about her desire to not marry. However, he is refreshed by her opinions on art and equality and enjoys spending time with her. She also enjoys his company but refuses to give up her art and worries that he will be scandalized by her secret. This book is definitely a slow-burn romance with Vivienne being the one to learn to let down her walls and share her secret with the world; we also have Brick learning to eschew societal expectations and support Vivienne in every way possible. When she catches him in a lie, he delivers on meaningful displays of affection and support. Excellent read.

Advance ebook provided by Georgina North via BookSirens.

Forgery, Love, and Other Lies by Charlie Lane (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Art of Love series. There was once a financially irresponsible marquess who spent his money on art instead of his estate and family and after his passing, he had given away all of the art except for a select few paintings that his children would earn by creating a their own piece of art to their mother’s satisfaction. Unfortunately, the paintings left in their house were forgeries, orchestrated by second son Zander, who rented out the originals in times of financial need. Now that the family knows which paintings are meant to be the inheritance, Zander tries to reclaim the originals but finds the old woman he dealt with (and the artwork) missing. His investigation leads him to find the art forger, who is the daughter of a jeweler, Fiona, and is just as distressed with the disappearance of the old woman and many other counterfeit paintings that could see her hanged. Zander and Fiona team up to track down the woman and the paintings and find themselves in love along the way, although Zander is hesitant to offer anything permanent as he’s in no financial position to marry.

Advance ebook provided by Charlie Lane via NetGalley.

Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret (2014)

Book 1 of the Wallflower Weddings series. This one is an inheritance scheme. Quincy needs to convince his grandmother that he’s seriously engaged before his inheritance is released to him, so he picks his best friend’s sister to fake-propose to. She goes along with it… maybe because she had a crush on him all along, but also, she doesn’t want anyone to find out that she’s secretly a painter, which is somehow unladylike. I’m not sure, but everytime they try to call it off, it doesn’t quite work and then somehow end up married before they talk everything out.

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The Portrait of a Duchess by Scarlett Peckham (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Society of Sirens series. Cornelia is the niece of a duke but has built her reputation as a scandalous painter. She and her friends are trying to raise funds to build an institute for women and she needs a place to exhibit her latest collection of paintings. One seemingly random day, her uncle’s heir, Rafe, and now the duke comes to visit to inform her of her inheritance, which hinges on her being married. The surprise is that she’s already married to Rafe himself, and he suggests they go public with the marriage so she can claim her inheritance. What follows is a non-chronological story of how these two ended up married twenty years ago and then estranged in all the time since then. I mostly kept reading because I wanted to find out what happened, but the story itself wasn’t terribly interesting to me. Rafe is a smooshy sort of fellow who falls in love too freely and scares off all his partners with his enthusiasm and Cornelia is adamant about her independence and does not want the complication (or obligation) of love. He’s an overzealous puppy for most of the book and she’s the reluctant and selfish one, protecting her own isolation. And then there’s the political stuff happening in the background that wasn’t super interesting to me. On the plus side, Rafe is unapologetically bisexual here and one of his male lovers joins in for an encounter with Cornelia. So you know, if you like that stuff, here it is in a traditionally published historical romance.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

Painting the Earl by Lexi Post (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Marrying a Mabry series. Amelia is the youngest Mabry sister who is focusing on her painting and aims to paint a masterpiece before settling into marriage. When a handsome earl proposes to her unexpectedly, she offers him a counterproposal: serve as her nude model before they marry. Andrew is in dire financial circumstances due to debts his father left behind and needs to marry for money quickly, but he is intrigued by Amelia’s proposition and agrees to it. As they spend more time together, he quickly falls in love with her and hopes that she will someday see him as a desirable husband rather than just a handsome subject of art. We get to interact a bit more with Amelia’s sisters, and there’s definitely a strong set up for sister Mariel’s future book. This one was relatively low-angst and easy to read.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

All Duke and Bothered by Mariah Stone (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Dukes and Secrets series. New duke Preston wants revenge on his brother’s killer, so he arranges himself in a position to marry Penelope, the young lady that he believes led on his brother and whose father hired ruffians to beat him. She doesn’t know about her father’s misdeeds and is horrified at having to marry Preston, who openly disdains Penelope. Preston believed that Penelope was a shallow flirt who was interested in his brother’s money, but really, she just thought they were friends and liked to talk about art together. Penelope was not interested in marriage at all and wanted to work on her painting. As Preston starts to see that he was mistaken about Penelope’s true personality, he feels guilty for misjudging the situation with his brother and also guilty for marrying Penelope. He’s still preoccupied with getting revenge on Penelope’s father though, and she’s disappointed that he is clearly choosing revenge over the possibility of love and happiness. It’s all a muddle until Preston can share his secrets with Penelope and let go of his quest for vengeance.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.