Wednesday, January 6, 2016

BOOK REVIEW- The Painter's Daughter

 
After the man she loves abruptly sails for Italy, Sophie Dupont’s future is in jeopardy. Wesley left her in dire straits, and she has nowhere to turn—until Captain Stephen Overtree comes looking for his wayward brother. He offers her a solution...but can it truly be that simple?  AMAZON

Life at a slower pace.   Sophie was a beautiful young woman, although not many had told her that, not even her father who loved her.  She lived a somewhat isolated life in a wild part of the country that she loved to paint.  She really didn't have many defenses when Wesley Overtree blew into her life.  He was handsome, charming, saw her as beautiful and also shared her passion for painting.  And that wasn't the only passion that they shared before he blew right back out of her life.  Not too far behind him was his brother Stephen, who was looking for/after him as usual.  It didn't take long for him to figure out that the friendship between Sophie and his brother was more, and that she was pregnant.  He manned up and married her even though the two of them were now awkward strangers.  It was charming but also a little sad that Sophie often called her new husband, Captain.  Even when he took her to his family home, Overtree Hall.   Now there were some awkward moments when Stephen introduced his new wife to  his family who all still lived there.  His mother, father, sister Kate, his grandfather Colonel Horton, and his old nanny Winnie.  They both knew that Wesley would not be there because he was off in Italy searching for his next muse.   I really liked the grandfather, Kate and Winnie and they added more to the story.  Now, Stephen's parents were exactly what you would expect.   Somebody had to be the proper, uptight,  rules bound people of the story. To his mother, Sophie really had nothing remarkable about herself.  She lacked wealth, station or great beauty.   Miss Bake a family  friend since childhood and Mr. Keith were also really good secondary characters in the story too.
 Stephen was somewhat stern and considered not as handsome as his brother, but he grows on you as the story continues.   Just as he begins to grows on Sophie, its just too bad that they were often interrupted just as they had a possible tender  moment or two to themselves.  You begin to see how honorable a man he is, as well as a  man of faith.  Oh, he knew his shortcomings but wasn't afraid to look to God for his help.  There is Bible verses scattered in several different places in the story.  It adds without being a distraction to the reader.
You know that Wesley the rascal will return to his family home and because he is basically selfish, he will stir up all kinds of trouble.   All of it happening while Stephen has to go off to fight in the war.  
Watch for some interesting twists and surprises towards the end of the book.  A special nice touch in the book was the fact tha Stephen had a miniature portrait of Sophie in his possession and that he had it long before he actually met her.


I received a copy of this book via Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

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