The Lady In Red

THE LADY IN RED      Season of Scandal   Book 3.5    by Kelly Bowen

• Number: B06Y5J3B5N
• Release: December 5, 2017
• Author: Kelly Bowen
• Availability: E-Book
• Genre: Romance
• Tags: * Rom: Historical, Seasonal / Holiday
• Publisher: Forever Yours

2017 RITA award-winning author! "Wonderful! A charming, clever, and engaging storyteller not to be missed." --Sarah MacLean, New York Times bestselling author A lady with secrets, a man with a burning desire, a love that breaks all the rules Lady Charlotte Beaumont has spent her whole life being ignored. By her parents, her brother, even the servants. So she was secretly able to develop her talent for painting well beyond the usual watercolors. Too bad no one will let her actually use it-women are rarely accepted into the Royal Academy. But when a connection at the Haverhall School for Young Ladies gets Charlotte her dream commission, she'll do whatever it takes to make it work. Including disguising herself as "Charlie." Flynn Rutledge has something to prove. His lowly upbringing is not going to stop him from achieving his artistic dreams. This commission is the key to his future, and his partner, an unknown youth in oversized clothes who is barely old enough to shave, doesn't exactly inspire confidence. But Charlie does inspire Flynn's artistic passion-something he worried he might have lost forever. For all his street smarts, nothing can prepare Flynn for the shock of Charlie's true identity. He doesn't care that she's a woman, but a lady of the ton is a different matter altogether . . .(from Night Owl Reviews)

MY THOUGHTS
No one ever seemed to notice Lady Charlotte, not even her family.   Ladies in this time period weren't supposed to be artists but Lady Charlotte, while being ignored by everyone, was able to develop her talent for painting.   No one knew.  If only she could be accepted into the Royal Academy.   But rarely did ladies get to go there.  Just as she thought it was hopeless, someone at Haverhall School for Young Ladies helps her get in.  Now it's up to Charlotte to make this dream work.  She went to the extreme.  She became "Charlie".  Yes, she made herself look like a man.  A man had better chances of succeeding, especially in the fine arts.    Charlotte or now known as "Charlie" becomes partners with another person who has the dream of becoming an artist, Flynn Rutledge.   What a shock is in store for Flynn!  The author showed how women had it much harder back in the day than men. The book shows how women sometimes had to resort to unusual tactics in order to achieve their dreams.  It didn't seem to me that Charlotte tried very hard to make her wishes known to her family.   Perhaps her family would have paid more attention if she stood up for what she wanted.  It would have been worth a try.  I do wish there  had been a bit more background on both Charlotte and Flynn.  I just couldn't connect with either one of them. They didn't seem realistic to me.

I received a copy of this book from Night Owl Reviews and voluntarily decided to review it.

I would give this book 3 STARS.