We need more Victorian era romances! This was delightful. Here's what I loved...
-A strong/witty female protagonist
-A smitten male protagonist
-A truly dastardly villain
-A peak into the Victorian era art world
-The cover
If you like clean historical romance, I think you'll like this one. 3.5 stars

I received an ARC from Net Galley and Shadow Mountain Publishing in exchange of an honest review.

Okay, this book was so fun! I felt like the writing was unique and the characters were lovely. And of course the mystery!

Rosanna is an artist and she re-creates famous paintings. She is witty, charming, and brave. I loved that she was willing to do all she could to put things to right.

Martin is charming. I want to find someone who just adores me as much as Martin adores Rosanna. I loved his character and his desire to do what was right.

Martin and Rosanna are so cute together! I loved their tours through the gallery and all their kisses! And of course the teasing. So good.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the historical details were also just so good!

I received and ARC from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

This is the second book I have read from this author. I really had a hard time connecting with Rosanna as a character. I did feel the storyline took a long to really develop and once you get to the heart of the story you are almost done with the book. I decided to stick with it but found myself losing interest in the story. When I don’t connect with the characters, I find a hard time engaging with the story. Plus. Martin as a character was pretty cool.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. All thoughts are my own opinions.

A touch slow but overall an excellent story with fun, flirtations and a bit of love. I really enjoyed reading this book especially about the art and the depth of knowledge regarding art and the process of creating it.

The Art of Love and Lies by Rebecca Anderson is cute story of finding love where you least expect it. It is mostly lighthearted with a touch of mystery that brings just the right balance. Rosanna is talented artist who just wants to paint and create. And she does; just not in the way she ever hoped or expected. Then she meets Martin and begins to realize what she’s been missing. No longer content with the status quo, she begins to ask questions. Martin is convinced Rosanna is perfect. Until he finds out she is not. He is not sure how to reconcile what he thought with reality. But he does know he cares about her and sometimes, you must stand up for love. I really do love the playful banter and the friendship that develops between Rosanna and Martin. Both learn that things are not always what they seem and that sometimes, the risk is totally worth it.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

TheArtofLoveandLies #NetGalley

Rosanna Hawkins is a,n artist who paints replicas and sells them through an art dealer. Things start to get complicated, when Rosanna believes she is becoming a pawn in a game she doesn't want to play.
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This book was a fascinating look into the world of art, from the perspective of the artist and the viewer. Rosanna works creating reproductions of famous masterpieces while fighting against her own creative urges. The way the author describes her process and how she views art really drew me into her world. When Rosanna meets Martin Harrison, head of security at the art gallery housing the originals, her perspective changes when he listens to her impressions of the paintings instead of the "popular" interpretations.

I really enjoyed their developing relationship, as well as the adventures they get up to.

The premise of this book was so promising, and it delivered a bit of everything. A bit of romance; plenty of art, art history, and even interpretation; mystery and intrigue, and a glimpse into historical Manchester. I appreciated the effort to include so many elements, but I think the overall narrative might have benefited by trimming the focus just a little? The love story element was certainly the strongest part of the story, fairly well developed and captivating. The mystery was intriguing but played out so quickly in the story, and there were a few historical inconsistencies that kept me from fully loving this book.

I struggled to reconcile the time period with the abnormally independent lives of the MC and her sisters. It seemed hard to believe they would have lived away from home without any compelling reason, especially when they could have easily lived in their spacious home and still accomplished their work, for the intents of the author. Their weekly Sunday dinners seemed very reminiscent of Gilmore Girls?

I also had a hard time with the antagonist. His relationship with Rosanna is so odd, and he’s so blatantly unlikeable. I wish he would have been more of a character than a caricature. There’s so much promise in the characters and book, and while I enjoyed the read, it feel a little flat overall.

I’m always happy to dive into a Victorian era novel. I was intrigued by the plot of this book, promising art theft and romance! This book was heavily descriptive art pieces and the artistic methods used to created replicas of famous masterpiece paintings. While I appreciated the authors attention to detail, it was at times distracting from the plot. I struggled to like the characters in this book. I felt like Rosanna was naive and a little overconfident, which did allow for some growth for her character by the end of this book. I was really surprised that Martin seemed to not take his job very seriously. He spend a good deal of time just wandering around and talking with Rosanna and I made me lose a lot of respect for him and his position dealing with security at the exhibit. Apart from that these two characters simply did not communicate. It was a fanciful daydreams, and leaping to assumptions, simple conversations could have really made a world of difference and it was just frustrating to read. This book was not a favorite, but each book hits readers differently and I would encourage readers to check it out if the plot sounds intriguing!

Manchester, England 1857

Rosanna Hawkins is one of Manchester’s finest artists though no one knows her name because she reproduces “parlor versions” of classics to near perfection to which her employer, Anton Greystone then sells them to the emerging upper-middle class.

The Art of Love and Lies is slow. The relationship between Rosanna Hawkins and Martin Harrison though necessary seemed forced to me, and when the robbery did occur halfway through the story, I wasn’t really enamored of it. Both Rosanna and Martin are kind of stuck in their trajectories in life; Rosanna realizes that she wants more than to just sell her reproductions to Anton, she wants more control to create what she wants to; and Martin wants to escape the fact that his father is a convicted felon and that he can stand on his own as a successful policeman aside from the unfortunate history of his father. They both want more than life has shown them so far. 3.5 stars

My gratitude to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain. All opinions expressed are mine.

I wanted to like it because the premise sounded so good. It wasn't just my cup of tea. I hated the villain, and I guess it was intentional. I didn't connect on a deeper level with the main characters. However, I appreciated the plot of the story. I recommend this to people interested in the Clean Romance set in the Victorian era.

My Rating Scale
⭐️⭐️: Okay, but not my cup of tea
⭐️⭐️⭐️: I liked it, but some were so-so
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I loved it, but I will not reread
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Favorite and will reread

Rosanna Hawkins has an exceptional gift of painting that her work looks identical to that of the original. She receives commissions for her work that gives her the independence she wants, and she feels her artwork will bring pleasure to those patrons who would like them for their home collections. When Rosanna discovers that her artwork is ultimately serving a very different purpose, she turns to her new boyfriend and security officer of the museum, Martin Harrison, for help.

The train scenes and chasing after Rosanna’s former business associate, Anton Greystone, made for exciting reading. The way they thwarted him was clever and my favorite part of the story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required.

Rosanna is an artist, working at creating reproductions of famous artwork for a middleman who sells them for her. Martin is a security officer, tasked with keeping the art exhibit in Manchester safe. Together, they discover an art heist. Rosanna knows who did it, but Martin sees her as the first and only suspect. Such a fun story of how they team up to solve the art crime, but even more importantly, how Martin helps Rosanna to see that echoing the work of other artists is not all that she was made to do!

The story moves quickly, and Rosanna and Martin are likable characters. Though she seems a bit too gullible, blindly trusting the man who claims to be selling her artwork for her.

Nothing earth shattering in the realm of fiction, but this book was highly enjoyable!

I received an arc from NetGalley, but all opinions are my own!

VERDICT Anderson’s (Isabelle and Alexander) latest stand-alone features a tender love story between a gentlewoman painter and a detective trying to rise above his difficult childhood.

Rosanna is in a position I'm sure a lot of us have found ourselves in: she's good at something that can make someone else money, and so they do their level best to quash all of her other ambitions, gaslighting her to the point where she believes her only talent is in reproducing other people's art. As the title of the book might suggest, the lies of her artwork end up getting in the way of her love with a policeman, who is predisposed not to trust thieves and crooks. And my, is he all too ready to believe the worst of Rosanna.

Although this sounds like a set up for a very frustrating novel, it surprisingly isn't. Rosanna and her beau Martin both have very believable backstories, and that he can't understand her position - and that it takes her so long to recognize that she's being used - makes a lot of sense in context. Anderson's writing is smooth and comfortable to read as well, which definitely helps. Her words are sufficiently old fashioned to make it clear that this takes place in 1857 without being self-righteously archaic, a difficult balance to achieve. There's also a clear love for and appreciation of art, which is charming. On the whole, this is simply a nice book, and hopefully Rosanna's sisters will get their own stories.

I really enjoyed reading The Art of Love and Lies. I liked the characters, enjoyed their mix of flaws and strengths. I liked that it didn't go too deep in the "damsel in distress" vibe. There was conflict, there were highs, there were lows -- but nothing was so dramatic that you found yourself rolling your eyes. The ending got a bit rushed, but by the time you got there you didn't mind too much. Overall, it was a good read.

Another beautiful addition to the Proper Romance series. I love that it takes place in the Victorian era (as opposed to earlier Regency) because it allows so much more freedom for the characters, the women in particular. Rosanna was born to high society but because of forward thinking parents and a strong sense of confidence and individuality, she’s able to earn a living, live alone and unchaperoned, and even steal sweet kisses from a dashing head of security. It’s the perfect balance between the strict rules of the Regency and the modern day.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

This is the story of Rosanna Hawkins whose upper-crust parents with progressive feminist views have allowed her to live on her own and earn her wages. Her chosen profession is as an art copyist. Rosanna visits the art exhibition regularly and creates exact copies of great artists' paintings to be sold to wealthy social climbers. She sees nothing wrong with this until she meets Inspector Martin Harrison, head of security at the exhibition, whose past involves a father arrested and deported for counterfeiting and fraud.

This newest novel from author Rebecca Anderson definitely has a more lighthearted, fun feel than her first published historical romance. The reader gets an instant sense of the heroine's naiveté and innocence as we meet the man she has entrusted with selling her paintings. As this character is compared and contrasted repeatedly with the hero, these relationships become immediately obvious to the reader. That the heroine dithers between her opinions of these two men really makes the plot drag.

The conflict for the first half of the book is largely this internal struggle of the heroine. This is coupled with a large dose of art appreciation and the development of the relationship between the hero and heroine. While there is an instant attraction between them, I was pleased to note that the author conveyed a sense of time spent getting to know each other. The only annoying thing about their relationship is how often they are both willing to jump to conclusions rather than communicate.

The second half of the book introduces the external conflict involving the theft of the Manchester Madonna. While the pacing of the plot picks up, this part felt really unrealistic to me. This conflict was far too easily resolved in my opinion and involved some behavior on the part of the heroine that felt very uncharacteristic based on what came before and after.

While I didn’t enjoy The Art of Love and Lies as thoroughly as I did this author's first foray into historical romance, I still think this is a decent story that many will enjoy. The characters are complex, and the history is interesting. The plot does move a little slowly, particularly in the beginning. But one does get a feel for what it may have been like to attend this art exhibit during this time.

I didn't really know what to expect when I picked this one up but I was pleasantly surprised! It was a light-hearted, entertaining read with a unique plot.

Rosanna is an artist and creates replicas of masterpieces to be sold to wealthy clients who want to display them in their homes.

Inspector Martin Harrison is head of security at the large art exhibition in town and when he and Rosanna cross paths at the exhibition, sparks fly!

But when some of the exhibition paintings go missing and Rosanna is accused, she has to convince Martin and everyone else of her innocence.

The only way to do that? Catch the real thief.

What to love:
Victorian era
Artistic character
Cute romance
Mystery and suspense
Art forgery
Flirting and witty banter
Sweet but swoony kissing!
Villain you love to hate
Their courtship

This was a fun, quick read that I read it almost in one sitting because I was caught up in the story. I have seen reviews criticizing it for accuracy, but I am not an expert on art or the Victorian era and nothing was so glaringly incorrect as to ruin the story. This is a work of fiction, after all, and it was entertaining and I guess that is good enough for me.

Though their relationship progressed quickly, this was not an instant-love story. There was an initial attraction that blossomed into something more as they spent hours upon hours together almost every day and oh my word, their romance was so incredibly sweet!

If you enjoy historical romance with a bit of mystery and adventure, then you definitely need to give this one a try! I enjoyed it and I would absolutely pick up more books in this series.

I received a complimentary copy but a positive review was not required.

I enjoyed how this book talked about the feelings art invokes. Rosanna was fun to get to know. Her passion for art was contagious. Martin was a bit more complex as he struggled to overcome his past. The mystery of who was stealing the art adds an element of intrigue to the story.