Love is blind, but fate sees everything
The Girl in the Painting, an all-new standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Max Monroe, is available now!
Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
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Blurb
Ansel Bray, an artist known around the world for his tragic hiatus from the canvas.
Ansel Bray, a broody, handsome man not known by me, at all.
Long dark hair, blue eyes, and dimpled cheeks. I’ve never met her, but her image is imprinted in my mind. An angel muse who inspires me to paint again.
There is something about him. Something that spurs a need to be as close to him as possible. A need to find out why.
There is something about her. Something that draws me in. Something that urges me to find out what her presence means.
Why does the girl in his painting look so much like me?
Who is this girl, and why can I see her so vividly?
I shouldn’t fall in love with him.
I shouldn’t fall in love at all.
But fate plays her hand.
But fate has other plans.
The lines of my life will blur.
The needs of my heart will change.
What a beautiful mess we’ve made.
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Review
4.5 “perfect shade of indigo” stars!!
“Sometimes, it’s not black-and-white. Sometimes, things are very, very gray. And all you can do is lead with the best intentions, and then it’s up to fate to decide.”
The Girl in the Painting is a different kind of love story from Max Monroe but it’s no less entertaining. Full of heartache and healing, mystery and revelation, this emotional story pulled at my heartstrings and kept me captivated until the very end.
Painting is Ansel’s calling but when a life changing accident tears his dreams apart, all that is left is an angry, lonely man. His situation was painful especially knowing his desperation to get back the thing he lost.
My fingers itch to paint, but my soul has no desire to create.
I miss my old life.
I miss losing myself inside my studio.
I miss the rush and comfort and adrenaline and solace that painting provided.
When a miracle happens, he is finally able to move on from the past. Painting again brings him the joy he’d given up on but it also brings him a new subject. He is consumed by the girl he can’t get out of his head. He doesn’t know why she’s all he sees and he can’t stop painting her.
My mind has traced the lines of her face, her lips, her eyes, her hair, her soft skin a million times. I’ve seen her smile and her sadness and her melancholy. I’ve seen what her eyes look like when passion flashes within them.
I’ve never met her, but I already feel like I know her.
It’s insane, I know, but somehow, she’s become a part of me.
The girl in the painting has found a place in his heart. She is his muse and has brought him back to life. Back to painting again. Imagine the shock Ansel feels when he meets the girl in his paintings for the first time. That’s right, FOR THE FIRST TIME. He has been painting a girl for three years that he has never met! Cue up confusion, mystery, and a whole lot of feels. What follows is a rollercoaster of emotion and a unique love story that is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
I adored this book. The plot, though predictable, was interesting and addictive. I was invested from the start and I couldn’t wait to see the story unfold. We get bits and pieces of the story and I grasped each one like a lifeline trying to figure out the truth.
Ansel and Indy are endearing and special characters. Both faced life changing circumstances that were heartbreaking in their own way. Then they experience something so mindboggling that everything changes once again. The emotion is well-written and I experienced everything that flowed though Ansel and Indy minds and bodies. I believed the confusion, fascination, and the weirdness of the situation. They have a mysterious yet undeniable connection that is baffling. It doesn’t make sense but they can’t stop the pull they feel.
When it comes to this man, it’s like something inside of me shifts, and I can’t resist him. I can’t ignore the way he makes me feel. I can’t turn a blind eye to all of the crazy things that have brought us together. The things that I don’t understand at all.
Even if they shouldn’t be together they cannot stop the inevitable from happening. Their chemistry is off the charts and the sexual tension is palpable. The intensity of the hunger and longing was almost too much to bear. It’s a perfect mix of tenderness and passion.
Then reality hits. I knew it was coming. I was waiting for it, preparing myself for the pain. But it didn’t help. When the truth is revealed, my heart hurt as Ansel and Indy faced heartbreak once again.
In this sadness, this heartbreak, I can’t see a past or a future. I’m merely living by the moment. And every day is measured from the second I wake up into this new reality and until my body can no longer take it and sleep lets my weary mind and aching heart rest.
They have to decide if they can recover from the truth and I couldn’t stop reading until I knew the answer. And I was happy with the way the story went. We are given a wonderful epilogue that was a perfect ending to the book and I couldn’t stop the giddy feeling that consumed me.
My sweet love.
My once-in-a-lifetime, written-in-the-stars, forever-starts-right-now kind of love.
I can’t leave out my love for the side characters. Ansel’s relationship with his assistant, Lucy, is hilarious and I enjoyed their banter. Also, I want more of Ansel’s brother, Bram, and I’d love a rock star romance featuring him!!
*ARC generously provided by the authors and Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review*
About the Authors
A secret duo of romance authors team up under the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling pseudonym Max Monroe to bring you sexy, laugh-out-loud reads.
Max Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of more than ten contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they’ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far.
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