Love's Portrait


Book Description

Newly appointed art curator Molly Goode is committed to diversifying her museum’s collection. When Georgina Wright, the museum’s aloof benefactor, asks for Molly’s help in identifying the provenance of a 19th century portrait of social activist Josephine Brancaster, Molly welcomes the opportunity, even if it means spending time with the standoffish financier. But passions soon flare as the women uncover the heartbreaking story of doomed lesbian love behind the watercolor painted by Josephine’s lover, Edith Hewitt. As their love blossoms, Molly is determined to display Edith’s portrait of Josephine and to tell their story in the museum, but she needs the influential Georgina to help convince the board. When an unforeseen twist in the painting’s provenance forces Georgina to confront her own painful past, will history repeat itself, or can Molly and Georgina’s love prevail?




Love's Portrait


Book Description

Julia Westgard commissioned a scandalous portrait of herself to regain her self-worth after years of a loveless, repressive marriage to her late husband. But the private portrait puts her directly in the path of Morgan St. Claire, one of the Marlborough Set's most notorious seducers. A man who fires her blood, threatens her control, and ignites a passion she thought dead. In short, he's a man who doesn't take no for an answer. From the moment Morgan sees Julia's portrait, he's determined to make her another conquest. But the woman he meets is a far cry from the image on canvas. What begins as a simple exercise in passion and seduction quickly evolves into a quest to reveal the true Julia. With each sensual, erotic encounter, he employs every weapon of seduction at his disposal in hopes of making Julia see she really is the woman in Love's Portrait.




A Portrait of Love


Book Description

Honoria Keyes isn't the gawky, impressionable fifteen-year-old girl she was when she first met Simon Fairchild. Twelve years have passed, and she's a successful artist, enjoying her independence to the fullest. Simon has changed, too. Gone is the beautiful, gentle boy of Honoria's dreams. In his place is a dangerous, damaged man intent on avoiding human contact-and emotions. It would be unthinkable to fall for this difficult, wounded recluse. But then again, Honoria has never been one to do things the easy way ... Simon returned from Waterloo a bitter, broken shell of the man he once was. As if his scarred body and mind aren't bad enough, he's also financially dependent on his brother, the duke, while he convalesces. The duke's fondest wish is for Simon to marry and produce an heir-something Simon has no intention of doing. The one thing he never anticipated? All the unwanted feelings the lovely, talented, and infinitely intriguing Honoria would awaken in him ... Can Honoria and Simon heal the wounds of the past and build a life together? Or will their attempt at happily ever after end up a portrait of failure? Praise for Minerva Spencer's books: "Lovers of historical romance will be hooked on this twisty story of revenge, redemption, and reversal of fortunes." ★Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW of THE FOOTMAN "Spencer serves up an irresistible cocktail of smart characterization, sophisticated sensuality, and sharp wit-all while orchestrating her own clever spin on the popular bluestocking-and-rake trope." ★Booklist STARRED REVIEW of NOTORIOUS "Spencer's characterizations are nuanced and believable, and the passion between the protagonists scorches the pages. Readers will be hooked." ★Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW of THE MUSIC OF LOVE "Spencer's brilliant and original tale of the high seas bursts with wonderfully real protagonists, plenty of action, and passionate romance." ★Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW of BARBAROUS "Fans of Amanda Quick's early historicals will find much to savor." ★Booklist STARRED REVIEW "Sexy, witty, and fiercely entertaining." ★Kirkus STARRED REVIEW "[A] suavely sophisticated hero with sex appeal to spare, and a cascade of lushly detailed love scenes give Spencer's dazzling debut its deliciously fun retro flavor." ★Booklist STARRED REVIEW




Love and Loss


Book Description

"Most often, portrait miniatures were painted in watercolor on thin disks of ivory. They were sometimes worn as jewelry, sometimes framed to be viewed privately. Many were painted by specialists, although renowned easel artists - including Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and Charles Willson Peale - also created them to commemorate births, engagements, marriages, deaths, and other joinings or separations. The book traces the development of this exquisite art form, revealing the close ties between the history of the miniature and the history of American private life."--BOOK JACKET.




The Royalist Republic


Book Description

In 1649, Charles I was executed before Whitehall Palace in London. This event had a major impact not only in the British Isles, but also on the continent, where British exiles, diplomats and agents waged propaganda battles to conquer the minds of foreign audiences. In the Dutch Republic, above all, their efforts had a significant impact on public opinion, and succeeded in triggering violent debate. This is the first book-length study devoted to the continental backlash of the English Civil Wars. Interdisciplinary in scope and drawing on a wide range of sources, from pamphlets to paintings, Helmer Helmers shows how the royalist cause managed to triumph in one of the most unlikely places in early modern Europe. In doing so, Helmers transforms our understanding of both British and Dutch political culture, and provides new contexts for major literary works by Milton, Marvell, Huygens, and many others.




A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man


Book Description

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is semi-autobiographical, following Joyce's fictional alter-ego through his artistic awakening. The young artist Steven Dedelus begins to rebel against the Irish Catholic dogma of his childhood and discover the great philosophers and artists. He follows his artistic calling to the continent.




Nicholas Love's Mirror and Late Medieval Devotio-Literary Culture


Book Description

Surviving in 59 complete manuscript versions, few English texts of the late medieval period seem to have achieved the popularity of Nicholas Love's fifteenth-century translation and adaptation of the Latin Meditationes Vitae Christi - The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. The Mirror has received surprisingly little scholarly attention and is often contextualized in terms of its role in the theological conflict between English ecclesiastical orthodoxy and the teachings of heresiarch John Wycliff. David Falls presents a new account of the text's history which de-centralises, but does not disregard, the influence of the Wycliffite controversy. Falls interrogates preconceptions and investigates new possibilities for understanding the composition, circulation, function and use of Love's Mirror by examining both the textual modifications and additions made by Love in his adaptation of the Latin, and places these alterations in context by examining individual copies of the Mirror. The manuscript copies are read as both sites of literary consumption and nexuses of textual transition, demonstrating that it was Love's ability to inscribe his work with "functional diversity" which explains the Mirror's popularity. This book presents a nuanced picture not only of the Mirror's production, circulation and function, but also the dynamic and flourishing devotio-literary culture of late medieval England in which Love's text operated.




Highland Whirl


Book Description

When city girl about town Roxanne Barns reluctantly accepts a holiday invite to her best friend Eve’s birthday party in the Scottish Highlands, the last thing she expects is to fall for the very person she’s been dreading seeing again—the feisty Highlander, Alice Campbell. The moment Alice learns that Roxanne is visiting her home hamlet of Newland, she couldn’t be more suspicious or defensive. A warm welcome is certainly not the plan, let alone falling in love. Despite Eve’s warnings that Roxanne is not relationship material, Alice can’t ignore her growing attraction. She absolutely trusts Eve’s judgment, but taking her advice just might break Alice’s heart. Highland Whirl reunites readers with the characters and landscape of Highland Fling in an emotionally enthralling story of trust, friendship, family, and love.




Invisible


Book Description

Violet Unwin is convinced she is invisible. Overlooked by her adoptive family, her only solace is her uncle’s costume shop. By day, she’s an assistant no one remembers, but after hours, in the wonder of her imagination, she becomes explorer, warrior, queen. Devastated by news of the shop’s imminent closure, Violet finds comfort in an unlikely companion, the ghostly figure of her namesake, the suffragette Vi Unwin. Medical school dropout Phoebe Frink’s life is in disarray. She has no idea who she is anymore, what to do about it, or how to tell her parents. Taken under the wing of the infamous drag king Mr. Duke, owner of the struggling Banana Bar, fate steps in when Phoebe seeks Violet’s help with costumes for the bar’s fundraising Christmas Ball. Phoebe is captivated by beautiful, shy Violet, and for the first time in her life, Violet experiences what it is to be truly seen. But for love to be possible, Violet and Phoebe must take a risk on a future they’ve never dared to imagine.




Love's Labour's Lost (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography: The Life of William Shakespeare


Book Description

This carefully crafted ebook: “Love's Labour's Lost (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography: The Life of William Shakespeare” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s and first published in 1598. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to foreswear the company of women for three years of study and fasting, and their subsequent infatuation with the Princess of Aquitaine and her ladies. In an untraditional ending for a comedy, the play closes with the death of the Princess's father, and all weddings are delayed for a year. Life of William Shakespeare is a biography of William Shakespeare by the eminent critic Sidney Lee. This book was one of the first major biographies of the Bard of Avon. It was published in 1898, based on the article contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography. William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, the authorship of some of which is uncertain. Sir Sidney Lee (1859 – 1926) was an English biographer and critic. He was a lifelong scholar and enthusiast of Shakespeare. His article on Shakespeare in the fifty-first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography formed the basis of his Life of William Shakespeare. This full-length life is often credited as the first modern biography of the poet.