Sunday, 12 February 2023

A Portrait of Pride by Naomi Kelly (2022)


 *********************Book Tour *************************

            A Portrait of Pride: A Sweet Regency Romance

                                   by Naomi Kelly

 


However will Margo survive the season?
After a chance encounter leaves 
Miss Margaret Radcliffe indebted to nearest neighbour, Lord Livingston, she agrees – albeit begrudgingly – to act as muse and model for the seasonal portraits he has commissioned.

The painter, Mr Smith, despises the high society he works for, and when he learns young Margo is entering her debut season, he endeavours to make his many opinions known.

Forced to spend endless time together over the course of a year, Mr Smith and Miss Radcliffe must learn to put their pride aside and see the person who sits before them as they truly are.


                                      🌟🌟🌟🌟


A unique spin on the traditional Regency romance where the heroine falls in love with an ordinary working man instead of a titled landowner. 

Margo and Mr Smith are not good friends in the beginning as they have very different outlooks on life because of their unequal status in society. Mr Smith is a mere painter but highly regarded by Lord Livingstone who has commissioned him as an artist in residence at his estate. Things change when Margo agrees to sit for a series of paintings and young love blossoms.


The story is novella length which means you can enjoy it in one sitting but it definitely would have worked as a full-length novel. There was a lot of background story and side characters that I loved. I would have enjoyed more interactions between Margo and Mr Smith during the painting sessions and for there to be enough time for sexual tension to build up between them. Mr Smith seemed to be smirking at her a lot in the beginning which put me off him as I thought he was making fun of her. However, the couple seemed really sweet once they acknowledged their feelings and Mr Smith was quite eloquent in his declaration.


I enjoyed this sweet and short regency romance. It should appeal to all fans of the genre.