Fieldnotes:
1 Scandalous Widow who Paints Nudes
1 Charming Friend of her now-Deceased Husband
1 Very Scandalous Self-Portrait
2 Deceased Spouses (good)
2 Adorable Moppets In Need of an Extra Parent
1 Mob of Busybodies
1 Very Unladylike Painting Job
1 No-Longer-Quite-So-Lecherous Aristocrat

The Short Version
A sweet novella from the Harlequin Undone! line most notable for both protagonists having had a perfectly healthy happy relationship with their now-unfortunately-deceased spouses. Far less angst here. Enjoyable, but a bit rushed at the ending (due to length constraints - that is not a euphemism).

The Long Version
Eliza Dauntry is a notorious widow shunned by 'polite' society because she uses her artistic talents to paint nude portraits of the ton's mistresses and courtesans - all to support herself and her young son after her husband died. Now she has been summoned to cover over naughty scenes at Lord Landsdowne's estate, where she encounters her husband's old friend Patrick Felham - who just so happens to be looking for a wife and mother to his daughter.

I believed the old-simmering attraction between Eliza and Patrick from when they had met before, and I very much enjoyed the fact that both Patrick and Eliza had had prior, happy and healthy relationships with their (unfortunately now-deceased) partners. None of this angsty, I've never had good sex in my life or hating all women, or having waited for you forsaking all others nonsense. Patrick had a lovely, though reckless, wife who died in an unfortunate accident. While Eliza is annoyed with her husband for having gambled away their money and having left them in dire straits (to the point where she must continue to paint nudes after his death to support herself), she still has fond memories of their relationship and has had no desire to seek out other men - until she meets Patrick again.

And their relationship, especially the physical one, I buy completely. What I don't understand is when they fell in love. I wish we had at least gotten a scene showing Patrick actually protecting Eliza's son James from the nosy busybodies of the ton or showing in a similar way that he genuinely cared about them and wasn't afraid to throw his weight around, damn the consequences. While this is hinted at in the narrative, it would have been nice to see. Because as written, I'm not sure why the two of them are getting married other than it would be convenient to have an extra parent for their respective offspring.

Nonetheless, I found this a nicely spicy and entertaining read, worthwhile not least because of the novelty of a heroine painter with a talent for nudes. ( )