ARC Review: The Lady in Red by Kelly Bowen

” It’s heart warming stuff. ”
~ Under the Covers

I was a little bit, aka a lot, deceived by the cover into thinking I had gotten my hands on a historical romance Christmas book. Now the former part of that is correct, however the latter, the ‘Christmas’ part is not. Ignore the cheerfully lit Christmas tree in the background it’s telling porkies. But, in retrospect I can’t be too angry about it, I enjoyed the book too much. It’s all about wallflower Lady Charlotte Beaumont is used to being ignored by everyone, servants and family alike,so has used this to her advantage by becoming an exceptional artist. Only now she wants to break out of the restrictions placed upon her and use this skill. Enlisting the help of a very dangerous man, she manages to find a position…as Mr Charlie Beaumont a young aspiring artist. What could go wrong? Apart from an attractive fellow artist Flynn Rutledge finding out her secret identity…

Although, as I have pointed out already, this isn’t a Christmas book, it does have all the hallmarks of an uplifting Christmas tale. We have a heroine who striving to improve herself and live her dreams; we have a grumpy hero coming to terms with a sordid past all bound together with the power of their friendship, and then eventual romance, to make each character become more than they could have alone. It’s heart warming stuff.

What I liked most about this novella, is that Bowen managed to pack such a powerful romance in such a small package. Charlotte and Flynn were friends first and had formed a mutual liking and respect for one another without the complication of a romantic relationship. This solid foundation led a strong connection between them both when the truth was eventually revealed.

This is a great novella and can be read as a standalone, I haven’t read previous books in this series but I didn’t need to, and is definitely worth a look at this winter season.

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