Julie Klassen Is the Gold Standard for Inspirational Regency Fiction Sophie Dupont, daughter of a portrait painter, assists her father in his studio, keeping her own artwork out of sight. She often walks the cliffside path along the north Devon coast, popular with artists and poets. It’s where she met the handsome Wesley Overtree, the first man to tell her she’s beautiful. Captain Stephen …
Captain Stephen Overtree is accustomed to taking on his brother’s neglected duties. Home on leave, he’s sent to find Wesley. Knowing his brother rented a cottage from a fellow painter, he travels to Devonshire and meets Miss Dupont, the painter’s daughter. He’s startled to recognize her from a miniature portrait he carries with him–one of Wesley’s discarded works. But his happiness plummets when he realizes Wesley has left her with child and sailed away to Italy in search of a new muse.
Wanting to do something worthwhile with his life, Stephen proposes to Sophie. He does not offer love, or even a future together, but he can save her from scandal. If he dies in battle, as he believes he will, she’ll be a respectable widow with the protection of his family.
Desperate for a way to escape her predicament, Sophie agrees to marry a stranger and travel to his family’s estate. But at Overtree Hall, her problems are just beginning. Will she regret marrying Captain Overtree when a repentant Wesley returns? Or will she find herself torn between the father of her child and her growing affection for the husband she barely knows?
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Romance. Danger. Intrigue. Heartache. Conflict. Warmth. Love. The Painter’s Daughter has it all. There were times I feared the ending wouldn’t be what I wanted. Which only served to keep me reading, sometimes with my heart in my throat. I loved it.
This book had me in the palm of its hand. I cried so much, got mad so much, and was bubbling over with joy the other times. One of the best books I have ever read!
Steve’s wife says, “Julie Klassen always hits it out of the park. Great new plot idea. While the dilemma occurs due to an unfortunate moral choice…..there isn’t a lot of steam that makes me uncomfortable with the book.”
That was an emotional journey of epic proportions. This is probably my favorite book that I’ve read from Julie so far. There was a wonderful cast of characters, I found all of them to be interesting when they were on the page. I’m not one prone to violence but Wesley……I wanted to plant a facer on that lowlife. One thing I greatly appreciated is the way the ending was written. There wasn’t just a quick epilogue to wrap things up, we were given a solid few chapters to finish flushing out the storylines.
I would say it’s more mature in theme but it’s still clean. Just a disclaimer on that.
I read my first book by this author just last year and definitely wanted to read more so I was pleased to snag this one. While this book had different elements and went a different direction, I found it easy to engage with the story. I liked how the book began with a young woman’s mistake and followed along as events took their course to her again faced with a choice and seeing how she faced it this time.
The story begins with Sophie Dupont, daughter to a successful portrait painter, caught in a bad situation. The man she loves and thought was going to propose marriage has left her behind to pursue his art. Her mistake has consequences and she is pregnant. And there offering her rescue is her lover artist’s younger brother. Where Wesley is fair, pleasing, and handsome in his ways, this tall, stern-expressioned dark stranger is his opposite. He is a soldier and his volatile nature unsettles her, but it is either take Captain Stephen Overtree’s offer of marriage of convenience or lose her reputation and destroy any chance of a respectable reputation of her unborn child. By taking the Captain, she will be forced to give up on Wesley. But as she spends time in Captain Stephen Overtree’s company and care, she begins to compare the two brothers and which one has stood steadily beside her and did his best to place her first even if he is reserved and quiet and never promised her love.
Stephen has come searching out his older brother to bring him back to the family estate to take up his neglected responsibility as heir and help their ailing father since Stephen has to return to his regiment and can no longer shoulder Wesley’s responsibility. Except when he tracks Wesley to beautiful Devon, he finds that once again he is left to clean up one of Wesley’s messes and shoulder responsibility. Stephen makes the offer that his brother should have made to the woman who fell for his fickle brother’s charms and he must hide from her that while she pines for Wesley that Stephen has held her miniature portrait close to him for over a year and dreamed about the woman his brother used as a model. He is a soldier and believes that he is fated to die so he is at peace with his maker and content to have rescued Sophie. He tries to not wish for more than she can ever give him.
This was a story that I struggled with in the beginning. I wasn’t really fond of Sophie. She messed up and really has no choice, but she chose to act like Stephen was the bad guy when he was really her hero. Eventually, she gets a clue about how selfish and self-absorbed she is being and that helped me enjoy the story more. There is a strong religious thematic element running through it so this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it a sweet, heartwarming story. There is internal and external conflict. Even a love triangle which I usually detest, but didn’t mind in this one. It is a slow build and slow burn that has some good foreshadowing and hints to keep it from dragging as it sets up for the more intense and faster-paced ending.
The characters are interesting. Stephen is very religious, but not in a sanctimonious way. He lives what he believes even if he isn’t as easy on the eye or as silver-tongued as his brother. No, he isn’t perfect, but he does try to do the right thing. He has the struggle of duty and honor before what he would prefer and being attracted to a woman who prefers his brother. His parents even favor his brother falling for his charms though his old nurse and grandfather do not because they see through Wesley. His brother disappoints him often, but he also loves him. There is a bit of Cain and Abel thing going on mostly on Wesley’s end.
Sophie isn’t religious, but she was naive and had romantic notions in the beginning. She saw the glamour of Wesley and heard his beautiful words with no real substance. Felt the connection of their mutual love of art. She hasn’t had an easy life after losing her mother, having her artistic work under-appreciated and downplayed, and being stuck with a mean step-mother and a sneaky, greedy man who is her father’s apprentice. It was easy to see how she fell for Wesley. I enjoyed following along as she slowly learned to appreciate her husband, Stephen. The author didn’t make it quick and easy which I appreciated. Sophie’s feelings had to change as she learned the difference between flash and substance.
The story also included some mild suspense with a mystery in the Overtree family home and there was the nail-biting situation when Stephen was called back to war and fought in the final defeat of Napoleon that resulted in a large loss of life leaving the family wondering if Stephen was one of these even while Wesley has returned and left Sophie with the angst-wrought dilemma of choosing between the brothers.
On a side note, the attention to historic detail and the fun nods toward Jane Austen were added enjoyment. A woman artist and the time period of England at war were strong and engaging elements.
In summary, it started shaky, but then grabbed my attention. Loved the flawed characters and the well-developed romance and story. I said it before, but I like the author’s writing style and plan to hit her backlist and continue with her new releases. I would recommend this one for those who enjoy inspirational sweet historical romance.
I’ve finally read my first Julie Klassen book and, as I suspected I would, loved it. Being an Austen fan, I relished the similar regency vibes with hints of gothic. As with many marriage of convenience plots, The Painter’s Daughter had a beautiful slow-burn romance that rewards the reader’s patience and anxious anticipation. This has quickly become one of my top reads this year and will certainly be the cause of some sleepless nights as I begin to binge read Julie Klassen’s previous books
Marriage of convenience is one of my all time favorite tropes and The Painter’s Daughter by Julie Klassen lived up to my expectations and then some!
When Captain Steven Overtree comes to fetch his negligent older brother back home, the last thing he expects to find is Sophie Dupont, a portrait painter’s daughter, the subject of the small painting Steven carries with him, and the future mother of his brother’s child. With his brother off to Italy, Steven offers to do right by Sophie, marrying her and saving her from disgrace. But if Sophie marries Steven, will she be giving up on love or finding a love greater than she ever imagined?
I LOVED this book. It’s beautifully written with wonderfully developed characters. My heart both hurt for and celebrated with Sophie and Steven as they faced war, family struggles, and more together.
Absolutely a tale of life.choices made: choices’ consequences or rewards.
About lessons learned. lessons some will never learn; rash judgments: hoe these cab be life’s teaching lessons. if one is open to the wisdom being offered; love’s healing redemption and the possible roads to perdition as a sad choice’
Was not able to put this book down.
Highly recommended. it kept me on the edge of my sear. quite often holding my breath waiting to know what was to happen next!
This was the first book I read by Julie Klassen. It will not be the last. She is an extremely gifted author. I received this book at the BLC2019 (Booklovers Convention 2019) and had the pleasure of meeting the author. I loved the book cover and thought the story would be good.
I was amazed by the depth of the inter-tangled relationships in the story. I was glued to the book and wanted to read all the time, unfortunately life did not let me, but I read whenever I could. I was so involved and anxious for a good ending. Not knowing the author’s other work, I was not sure what would be happening as the story unfolded. I had certain things I really wanted to be resolved and they were, so I am so pleased with this story!
The characters are very well developed. The scenery is so vivid that I was present with the characters in 1815 Devonshire England (and the other locations).
I truly enjoyed this book so much and am so happy that I went to the BLC2019 and was introduced to Julie Klassen.
Being a painter myself, I decided to read this story. It was unusual and the circumstances were out of my ordinary read, but I enjoyed it.
Good story wonderful characters God inspired
Another wonderful historical fiction by Julie Klaussen.
I enjoyed The Painters daughter very much.
Julie Klaussen does it again! Her writing is beautifully entertaining.
Julie Klassen is an excellent writer always, even though this story did not ring my bell as much as the others of hers that I have read. I could not love the heroine this time, for some reason. But it was still a good read.
I always enjoy reading books from this author. They are realistic, keep you involved, & informing.
I enjoyed this book. Well written, a little bit of a twist. Satisfying.
Love all of Julia’s books
I found myself completely consumed while reading this book. This author has an exquisite way of painting each scene and character. I cannot wait to read more from this author! This is one of my favorite books, a must-own!
I liked this book. characters seemed like real people, and as usual Julie Klaussen leaves her readers with a sense of loss when the last page is read. I highly recommend this and all of her books.