The story is a unique one for Barbara Cartland who experiments with a woman of higher family rank falling in lvoe with a man of lower family rank.
The heroine of the story forges paintings for a living. Her mother, a duchess married a painter because she loved him. They found it hard to pay for her mother's needs after she fell ill due to which she later died. Now, the heroine forges paintings to make a living.
The hero, a marquis comes across one of her forged paintings of herself when he meets his friend, the prince who loves to invest in paintings. On coming to know that the painting is a fake, he demands the address of the forger from the company that sold the painting and hence lands up in the hreoine's house. She is a dead ringer of the woman in the painting. The marquis begans visiting her frequently and they fall in love. Towards the end, she goes back to her father (a duke) without informing the Marquis. He accidentally discovers her and pleads her father to give him permission to marry his daughter. He refuses because the Marquis' reputation as a flirt preceeds him. In the end, he gains the Duke's trust and they marry.
The painting/art angle to the story was unsual. The heroine was shy and introverted while the hero was frank and open. Characterisation was not all that great but she filled a lot of stuff into a 160 page story. The story has more twists than any of her other novels I have read. It has two parts- one before her disappearance and the second after the Marquis finds her. In case all these titles seem alien to you, you can google it. A Duke is the highest rank that can be obtained by a commoner.
The story's flow was good. It was boring initially but the end covered up for it.
Overall, one of Barbara Cartlands's better novels. She has experimented a bit here with great results. The title like most of her book titles contains the word 'love'.
Pros
Story
Characters
Cons
Cover
Boring initially
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