Review: Painted Faces by L.H Cosway

PAINTED FACES

by L.H Cosway

Genre: Contemporary Romance (+18)

Published: December 16th, 2012 by Smashwords

SYNOPSIS:

Come forth with an open mind, for an unconventional tale of love... 

Dublin native Freda Wilson considers herself to be an acquired taste. She has a habit of making offensive jokes and speaking her mind too often. She doesn't have the best track record with first impressions, which is why she gets a surprise when her new neighbour Nicholas takes a shine to her.

Nicholas is darkly handsome, funny and magnetic, and Freda feels like her black and white existence is plunged into a rainbow of colour when she's around him. When he walks into a room he lights it up, with his quick wit and charisma. He is a travelling cabaret performer, but Freda doesn't know exactly what that entails until the curtains pull back on his opening night. 

She is gob-smacked and entirely intrigued to see him take to the stage in drag. Later on, Nicholas asks her if she would like to become his show assistant. Excited by the idea, she jumps at the chance. Soon she finds herself immersed in a world of wigs, make-up and high heels, surrounded by pretty men and the temptation of falling for her incredibly beautiful employer.

In this story of passion and sexual discovery, Nicholas and Freda will contend with jealousy, emotional highs and lows, and the kind of love that only comes around once in a lifetime. 

AMAZON

B&N

KOBO

My Thoughts:

 

3.5 stars maybe...

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

After reading another book by L.H Cosway that I absolutely adored I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review this one.

Then why 3.5 stars maybe you may ask? well, this has been probably one of the hardest books to rate ever.

First let me warn you, you need to be open minded to read this. Is utterly unconventional but nonetheless a beautiful story.

What I liked:

I must say that L.H Cosway's writing is flawless, zero complaints regarding that.

The cover... you can see it, it's gorgeous!

The plot is original and it's good.

Some of the characters (read below)

The second half of the was very good, it flowed better, was a lot more entertaining and the last 10% was superb. I'm glad I finished it.

Favorite quote: 

'I want him to be the one. Unfortunately, I think I'm one of those women who sees "the one" in the wrong one.'

What I didn't like:

I felt like I was reading different books. The first half was, FOR ME, boring. I struggled to get past it.

I couldn't get into the story, didn't understand the instant infatuation with each other. She was saying things like she wanted to be "the one" for someone she met a week before! seriously???

My biggest problem was that I hated Freda, the protagonist! 

Obviously Freda has a huge problem with being fat, she mentions it like a million times per chapter. And keeps saying things like: "for us, fat people blah blah blah", or "if I were skinny like Nora...." or "when I'm next to Nora, nobody looks at me because I'm fat". Like if being fat was the worst thing that can ever happen to someone.

Plus, she spends the whole time criticizing and envying her friend. Also she tries to outsmart her all the time and treating Nora as if she was stupid only makes her sound bitchy and pathetic. What kind of friend does that???

I liked Nora, Sean and Phil, they sounded more realistic. 

Nicholas is good too, he doesn't care to go against social norms, he does what he wants anyway, so that earns him a lot of points. 

I didn't like the italian woman, so stereotyped, for example when she shouted: "Bruta! Vaffanculo!" lol it made me laugh.

You see why is such a hard book to rate ? Overall it left a good feeling thanks to the great end but it wasn't easy to get there lol.

I'm definitely reading more from this author.

Other L.H Cosway's books that I reviewed:

A Strange Fire (Florence Vaine #1) 5 stars!

I hope you like my review, and honestly, check the book for yourself, you  may have a different impression :)