Review: Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway

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 neighbor 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 color 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.

A friend with excellent taste recommended this one to me. I am beyond thrilled that she did! I am all for things, that is what makes my world go round. This one is definitely out there. An unconventional love story, but beautiful all the same. A spark is built between two friends, a spark that becomes much, much more. The beauty of it all is that neither one has to change who they are. They build their friendship based on the things they love about each other and then slowly develop a more romantic relationship that isn’t just fun and games.

Have you ever watched the HBO show, Girls? It’s one of my favorites. The heroine in this book, Fred, reminds me a lot of Hannah from Girls. The relationship she has with her roommate, Nora, is very similar to Hannah and Marnie in girls. The way Fred views the world is so open minded in fresh, yet she is still clean and kind of innocent. I connected with Fred. There were times when I thought she was kind of bitchy, but that just makes for more fun in the end.

Enough about the girls of the book lets to get to the man……ahhh yes, Nicholas. He is so in touch with himself. Or at least he seems to be on the outside. He isn’t ashamed of who he is and what he likes. He doesn’t hide or cover up. He keeps everything with Fred real, at least the parts that don’t involve his heart. He was just so open and honest and totally loveable!

There were times in the book when it was a bit slow. Some parts reminded me of Wallbanger by Alice Clayton. I didn’t hate Wallbanger, but I didn’t love it simply because it took so long to “get there”. Painted Faces is kind of similar. The slow build in the beginning is needed so we can better know and understand our characters, but I seriously wanted some action!! The slowness of the story was well worth it in the end. Had it not been a slow building affair, I may have not liked it as much as I did. I often fuss about how fast books move that I don’t get the feeling for the character. Crazy me, now I am fussing about the opposite, I guess I will never be satisfied, lol.

No matter what I say, I will always be a total contradiction. The slow parts of the story really did a number on me and almost made me want to stop from boredom…but the good parts are really good. That was enough to keep me going. I recommend reading this one. If you want something funny and witty that includes a dark hidden past but also has a Queen that will make you swoon….get this! 4 Star.