Painted Faces by L.H Cosway
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase: Amazon / B&N
Goodreads Blurb:
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.
THIS BOOK IS RECOMMENDED FOR MATURE READERS AUDIENCES ONLY. HOWEVER, THIS REVIEW ITSELF DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL.
My Freda and Nicholas:
* 5 BRILLIANT STARS * Review:
"I'll have to admit that somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to be special to him, different from all of the other women who've turned his head. Isn't that what every girl wants? To be loved by someone uniquely, to make a man feel something he hasn't yet felt for anyone else."
Freda is 25 years old cupcake baker who lives with her best friend Nora in apartment in Dublin. One day she meets heir new charismatic ans sexy neighbour, womenizer Nicholas. But after couple of their encounters and finding out what he does for a living, Freda is not sure about Nicholas's orientation. Is he gay? Or does his sexual insinuations mean that he is a straight? But as it seems, being a drag queen, did not influenced Nicholas's fondness for female population at all...
I'm very open-minded person but my life can be pretty traditional sometimes. So I have to admit that this book enthralled me, took me to places I would normally did not go and showed me different perspective of our world. And I seriously LOVED it!
"He would wear her dresses and jewellery and spend hours putting her make-up on his face. In time his habbit would evolve into a need to entertain; a dessire to express his fascination with female form by impersonating it. But for now, it was all about her. The woman who brought him into the world and died before he had the chance to get to know her."
Being in Freda's head and see things to develop from her perspective was amazing. Her inner monologues, snarky remarks and basicly everything about her was great. I really liked her honesty and her thinking made me feel connected to her from the very beginning. She was excellent and totally lovable character. Since whole story is written with Freda being narrator (only prologue and epilogue are from Nicholas's POV), the style of writing reminded me my best friend telling me stories. It was descriptive, funny, sarcastic and full of emotions. I really LOVED it!
And Nicholas? His life story brought more thoughtfulness to this otherwise interesting and funny story. All the good or bad things he had to go through formed him and created one truly amazing person. Together with Freda they have become my new favourite bookish couple and I know for sure that I will be coming back to this story just to be with them again.
Moreover, I really liked the way author included in this book information about Ireland, Irish people, their culture and traditions. Ireland has a very special place in my heart and I enjoyed this side of novel immensely. Overall, I wanted to highlight the whole book, it was that awesome. Just pure literal perfection. Definitely one of the best books I have ever read! This story is unforgettable. It is so special that it stays with you forever.
