The Portrait
by Judith B. Glad
Available eBook formats:
title:
The Portrait
author:
Judith B. Glad
genre:
Regency Fable
isbn-
13:
978-1-60174-073-1
length:
13000 words. Approximate reading time 37 to 52 minutes.
price:
$2.99
~A true artist sees beyond a woman's skin, into her heart.~
Even in the Regency, marketing plans were useful, especially when seeking to marry a daughter advantageously. Lord and Lady Curran expect their daughter's portrait to convince potential suitors of her beauty, her worth and her desirability. Of course, it must also show her as a perfect, obedient, demure lady.
Kermit Sutherland is a popular portraitist, so of course he is engaged to produce the portrait. What Chastity's parents don't understand is that Sutherland paints more than the surface. He has a knack for seeing into a woman's heart and soul.
Under her obedient façade, Chastity harbors a rebellious heart, and Sutherland sees it and encourages it. When her portrait is finished, it will show more than her parents--or she--have bargained for.
"Artfully told in first person from Chastity's point of view ... getting to know Chastity--and Kermit---is well worth twice the time...." Jane Bowers, Romance Reviews Today
"Are you as innocent as you appear, I wonder?"
I started, not having heard him approach. His breath was warm on my nape. I could feel the heat of his body just behind me--not touching, but so close that he might as well have been. I fought the urge to lean into his warmth, to relax against him. How I hungered for the gentle touch of a hand, for the comfort of another body against mine.
His hands cupped my shoulders lightly, not really clasping. Barely turning my head, I looked down to the left. His fingers were long, his nails cut square. Black charcoal marked thumb and forefinger, as if he'd used the tips to smudge the lines he had drawn.
"Come," he said in a near-whisper. "You must move. You've been sitting still too long."
His hands slid lightly down to grasp my wrists and he lifted them upwards, until my arms were stretched out at shoulder height. "Stretch," he said, and I felt the curls over my ears flutter.
"Bend." One arm went around my waist and the other hand pushed between my shoulder blades. My spine stretched as he bent me forward.
For an instant my bottom brushed his body.
I leapt forward, colliding with the wall. "How dare you!" I gasped as I turned to face him.
His mobile lips were spread in a wide grin. "I got you moving, didn't I? No, don't stop. Walk the perimeter of this room, twice. Swing your arms as you do."
I obeyed, but it did not satisfy him. "Swing, girl! You mince like a puppet on a too-short string. Big steps. Wide swings. Lift your chin. One. Two. One. Two."
I marched as commanded.
On her way to a career as a writer, Judith B. Glad made a lot of detours--into motherhood, short-order cooking, accounting, management, graduate school, botanical consulting. Eventually she decided she had to write those books that had been growing in her head for years--romances all. She believes every story should have a happy ending, even if it requires two or three hankies to get there.
After growing up in Idaho--the locale of several of her books--Judith now lives in Portland, Oregon, where flowers bloom in her yard every month of the year and snow usually stays on the mountains where it belongs. It's a great place to write, because the rainy season lasts for eight months--a perfect excuse to stay indoors and tell stories. Judith has four children, all grown, three granddaughters and a grandson.
Visit Judith's webpage at www.judithbglad.com to learn more about her other books. While you're there, take some side trips to view early 20th century picture postcards, read about 5,000 ways to earn a living, and see what a Mentzelia really is.
Visit Judith B. Glad at http://judithbglad.com
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