Lowell has chosen to write this book in very structured prose, not necessarily of the timeframe of the story, but it is something you will need to get used to. I found myself slowing down quite a bit to get used to her writing.

Artfully Yours is as unique as the characters she has created. This is not the typical historical romance in the least and that can be a good thing or something that bugs you should you like the traditional story plots.

This is the story of family connections, commitments, art, legacy, and living life as you choose. It is also a slow-burn romance, with plenty of heat and steam that will make your heart skip a beat or two!

Lowell managed to combine the best of a traditional type of historical romance with the heat and passion we get in a contemporary romance. This story is beautifully unique and stands out for that exact reason!

Nina is an art forger (reluctantly) and ends up getting a job working for Alan, an art critic who is on to her and her brother’s schemes, to spy on him. However, as the two fall for one another, she can’t help but feel terrible about deceiving him while also wanting to protect her brother. This is a slow burn with a lot of sexual tension. I loved the disability representation in this one (Alan has chronic pain and uses a cane). There are a lot of content warnings (among them abuse, including MBP, and a mentioned suicide attempt before the novel starts) but it still remains upbeat. Also, there’s a pet marmoset. Lowell definitely writes within a “niche” and I think she’s great for reader’s advisory - Mimi Matthews fans who want more spice will appreciate her. Ticked a lot of boxes for me.

Consuming, Artfully Yours brims with all the perfect ingredients, creating a delicious confection romance readers will devour in one sitting.

Alan De’Ath is a leading art critic in London and Nina Finch is an art forger, who would prefer baking over forgery happens upon a dangerous opportunity. And as we watch each scene unfold page after satisfying page, the more enthralled we as readers become once these two begin to realize what’s so very clear to us: they are slowly falling in love.

But are they willing to risk everything for love?

Lowell hones her craft in Artfully Yours, filling it with characters who leap off the page, making this novel her best so far.

Happy Reading ~ Cece

For people who like the adapted Bridgerton series and not the original books, this is a great option for consumption.

A mystery based on forged paintings based in Victorian times. Niceties are in place, ruling class follows all protocols, downstairs help stays just there, but........ sparks fly and there's a mystery to be solved - who is painting all of the very well done forgeries that the Ton is placing all over their homes?

I have read my fair share of romance reads, though I’ve only recently started dabbling more in the historical romance pool. I was drawn to this one initially by the bright and cute cover art, then upon reading the premise it sounded to intriguing to pass up. I was excited to try a historical era outside of those I have tended to reach for in the past as well, as this was a Victorian age one. I’m so glad I did, this book seemed to pass in a flash for me. I really enjoyed the characters Nina and Alan, and the slow build of their interest and eventual romance. The central conflict of art critic / amateur detective and art forger made for an interesting read that kept me going to see how this could be resolved.

This is actually part of a standalone romance series, which I did not realize when I started. However, this was my first read of the set (and by the author) and I had no trouble jumping right in. Honestly, I’m excited because now I have two more to try asap.

Thank you to Berkley for the opportunity to read an early copy, I’m excited to pick up another book in the series to try soon. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and freely offered.

Loved this book! This is such a fun series with rich complicated characters. I really love that this series doesn't follow the same pattern every time- each stands alone and is clearly well researched. A great read for those who love mystery, white collar crime, romance, and art history- it sounds niche, but I know there are a lot of us!

Can't wait to read more from Joanna and recommend this book to all of my friends!

England - 1885

Nina Finch has high hopes for her future. Despite the life that she has led with her brother who raised her, she wants to move to the village of Hensthorpe where she'd lived as a child, and open a pastry shop. Nina's true love is baking, but her talent as an artist has led her to work with her art-forger brother, Jack. She has taken a position in the home of the Duke of Umfreville for one reason, and one reason only, to retrieve a letter mistakenly sent to the duke from the man who sells Nina and Jack's knock-offs. The art dealer would then be linked to convicted art forger Jack Reeve. Nina successfully finds the letter, and remains in the house kitchen to help the frazzled cook. That is until she hears that the duke's brother, Alan De'Ath is visiting. De'Ath is the legendary art critic who can spot a forgery from a mile away!

Alan has never gotten along with his older brother, and today proves once again that he never will. The duke and his duchess are well known for their awful treatment of their employees, firing them at the drop of a fork, or a meal that doesn't meet their standards. And Alan is concerned with the way they shelter their young son whom they treat like an invalid. After a lengthy and angry discussion between the brothers, Alan leaves, running into the latest employee fired by his brother.

Nina, who is well aware that the duke's walls are covered with her and her brother's fake works, isn't upset when the duke fires her for dropping a tea tray, not to mention her honest retorts to the man. But she's stunned when De'Ath offers her a job taking dictation from him as he nurses the swollen hand he damaged in the free-for-all with his brother. At her brother's insistence, Nina takes the job, hoping she can keep apprised of what he's doing as far as fake artwork is concerned.

What neither Nina nor Alan plan on are the sparks that fly between them. Of course, Nina has to be careful to keep Alan from discovering just who she really is, but the man sure can be tempting. Will Alan find out Nina's secrets? He is determined to find the master forger whose works are cropping up all over London.

ARTFULLY YOURS is an enticing tale of two people on opposite sides of the law, not to mention society. Nina is as determined to protect her brother and herself as Alan is to finding the forger. Will their growing attraction for each other be the downfall of one of them? Find out by reading this delightful story!

This book has a very slow start that was hard for me to get past. Once I did, I realized I just wasn't interested in the story anymore. Thanks to the publisher for the eARC.

In college, I read romances, both historical and contemporary, by the bucketful. These days, not so much. A romance novel has to have a real hook in terms of characters and plot if it’s to draw me in, and those characters and that plot need to be strong enough that the final falling in love—which is, after all, the most predictable part of a romance novel—seems not only inevitable but part of a resolution to broader problems presented in the story world. If the book also features sparkling dialogue and a sense of humor, I’m hooked.

“Artfully Yours” is such a book. Nina Finch is a talented artist, but early nineteenth-century English society has little use for women painters, especially those of limited means and reduced social standing. Her brother Jack also has artistic aspirations, but in the absence of patronage, he has turned his talents to forging the great masters and lured—not to say forced—Nina into helping him. As a result, Nina has redirected her aspirations toward baking Victoria sponges and gooseberry tarts to sell from a shop of her own.

But she can’t turn her back on the brother who raised her, and when it becomes clear that London’s foremost art critic, a duke’s son who goes by the name of Mr. Alan De’ath (yes, the pun on “death” is deliberate, and he is in reality Lord Alan), has Jack’s forgeries in his gunsights, Nina agrees to accept the position of De’ath’s amanuensis so she can keep track of his investigation and save Jack’s neck—and her own. With her pet marmoset, Fritz, she infiltrates De’ath’s household, where she runs into a cast of eccentric characters, including a group of woman painters led by a cross-dressing firebrand determined to bend the artistic elite of London to her will.

It's all delightfully tongue-in-cheek, and although we can predict that Nina and De’ath are meant for each other, how they will cross the vast divide that separates them remains far from clear well into the book. So too does the family secret, hinted at early on, behind De’ath’s ongoing conflict with his aristocratic relatives. And if that’s not enough to draw you in, the antics of Fritz and the many humans desperate to wring a good review out of De’ath will keep you flipping pages right to the end.

I will be interviewing this author on my blog (link below) in February 2023.

He’s an art critic intent on exposing counterfeit Rembrandts.
She’s a coerced art forger who just wants to buy a bakery and create gooseberry tarts.

Joanna Lowell has created wonderfully complex and wholly original characters in Alan and Nina.
(His actual surname is laughable so his fabricated name…De’Ath…Lord De’Ath…ridiculously clever; her pet marmoset Fritz generates ample opportunities for mayhem.)

Past histories and complex sibling relationships also factor greatly in Artfully Yours.

A thoroughly enjoyable historical romance between apparent opposites who find they have more in common than they initially think.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was a cute, perfect and absolutely adoring read for me. It was quite interesting to see how these two main characters would end up falling in love and what unfolds next, and to say I’m so happy for them is the understatement…I loved De'ath and nina so much!!

I liked this book, which returns to the Victorian art world milieu of the first entry in the series, better than the last one, if still not quite as much as A DUKE UNDONE. I was hoping for some of the other women we meet there to get their books next, which the initial set-up for the series seemed to naturally lead into, but while I still want those books (especially Kate's, but I'd also like to see Effie's or even Gwen's story), I definitely enjoyed ARTFULLY YOURS. I love a good art forgery story and Alan and Nina were a great pairing. At its heart I think this is a book about family relationships and that's where it shone the most for me.

I don't like the rebranding of the titles and covers, though. Yes, the covers of the first two were bad, but in my opinion the primary issue was that the second book was the wrong book to be published second, with its diversion into the country and the world of botany and away from the core concept of Victorian female artists. While this book *is* funny--I mean, there's a monkey and everything--Lowell's work also includes a fair amount of angst, and I live for hot and angsty historical romance so I would have much preferred a sexier cover and the original title of A LORD NOTORIOUS for this one. I've really started to hate the way it seems romance publishers are pushing the rom-com packaging on virtually *everything* these days! None of which is the fault of this individual book, of course; I'm just saying that I doubt I would have requested a book called ARTFULLY YOURS with the current design if I hadn't already been familiar with the author and a fan of A DUKE UNDONE. If the publisher is reading these, they can do with this feedback what they will.

Artfully Yours is such a cute romance book! This is a Victorian historical romance. De'ath and nina are adorable together.

Oh dang, looks like I am the first person with the honour to review this book on Goodreads, so the pressure is ON!

Berkley has been kind enough to provide me with an e-ARC of each novel in this companion series by Joanna Lowell so far, and I was excited to read this new third installment. Based on the rating alone, this book lands nicely in second place for me.

I was quite glad to get back to the artistic roots of the first book. This time, the romance is between Alan, a staunch and well-known art critic, and Nina, a low-born art forger. And let me tell you this was a lot of fun! I was unable to put it down towards the end and zipped through the last half in one sitting. There are so many funny moments that had me chuckling out loud, especially the one in the beginning when we meet Nina in her position as a housemaid. And of course, who can forget the sweet little monkey who steals so many scenes.

Nina is the art forger who does not want to art forge. Her brother is the mastermind behind their operation, and she just happens to be the more skilled of the pair of them. Which sucks, because all she wants to do it is bake. And who can blame her? Once she has the money, she intends to buy a bakery in the village she loves most and live out the rest of her days there. The fear of God is put in here when famed art critic Alan De'Ath unknowingly calls one of her fakes just that in front of her.

Alan will not praise a single piece of art unless he believes it deserves it, much to his older brother's dismay. The pair of them get into it over money and family matters quite regularly, and that was another humourous aspect to this book. After she quits working for his brother, and he now has a very bruised and useless hand, Alan hires Nina to work for him as his secretary. A position she only agrees to on her brother's behalf to spy on him and his investigation into their forgeries. And so, obviously, begins a love story.

Both of them have such sad backstories, but I think it meshed them together really well. The arc of their relationship was also great! There is a lot of lying and omissions of the truth in their romance, but there is also a surprising amount of honesty that was quite refreshing. It was handled in such a way to not be the main conflict while still leaving you wondering if they would survive this speed bump in their blossoming romance. I loved how it all ended and had a big stupid grin on my face, so that's a very good sign.

We do meet some characters from The Runaway Duchess and The Duke Undone, namely Neil and Lavinia, and Lucy, respectively. Everyone knows Alan, so there's that! There's also someone named Kate that I suspect we've met before as well, but I don't remember her.

As hard as it was for me to put this down at the end, the beginning was a bit of a slog. Which, in hindsight, seems to be a trend with Lowell's books for me, and my final ratings end up being based on how quickly the books got their legs under them. The first handful of chapters are very long. Like, you know how Kindle has the setting to tell you how much time is left in a chapter? Yeah, well, my soul left my body a little bit when I had 30-minute-long chapters to get through just to get to the meat of the story. Hopefully that improves in her future books.

I'm not sure if there will be more books in this companion series, but if there are ... this is my official declaration that I would happily read them.

Readers, especially historical romance readers, will enjoy this new title from a popular author. Nina Finch and her brother are art forgers. Nina isn't really comfortable with this edgy life, and wants nothing more than to open a little bakery and establish a future doing what she loves best, which is baking. Unfortunately, she is thrown into the path of a famous art critic who is determined to expose certain art forgeries. Even more unfortunately, Nina's brother may have something to do with those. Sparks start flying pretty quickly, and this is a fast-paced story that I look forward to recommending.