Two years after the death of her abusive husband, Julia Westgard is ready for some reckless adventure to spice up her otherwise boring life so she posed for a portrait, in the nude. Though no one but her closest friends will ever view the painting, the thrill of doing something so naughty has left Julia needing to feel that same exhilaration. Julia devises a plan to steal a monogrammed handkerchief to sell at auction to help raise money for a local orphanage. She is sure the item would bring a tidy sum not only with the tale of adventure tied to it, but also because this particular handkerchief belongs to one of the city’s most notorious rakes, Morgan St. Claire. Morgan St. Claire is a business man with a troubled childhood. After growing in a house devoid of love the last thing he would ever dream of having is a home, a wife and a family. His shipping business is his life and if he feels the need for sex, the occasional mistress will do. Purely by accident he sees the nude portrait of Julia Westgard in the artist’s studio and from that moment on, he can think of little else but getting that wanton woman in his bed. When she does walk into his life, his shipping office in fact, the woman she presents in person is nothing like the woman in the painting. Julia Westgard is proper, reserved, smart. Still, Morgan knows that passionate woman he saw in the painting is hiding somewhere inside of her. When he catches her in his bedroom and demands to know why she is stealing one of his handkerchiefs, instead of seducing her right then and there, he forces her to enter into a wager with him.With every turn of the page, Monica Burns builds the sexual tension between these two characters. Love’s Portrait is a beautifully written historical love story full of life-changing passion, desire and sex. It’s a wonder either Julia or Morgan could ever catch their breath. The touching, teasing and seducing never seems to end whenever two lovers are together even for a few moments. When Julia finally comes to Morgan to fulfill her part of the wager, the lovemaking is more passionate than she had ever dreamed. In the beginning, both of these characters have their reasons why they refuse to commit to another, but as the desire and passion build, they soon understand that no matter what their individual reasons are, to live without the other will be almost impossible. This book was a pleasant surprise. It is a re-released "improved" version of the novel. Not having read the original verions, I can only guess that the improvements really did improve the story because I really enjoyed it.I instantly connected with and "liked" the main characters, Julia and Morgan. Both come with a ton of emotional baggage that makes them avoid the thought of marriage like the plague. What they can't avoid is the intense attraction that they have for each other. Once they act on that attraction.. it's all over for both of them. Morgan gives in first, and therefore most of the story is how he helps Julia overcome her past bad experiences from her first marriage.Another thing that I liked was that even though the book is labeled "erotic", the hot sex scenes are secondary to the main storyline. Too many times I've read erotic novels that seem as if they threw a story around the sex scenes. In this story the sex is essential to the story and it's not too kinky for my tastes. I think that the "erotic" label comes from more graphic descriptions of the sex scenes.I would have liked at least a short epilogue, but I did like how the ending nicely ties in to the beginning of the story.Highly recommend for a short by satisfying read!
What do You think about Love's Portrait (2005)?
Quite a nice book to read. Morgan is a smoky guy who falls in love with a stubborn widow Julia.
—eeee12345
I loved it can't wait to get my head into more of Monica Burns books :)
—sable
