I got this book as part of the Whispered Promises compilation.The gist: Kirby’s father is a famous painter. Adam is a well-known painter. Adam comes to stay in their house for a few weeks. Kirby’s dad does forgeries of famous, classic paintings. It’s fraud, but he’s not a bad guy. Anyway, a Rembrandt painting has been stolen and Adam is there, secretly, to find the Rembrandt. Kirby and Adam fall in love. There are a couple attempts made on Kirby’s life. The whole plot with the Rembrandt is unraveled. This one was alright, but it’s definitely not my favorite Nora book. I’m a serious Nora fan, I own almost all of her books. This one is definitely subpar. BUT, it is one of her earlier books and she has definitely gotten A LOT better the more she’s written! I chuckled quite a bit because Kirby and her dad are eccentric and they’re sort of whackadoodle. There’s this whole bit with a cat and dog that had me rolling with laughter.Kirby and Adam fall in love with each other within a few days of knowing each other and that whole aspect was a stretch considering the characters. The plot with the Rembrandt was somewhat suspenseful. How it unraveled was exciting. But the whole reasoning and stuff for the Rembrandt plot seemed just weird and weak for me.If you’ve never read one of Nora’s books, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this one, or even this compilation. She’s a BRILLIANT artist and she has MUCH BETTER works of art than this one! You can look through my book lists on goodreads to find several I absolutely loved. I will continue to read her stories because she truly is one of the very best in the business, but this one isn’t a very good example of her brilliance and domination of the romance genre.
I was disappointed by my last two books so I decided to return to an old favorite who I knew would give me a quick, romantic, easy read and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m a pretty big fan of Nora Roberts because I think she does romance without being trashy and every girl could use more romance in her life (trashy has its place as well.) Side note: two of my favorite romance series are Roberts’ Bride Quartet and the Inn Boonsboro trilogy. Check them out! This novel introduces us to the feisty Kirby, the mysterious Adam, and the lovable Fairchild. The latter may be at the top of my list of favorite characters. He is adoring, quirky, brilliant, and hilarious. He may be why I liked this book so much. All three main characters are artists who live in a “world of restrained wealthy where champagne fizzed quietly and dignity was an essential as the proper alma mater.” There is a certain level of intrigue and mystery to this love story and the dialogue is full of witty banter and biting sarcasm. Sure, there were parts that were predictable but I found myself surprised by at least one twist. The only thing that bothered me a little was the point of view would change rapidly from focusing on one character for a long period of time to another with very little warning. I caught myself doing a couple double takes to figure out who was thinking/talking. Overall, this book was a very entertaining, quick read. P. 168
What do You think about The Art Of Deception (2000)?
The best part of this book was Fairchild. I felt the suspense was just a bit tacky— almost literally tacked on right at the very end to be pulled into the 'romantic suspense' genre. (view spoiler)[There is no mention of anyone ever wanting to kill Kirby until literally the last fifty pages. And I don't think looking for a painting counts as suspense, exactly… there's generally murder of some sort in suspense, isn't there? (hide spoiler)]
—Maria
This is an early Nora Roberts, so not her greatest. It's mostly a romance with a touch of suspense added in. It centers around a father and daughter who are great artists and eccentrics and a visiting artist (who is also on a mission to find a stolen Rembrandt painting). As a romance, it's not much because for most of the story they lack any emotional tension. And there certainly isn't much physical chemistry...even their love scene is about a paragraph long and it fades to black after they kiss
—Maura
Rothchild adalah pasangan ayah dan anak yg memiliki karakter unik. Sebagai seorang detektif dari agen asuransi, Adam masuk dalam keluarga ini dan menemukan banyak hal yang tidak lumrah, dan membuatnya bingung serta jatuh hati pada Kirby.Seperti biasa, karakter2 unik selalu ditampilkan NR dalam setiap buku2 yang ditulisnya, dan kadang saya berpikir, bagaimana cara NR melakukan riset sehingga bisa menemukan banyak sekali karakter yang bisa dipergunakannya dalam buku2 yang ditulisnya. Memang bisa saya akui, buku ini bukan buku terbaik dari NR, tapi menarik untuk dibaca. mungkin karena kisah tentang lukisan Titian, dan cara Kirby melindung ayahnya, juga kegilaan sang ayah yang sempat membuat Adam bingung.
—Gramedia Pustaka Utama
