The Purloined Portrait by Christina Dudley, narrated by Katherine Anderson
#5 The Hapgoods of Bramleigh
Historical RomCom
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Published: 10.7.25
Time: 10 hours 45 minutes
Rating: 4 stars
Format: audio
Source: Tantor Audio
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
Youngest of the Hapgood daughters, Edith is the petted darling of her family, her artistic ability a source of pride to all. But with a heart full of painting, there’s no room for romance, not even with Lionel, her brother-like distant cousin who has long adored her. But when Edith’s art career stands in jeopardy, Lionel champions her, at the cost of his own future. Will the eyes of her heart be opened too late, or can she somehow rescue their chance for love?
Sophia Rose's Review:
The youngest Hapgood sister is all grown up, still ensconced at the family manor and deeply involved in her art – so deep, she misses her cousin Lionel growing up and his childhood crush deepening into a young man’s love. Christina Dudley’s Hapgoods of Bramleigh has been a sparkling delight from the get-go and continues to be scintillating.
The Purloined Portrait is fifth in a connected series of Regency Rom-coms that I recommend be read in order, particularly since most of the characters, particularly the main couple are ongoing characters and situations in the series.
Edith is the last remaining unmarried Hapgood sister and her sweet nature makes her the beloved family child. She is as quirky as the next Hapgood and entirely focused on her art so she misses the obvious signs that Lionel has a tendre for her. The first half of the book brings readers/listeners up to speed about this by dipping into past scenes involving Edith. This leads to an amusing first proposal from Lionel who goes against his step-mom and sister’s advice to rush his fences and propose before he should. Edith is startled and never saw it come. She gives him a disappointing answer.
But, her own art calls her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about Lionel when she is coaxed to turn a sketch of him into a portrait and so she must focus hard on him as a person to get it right. Then, a trip to London and the Royal Gallery portrays a shocking turn of events so that she turns to Lionel for help.
As with all the others in the series, I love the humorous moments, the colorful personalities, particularly among the Hapgood sisters and their closeness, the extended family particularly Lionel’s sassy sister, Hetty, who steps in to help sweetheart brother, Lionel. The romance was more back burner when it comes to development behind Edith and her art and figuring things out, but I still had an entertaining listen for all that.
Katherine Anderson has rendered her narration so well that I easily lose myself in the story and the tone of each scene, particularly the amusing moments.
While I enjoyed this one, I can’t help admitting that I’m really eager to press forward and get Hetty’s fall into romance especially after her side roll in Lionel and Edith’s story. Definitely recommend to those who want a rousing good romp of a Regency sweet romance.
Author’s Bio:
Christina Hwang Dudley is the author of clean historical and contemporary romance.
Her historical romances include the Hapgoods of Bramleigh and Ellsworth Assortment series of Regency romances, including THE NATURALIST and TEMPTED BY FOLLY.
In contemporary romance, her forthcoming PRIDE AND PRESTON LIN (Third State Books, 2024) riffs on Austen, but this time the story is set in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Asian American protagonists who hail from different ends of the economic spectrum.
Website: https://christinadudley.com/
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
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