Artistic License

July 1, 2002
This second offering from the author of "Second Thyme Around" (2001) is a breezy romance that combines a little business, a little travel, and a little art into a diverting and unchallenging summer read. Spunky heroine Thea runs a boardinghouse for students in Gloucestershire. During a spur-of-the-moment trip to France to accompany a friend, she meets an Irish artist, falls in love with his work, though not with him, and rearranges her life to open a gallery to show his paintings. Large groups of people seem always to be arriving unexpectedly, needing to be fed and housed. Puppies are born, confusion and misunderstanding reign, and unrequited love looms, but all is sorted out to a successful conclusion in the end. Readers seeking effortless entertainment won't mind the lack of motivation and deep thought, but they may be put off by British colloquialisms, including one that could be viewed as so "politically incorrect" as to be offensive. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)