M. J. Rose

Fleeing her abusive husband for her grandmother's mansion in Belle Époque Paris, Sandrine ignores warnings that the house is not safe and explores the occult underground with her architect lover before becoming possessed by a witch courtesan's spirit. By the New York Times best-selling author.

The Witch of Painted Sorrows

Includes an excerpt from The jeweler of stolen dreams.

A Novel

Sheila Goicea

This full review can be viewed on my blog at: shesgoingbookcrazy.com

  
    You must be bare, and you must be dark, or you will never be great.
  

Here is a basic guide for my thoughts throughout this read:
0% - *wriggles back into chair, claiming reading position* Let's see what we have here...
25% - Ohh, this is brilliant.
50% - OKAY, uhh...this is an erotica. Let's skip that, and...that...and...
75% - Sandrine, you need to get yourself together!
100% - So, alright. I loved (parts of) it, but hated others. 

This book had so many attributes that caught my attention up front: Gothic/Victorian era, Europe/France setting, Art/Painting school as an overarching topic, mysterious old family mansion with many secrets, uncertain future for the protagonist, and last but certainly not least was the dismal atmosphere. All of these things added together should be the correct equation for a perfect book. Sadly, this story fell short of my expectations. I apologize if this review is more "ranty" than normal. If you continue reading, you will realize why. 

Right in the beginning, we learn that Sandrine has fled to France to escape her husband because he had committed some sort of atrocity. While it isn't disclosed immediately as to the nature of that act, we get the implication that Sandrine ran away for other reasons as well. When she starts talking about her sexual exploits with her husband, or lack-thereof, the reader quickly realizes that Sandrine isn't as innocent as she'd like the reader to believe. She is selfish, conniving, and dishonest.

Sandrine reunites with her grandmother, who is a well-known courtesan of her time. Sandrine, coming from a long line of women in the same profession, knows that something is amiss when her grandmother closes their estate, La Lune for renovations. Having made close connections to the house itself, Sandrine sneaks back to the unoccupied mansion, only to find that it is being frequented by a local architect, Julien Duplessi. At first, Sandrine keeps her spying excursions secret. When curiosity overtakes her, she returns to La Lune and introduces herself to Julien. 

The two become quickly acclimated, as they survey the house, and its contents within. Sandrine uncovers that her grandmother has intentions of turning the house into a museum. Julien was employed by her grandmother to take inventory of the house's contents. Distraught with the idea, Sandrine visits the house more frequently, eager to familiarize herself with all of its secrets before this change comes to pass. In doing so, not only does she begin to fall for Julien, she also discovers a secret painter's studio in the secluded and forbidden bell tower. It is in this studio, that she is introduced the biggest secret the mansion holds: La Lune, herself. La Lune introduces Sandrine to an erotic side of herself that she never knew she possessed, through sexual experimentation and painting.   

The combination of Sandrine's character traits, and erotic nature of this tale that made me battle with it the entire way through. I don't partake in erotica novels. Had I known that this was the way this novel would gravitate towards, I wouldn't have read it. (I had been approved for and ARC for the third installment in the The Daughters of La Lune, so I needed to read the first two books in order to get to that.) Despite these scenes, which I skipped over, I thought the premise of the story was interesting, yet disappointing. 

The biggest issue that I had with this story, (besides the uninvited sexual scenes) was the main character, Sandrine Salome. Not only does she flip the switch with her character from a sad, fearful girl, to everything but that, she willingly becomes completely complacent. How many times do you need to hear a disembodied voice to realize (and accept that everyone else KNOWS) that you are being stalked by a malicious ghost? I think ONCE is enough?! No, but wait, it gets better: the fact that a priest did an exorcism on you not once, but TWICE, and withdrew a spirit from you hands down qualifies as proof that something is amiss. (view spoiler)[Not to mention, La Lune's ghost KILLS the priest who tries to capture her! (hide spoiler)] Alas, no. Simple, selfish, short-sighted, stupid-sighted Sandrine is in complete and utter denial up until about 10 pages from the end to accepting the fact that La Lune is haunting and influencing her. 



If Mona Lisa could gif, I'm convinced this WOULD be her response: 



Because girl, you DUMB. The true show of character was that she knew this all along. She continuously played dumb because she liked having La Lune's influence. She believed that La Lune made herself better; more attractive, appealing, and talented.

In most stories, one of the most satisfying scenarios is watching a character's growth throughout their experiences. Yes, there may be hiccups along the way, but the character still battles to move forward. Here, Sandrine goes to immeasurable lengths to do the opposite. Even though she eventually makes the choices to move forward, the damage she did in her past cannot be erased. Cheating, murder, lying, and incompetence aren't things to simply be overlooked. And what for? It was done all in the name of sexuality. I'm sorry, Sandrine, but I will never like you. You are shallow, self-centered, and a terrible person. 

I will not lie that I was mesmerized with the setting and art-theme throughout this novel. The writing style in this book is exquisite. Detail is refined by beautiful terminology, metaphors, and intentions. The writer is well-versed in the procedure and techniques in painting, and I truly appreciated that aspect. M.J. Rose has an intriguing story to tell here---I just wish she would have done it with a more likable protagonist and less erotic-nature. 

Vulgarity: Some, including sexually graphic terminology.
Sexual content: Several erotica scenes with detail.
Violence: Minimal, to none.

2 stars.

Judy Hudgins

In searching for an audio book to listen to while doing all my moving activities, I came across this one by M. J. Rose. It was one my to-read list and I thought I would give it a try.

Sandrine Salome flees her abusive husband in 1895 to return to Paris and her grandmother. Her grandmother is a courtesan, one of several generations of courtesans. And a very successful one. Hoping to build a new life away from the man she feels is responsible for her father committing suicide, Sandrine discovers more in Paris than a refuge. "La Lune", the first in the line of family courtesans, was also a painter. Now she is a spirit who seems to have taken over Sandrine and will stop and nothing to live again.

Sandrine soon starts painting, something she has only dabbled in up to this point. But is it Sandrine behind the easel or La Lune? As others begin to see the changes in Sandrine, events begin to spiral out of control.

When I first started listening to the book, I was a bit annoyed because Sandrine seemed to be standing around, wringing her hands and being 'woe is me'. I really disliked her pathetic self. However, I hung in there and as the story picked up and the changes, both good and bad, started happening, the story and character became more interesting. Told from Sandrine's point of view, the story slowly builds momentum as La Lune sinks her claws deeper and deeper into the present. While I enjoyed seeing Sandrine 'grow a backbone', you have to wonder is it her or the witch. And what will become of Sandrine? Will she lose La Lune and revert to her old self or will she keep the lessons learned and grow as a woman?

Turn of the century Paris, forbidden passions, art, witchcraft...what more could you want?

b.andherbooks

After her father passes away, Sandrine flees her loveless marriage and life in New York to live with her famous courtesan grandmother in Belle Epoque Paris. While there, Sandrine is possessed with an urge to take up painting after finding a trove of erotic canvases painted by one of her ancestors. Where does this talent suddenly spring from? Is Sandrine just becoming her best self, or someone else entirely? Full of intriguing historical details with a supernatural cast and a touch of the erotic.

Great historical detail, but the writing style wasn't necessarily to my taste, i.e. a lot of allusion to events the main character knew about but didn't reveal to the reader until the right moment. I also didn't find the relationship between Sandrine and her lover all that erotic. But, fans of this genre will enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

The Witch of Painted Sorrows

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