Brush Strokes

by Sara Violet Scully

Emily, a professional painter, has been married for ten years. Deep down, she knows she’s unhappy, but she can’t bring herself to leave her manipulative psychiatrist husband, David—at least until she discovers his infidelity. With grounds for divorce, Emily kicks David out of the house and keeps the property in the drawn-out process.

Finding herself alone for the first time ever, Emily must figure out how to afford her mortgage and renovate the house on an artist’s salary with the help of her roommate, Alice, and her handsome Scottish landscaper, Roban.

Meanwhile, Emily’s mother is not doing well. Seeing as she lives hours away, her mother’s questionable health begs the question: how does one know whether to assert their independence or to ask for help?

As summer turns to autumn, Emily navigates this new chapter of her life, wondering if love is a weakness or a strength. Can Emily pick up the pieces and move forward with her painting career while caring for her ailing mother? And will her growing feelings for Roban get in the way?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2022

About the author

Sara Violet Scully, formerly Sara Wetmore, is the award-winning romance author of The Christmas Script and Searching for Your Song. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Lindenwood University, and is also an accomplished writer of creative nonfiction and poetry. But, when she's not writing, you can catch her reading smutty books and anti-capitalist manifestos, or playing shitty covers of T-Swift on her guitar.

Reviews

[Candy Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely had potential

I really enjoyed the overall idea of this story but the middle was very confusing and I thought unnecessary. I found myself thinking 'what is going on?' She seemed to have a perfect understanding of things with David and how things went down and then all of the sudden she was acting weird and allowing things that just didn't make sense. I get that she was a victim but she just seemed to abandon all common sense there for a while. Like she had a complete turnaround after originally being strong and intelligent about what happened and suddenly had memory loss. Okay I'm trying to be vague and avoid spoilers but also get my feelings across. Sorry if I'm being confusing.

[Shaima Ahmad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very average palette cleanser—short, fast-paced, but packed with way too much “I love him, I love him not” drama that flip-flopped for no reason. The guy was such a green flag, it was almost neon, fake, and blinding—like, who puts up with so much indecision and confusion? The whole divorce and abuser subplot felt half-hearted, but I guess it was fine because the main focus was on a woman’s freedom to choose and juggle multiple roles in her life.

But the Scottish English? That was the real struggle. I had to read those sentences out loud just to understand what was being said. If the author had just mentioned that the guy had a thick Scottish accent, that would’ve been enough—we didn’t need sentences like, “Ah loch uh lass.” It drove me up the wall!

[Nikki Hilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like the main female character but I didn't find Emily to be very likable. I much preferred Roban, her Scottish landscape worker and her best friend, Alice, who moved in to help with expenses when Emily kicked out her cheating husband. Emily seemed immature and ran hot and cold. Roban was a hard working, honorable man who seemed to have his head on straight. I did enjoy the bits about Emily's painting and Roban's work, but there were too many scenes that didn't ring true and were frustrating. On a side note, I found it unusual to have so much of the dialogue written with a Scottish brogue, and it was tiresome to have to read it so carefully to understand what he was saying.

[Nic2416 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3*. Heroine was self-centered and self-pitying, I had trouble sympathizing with her. Also felt like this was sort of women's fiction and romance but then resolution was all romance angle and I guess I was supposed to see her growth through the romance angle. Thought Heroine should have done more groveling with Hero and Hero bit of a pushover to take her back so quickly. Maybe if story had been a bit longer I would have understood Heroine's development more.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and picturesque

The intro pulled me right in and I kept wanting to read more. A short quick read (read it in one day) with a cute love story to boot. I stumbled on the Scottish dialog but I caught the gist. Perhaps an audiobook might be more appealing? If you’re looking for a quick read with a picturesque love story, then I’d recommend this simple and adorable story.