Painting Kisses

I enjoyed the development of the characters! I loved Lia's beginning to understand herself and her not being willing to settle.

Melanie Jacobson has always been a good writer, & with each successive novel, she has grown steadily more brilliant.This, however, ...this is genius.I don't know how Ms. Jacobson managed to launch so far into the highest writing stratosphere from her last piece that I read, but "Painting Kisses", while still as sweet, witty, fun & romantic a novel, as she has ever produced, is so much more 'evolved', for want of a better word, that it is absolutely NOTHING like I have ever read from her before.The artist, or author, both apply, appears to me infinitely more herself; as if infinitely more of Ms. Jacobson's own soul is bound in words onto each page, with electrifying Truth in nearly EVERY sentence.I have read literally tens of thousands of books, the majority in and relating to this and similar genre work, and have never experienced anything like this piece, ever.Perhaps it is the mix of metaphors, a writer describing the creative process through paint, and comparing it again to how a writer might feel (which is a completely inelegant description of her slick, efficiently profound process), perhaps it is because as a writer and a painter, etc, myself, I found so much of my own truth in it.However it came about, it makes me want to gnash my teeth that because this is a peaceful book about inter-/intra-personal turmoil & a niche topic (Art as opposed to zombies or comic book heros), the chances of this being as widely read as it NEEDS to be aren't as high as I would wish.It doesn't WANT to be read, it needs it.I did not know you could do this, Melanie Jacobson.It would have easily been worth three times the price, easily.Thank you for the paradigm shift, Ms. Jacobson, I cannot wait for your next book.

After her divorce, famous artist Lia Carswell throws away her brushes, paints, and canvases, and she flees from New York to the mountains of Utah. There she invents a simpler life by changing her name, waitressing in a small diner, and helping to care for her sweet little niece. Her heart is broken, and she swears off men and painting forever.But when her sister can’t afford to get her daughter into a good preschool, Lia decides to do one more painting for a mysterious, fabulously rich buyer. As she begins to paint, something happens that she didn’t expect: she reawakens to the beauty around her and the need to paint, and her frozen heart begins to thaw. To her dismay, two men vie for her attention: the handsome, smooth-talking Aidan (who she assumes is a construction worker), who orders everything on the breakfast menu just for a chance to talk to her, and her shy neighbor, Griff, who plays guitar and is gentle and sweet to her niece. Will she dare to risk her heart again?I have enjoyed all of Melanie Jacobson’s books, but I have to say I loved this one the best. Full of her usual witty dialogue, fabulous non-verbal communication, fully developed characters, and a gorgeous setting, this story was more serious than her earlier works, with a beautifully unfolding romance between people with wounds and issues that need resolving before they can truly love again. I was even more impressed with how Melanie shows how deeply an artist needs to create, and the creative process involved. As an artist, I could relate completely. I especially loved the scene where Aiden is with Lia on the mountain. By showing her a different way to see the scenery, he helps her to break through and be able to access the genius within her. I’ve now read this sweet romance three times. Thank you, Melanie.

I've loved everything I've read by Melanie Jacobson: her writing is clean, fun, refreshing and sweet. Painting Kisses is no exception. Lia Carswell has left behind a hot-shot life in New York as a premier artist (leaving behind her not-so-hot ex-husband) for a quieter life in Salt Lake City working in a diner and helping her sister raise her niece, Chloe. After her experience with her ex, she's less than interested in dating, particularly not anyone who's handsome and confident, like Aidan, the construction worker who flirts with her at the diner--he rings all the wrong bells after her previous experience with romance. She's actually more interested in Griff, her nice-but-quiet neighbor, who doesn't scare her--but who also doesn't spark quite the same emotional response.After getting an unexpected commission from a former New York contact, Lia finds herself doing something she never thought she'd do again: paint. As she rediscovers the joy of creating, she finds herself opening in other ways as well, including to the unexpected joys of a new romance.I thought this was quite well done. The characters are real--and, seeing them through Lia's eyes, we make some of the same misjudgments that she does. I liked, too, that this novel had some unexpected depth: it wasn't just about romance and kissing, but about Lia coming to terms with her past. As an amateur artist myself, I also resonated with Lia's deep satisfaction in creativity, and I thought Jacobson's descriptions of that process were nicely done. One of my favorite lines in the book compares Lia's sisters to paintings: a radiant Klimt when she's rested, a muted Modigliani when she's exhausted. That was enough to conjure a near-perfect impression for me.My only real complaint is that the book is too short! I wanted just a little more resolution to the love story.