Admittedly, before that I felt like the volume was off to a slow start as it took quite a while for the main character, Claire Laurent to actually end up at the place where we knew the book would take place - Belmont Mansion. After she arrives in Nashville and meets Sutton Monroe, the book truly begins though the beginning portion does let us know the background information on Claire that fuels her plotline in the book. However, I will say that I expected these elements to crop up more conspicuously within the book sooner and longer than they did.
Claire is a really nice character to read as she does not overly "force" her personality on you. Instead, she has a character and the Belmont mansion becomes an extension of her character through the perspectives she offers on the estate through her observations. (Read about the real Belmont estate here) Sutton is also a really grand love interest as he is ALWAYS decent with no real "dark night of the soul" in place to plague his relationship with Claire (technically, there are but they aren't truly serious).
I think it is really cool that this volume was set at a mansion that not only existed but still exists. I plan on getting to Nashville for a blog conference in 2013 after I am settled down south and will have to visit the real Belmont when I am there....maybe I could even attend an event (they have some stellar ones).
The only thing I would have wished is that Claire's passion for painting would have been a bit more evident outside of the evil she initially used it for (the forgery episodes mentioned on the book's back cover).
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this volume.
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