She’s a free spirit. He’s a one-woman man.
Rejected by her family for her bisexuality, graphic artist Margot DuPont yearns for a life with no fences, no limits, and no family ties. Between college, work at Book Nirvana, and an art competition, she barely has time for her part-time girlfriend much less a flirtation with her competitor.
Dumped into the foster system at a young age, ceramics artist Elmer Byrne craves a big, loving family of the heart. His artist tribe almost fills that need, but something is missing…until Margot. But when he offers his heart, her thorny defenses shatter him.
Thrown together in an art competition that could jump-start one artist’s career, but not both, their irresistible attraction forces them to reconsider the meaning of success.
Excerpt:
“Tell you what,” he said. “How about if we have drinks and talk about anything but the competition?”
“Because…why?”
“You’re a real hard-ass, aren’t you?” He rolled his eyes. “Because I like you, Margot.”
“Why?”
He leaned so close their foreheads almost touched, a challenge simmering in his smile. “Have a drink with me and find out.”
If there was one thing she couldn’t resist, it was a challenge. On the other hand, he might not like her so much if he knew about Darcy. Let that be the test, then. Let him prove he wasn’t one of those possessive, controlling guys Darcy warned her about.
“Okay. I will.” She stepped back. “But you should know, I’m sort of seeing someone.”
His thick auburn brows contracted. “Sort of?”
“A woman.”
His nostrils flared on a deep inhalation, but he held her gaze. “Is it serious?”
“Not really.” Might as well serve up the truth, raw and ungarnished. Might as well be honest with herself too. “She lives in Berkeley. I only see her every month or two.”
Holding her gaze, he nodded. “Okay then. Thanks for telling me.” The tense lines of his mouth relaxed into a casual grin. “So, drinks?”
Well I’ll be damned.
Readers say:
Omg!!! What a phenomenal story!! Margot is torn between to lovers. Yes like the song. Choosing isnt easy because one wants her to be her only and the other wants her and to continue playing the field. Margo is a graphic designer trying to get her foot in the door. Elmer a hunky with a ginger beard you makes pottery is also trying to get his foot in the door. The two have a love story that’s as realistic as they come. This story was so much better than I initially thought. I highly recommend it!!! –Bookstagrammer Narissa @Pretty_Book_Whore
Love, Art and Other Obstacles is the third in the Through the Red Door romance series. I have read the second, Runaway Love Story and enjoyed it as well. The series is connected by their setting of Eugene, Oregon, and by their cast of characters, most notably, Maxie, a vibrant ninety-year-old woman who has mentored many of the artists in the Eugene. Love, Art and Other Obstacles follows Margot and Elmer, two young artists juggling multiple jobs and financial straits trying to support themselves in order to create their art. They have an incomparable attraction to each other and have a lot in common. Both people suffered difficult childhoods, and, after rejection by their birth parents, and transplanted themselves to Eugene. Heterosexual Elmer, a potter, is flirty and generous with his heart and has formed a “family” of friends he shares a house with. Bisexual Margot, a computer graphic artist, is stubborn and independent, intent on doing things her own way without help from anyone. To avoid getting tied down, she is in an open relationship with another woman, Darcy, and soon finds herself torn between her two lovers.
This book, being a romance, is heavy on the romance. But as in Runaway Love Story, there are themes that go beyond a typical romance. The situations are realistic. There are no perfect knights in shining armor or peerless princesses. Stone’s use of every day situations like brings a humanity to this novel that is usually lacking in romance, especially one this hot! I’d have read it in one sitting except the battery of my Kindle died at 2:30 a.m.–Amazon reviewer SuZReader
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