Colors–A Novel

Leah McClellan

Autumn wants to paint, to love–to live her life. Unfortunately, her husband doesn’t agree. As her marriage falls apart, Autumn finds herself falling in love with a younger man. But can their relationship stand the test of time, or is he just Autumn’s rebound guy?

This is a lovely novel that falls somewhere between romance, “chick lit,” and an artistic coming-of-age story. Autumn has always dabbled in art, but after losing her job she starts working on it seriously, to her husband’s dismay. When their marriage goes south, she decides to make a go of being a professional artist. Aspiring artists, or those who like to read about aspiring artists, are likely to enjoy the descriptions of Autumn’s painting and her struggles to translate her hobby into a career, including coming up with a business plan and doing her first artists’ fair. The colors of Autumn’s pieces are rendered vividly in the novel, making those scenes integral to the story, rather than adjuncts or digressions.

The main focus of the plot, though, is Autumn’s attraction to Jory, the graduate student she hires as her part-time chef, and their evolving relationship–which at times gets pretty hot, FYI. While not exactly a typical romance novel, there’s plenty of romance in the book, so that many romance fans are likely to enjoy it as well. Overall, “Colors” is a bit more cerebral, high-brow, literary, whatever you want to call it, than your typical romance/chick lit novel, with its interest in art and psychology, but it’s also a fun, romantic, steamy summer read.

During June you can get a free preview of “Colors” in the Contemporary Upmarket Fiction Giveaway, or get the whole thing on Amazon.