It took me a moment to realize Gadfly was referring to Silas Merryweather, a master of the Craft who died over three hundred years ago. What was his name? Sebastian Manywarts? Oh, I didn’t like him, he always smelled a bit strange.” Much better than the previous portrait artist-that fellow we had the other day. “I could alter your cravat, as long as it’s more or less the same size, but I’d need another session to finish it.” Outwardly, my face ached with the polite smile I’d maintained for the past two and a half hours.

“And if I chose a different cravat . . .” “What do you think? You could add that, couldn’t you?” “I might have some silver embroidery done about the wrists,” he said. All in all, it was a disarming quality for a creature who could murder me without rescheduling his tea. He was astonishingly vain even by fair folk standards, which is like saying a pond is unusually wet, or a bear surprisingly hairy. Oil paint needs days to dry between layers, and he had trouble understanding I couldn’t just swap his entire outfit for another he liked better. The trick with Gadfly was persuading him to wear the same clothes for every session.

I had nearly perfected the color of Gadfly’s silk jacket. MY PARLOR smelled of linseed oil and spike lavender, and a dab of lead tin yellow glistened on my canvas. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. With Isobel and Rook depending on each other for survival, their alliance blossoms into trust, then love-and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. But something is seriously wrong in his world, and they are attacked from every side. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes-a weakness that could cost him his life.įurious, Rook spirits her away to his kingdom to stand trial for her crime. But when she receives her first royal patron-Rook, the autumn prince-she makes a terrible mistake. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. Isobel is an artistic prodigy with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust.

“A funny, action-packed, and sweet romance.” - School Library Journal (starred review)Ī skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts-even as she falls in love with a faerie prince-in this gorgeous bestseller that’s “an ideal pick for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor” ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).

An enchantment of raven