Mimi Matthews does it again with The Muse of Maiden Lane, recovering from the slight slump that was The Lily of Ludgate Hill, the third Belles of London novel. Overall, it’s been one of my favorite series from her, and this volume adds to the fun. This is a cozy romance about two people who really like each other coming together after feeling overlooked for ages, and is a warm, wintery, Christmas season-set romance.

Wallflower, budding artist and horsewoman Stella Hobhouse is used to going unnoticed, even with her mane of silver hair. (Which she’s compelled to dye a different colour.) When she encounters a handsome artist at a ball, a man who previously recommended a painting to her, she runs away in embarrassment – she’s dyed her hair the same shade as the heroine in the painting (Whistler’s The Woman in White) he recommended she view at the National Gallery and doesn’t want him to figure it out. It’s a big hint she can’t get Teddy Hayes off her mind.

Wheelchair-using artist Teddy has been thinking of Stella ever since their chance encounter and has been seeking her ever since. But their reunion is fraught; Stella is haughty and off-putting, he is bluntly forward. When he offers to paint Stella, she’s completely taken aback – ladies do NOT model for artists. But in spite of themselves they’re drawn together.

Stella ultimately agrees to pose for a daring portrait drawn by Teddy as a way to break out and finally be noticed – her great hope is that she will be able to emerge from the background and land a husband before her pious brother, Daniel, marries a woman he’s courting and makes her life even more difficult. On top of that, her inheritance is dwindling as she spends it to groom and maintain her beloved silver horse, Locket. Teddy, too, is seeking independence from a family that supports him but leaves him yearning for the autonomy he’s lost since his bout with scarlet fever. Could the bachelor Stella has been seeking be right in front of her, already worshipful?

First of all, ignore the blurb that suggests a marriage of convenience; it’s a late-book event and less of a gesture of convenience than one of mutual love. The Muse of Maiden Lane is really about two people who find unexpected love with each other through their mutual appreciation of art and one another. It’s a sweet, gentle love story that’s easy to appreciate.
This is a romance based on yearning – on letters, encounters, and small moments. For those who might feel the leads don’t spend enough physical time together during the book, that is not the point and it is well-remedied by the last quarter. The sub-plot is about their both attaining their own independence, which makes them lovable and easy to root for. I loved the art world Matthews allows us to glimps, and I loved the cast of characters who surround both Stella and Teddy.

I am, however, dinging the book for the very large amount of time the it spends on characters who have been imported from the rest of not one, but two series. We catch up with characters both from the Parish Orphans of Devon AND The Belles of London, and it’s a bit much and sometimes distracting. Still, it’s a small price to pay for the utter goodness that is the sweet love story at the heart of The Muse of Maiden Lane. I’m going to miss Matthews’ coterie of high-society equestriennes, but the series goes out on a high.