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Priceless
Three women with nothing in common but a taste for the good life and a shared history of betrayal are about to find out just how far they’ll go to make a name for themselves in the glamorous world of fine art—a place where the stakes are high but the rewards can be . . . PRICELESS Young, ambitious Lizzy Duffy is determined to become a successful auctioneer—even if it means sleeping her way to the top. But when she suspects that her boss is using her, Lizzy wastes no time in plotting the ultimate revenge. Fine art expert Carrie Klein has come a long way in her career. Now she’s ready to take the London art scene by storm and show her rival she’s not the naïve woman he once took advantage of. And in a drafty farmhouse, impoverished artist Serena MacDonald struggles to support her young daughter by forging Old Master paintings . . . one of which ends up at auction. When her secret is discovered, Serena’s fate may depend on her ability to fabricate one last masterpiece. From the glittering lights of New York City to the major auction houses of London, internationally bestselling author Olivia Darling delivers an unforgettable novel of ambition and greed, desire and deceit, that’s as alluring and luxurious as a rare work of art.
418 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2009
7 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Olivia Darling
8 books13 followersThirty-three year old Olivia Darling was born and raised in the West of England.
At the age of eighteen she met an Italian art student in St. Ives and ran away to Tuscany in hot pursuit of him.
The love affair didn’t last but Olivia’s sojourn in Montepulciano inspired a much more enduring passion for Vino Nobile that soon became a fascination with viticulture.
She was thrilled and amazed to be made an honorary maitre-cellerier by French trade association Les Echevins De Bouzy in recognition of her promotion of champagne in her first novel, Vintage.
She was inaugurated alongside the Malaysian Ambassador to France at a seven-course dinner accompanied by eight different champagnes and a “Bouzy rouge.” To die for…!
Her other interests include ballroom dancing (she has won awards for her quickstep) and men who drive Aston Martins. She lives in London, where she is at work on her third novel, Temptation.
At the age of eighteen she met an Italian art student in St. Ives and ran away to Tuscany in hot pursuit of him.
The love affair didn’t last but Olivia’s sojourn in Montepulciano inspired a much more enduring passion for Vino Nobile that soon became a fascination with viticulture.
She was thrilled and amazed to be made an honorary maitre-cellerier by French trade association Les Echevins De Bouzy in recognition of her promotion of champagne in her first novel, Vintage.
She was inaugurated alongside the Malaysian Ambassador to France at a seven-course dinner accompanied by eight different champagnes and a “Bouzy rouge.” To die for…!
Her other interests include ballroom dancing (she has won awards for her quickstep) and men who drive Aston Martins. She lives in London, where she is at work on her third novel, Temptation.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 22, 2017
Olivia Darling outdid herself on this one! one of my best reads this year 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
October 7, 2021
Great read. Olivia never disappoints
March 20, 2022
This book is what it is, a good wee story of sex, money and power all wrapped up in the art world. A bit predictable but it didn't spoil my enjoyment. An easy, fun read. x
December 6, 2009
Lizzy, Carrie and Serena all adore their art, but that’s where the comparison between these three feisty women ends.
Lizzy Duffy works for Ludbrook’s, a small London auctioneers and is a talented young woman working her way up through the ranks. She has a thing for her boss Nat Wilde, but is he giving Lizzy the chance to show off her real potential? Carrie Klein works for New York Auction house Ehrenpreis, and jumps at the chance to open their first London office, putting her in direct competition with Ludbrooks. But Carrie is determined to make it a success, whatever the personal cost to herself.
And finally Serena is an artist, a very good one in fact, living in Cornwall with her daughter after a messy divorce. But someone is about to get wise to Serena’s talent for copying very old and famous paintings, and not necessarily for good…
I am not a fan of art myself and I did wonder if this would impair my enjoyment of the book at all, but I am glad to say that it didn’t! You don’t need to know anything about art to enjoy this, because Darling has really done her research and explains everything you need to know about painting and the world of auction houses as she goes along. This allows you to just sit back and soak up the fantastic stories, and possibly learning a little something along the way as well…even better!
Olivia Darling has continued the format of her previous and debut novel Vintage, choosing to build a story around three different women all in the same world but without necessarily knowing each other. I found this worked well for her in that book, and it proved successful for her once again in this book, even more so perhaps. The books starts off very confidently, none of the slow start here that I found in Vintage. Darling has clearly found her flair for writing, and the story is incredibly readable, and I did struggle to put it down of an evening. One thing I really enjoyed was the references back to Vintage, such as the champagne used in this book, and a returning character as well, cleverly done by the author!
The characters were all well written, and I liked all of them for different reasons. Lizzy did annoy me at times as you can see she is more talented that she shows, but as of halfway through I enjoyed the different direction Darling took her in. Carrie was my favourite character, a ruthless businesswomen prepared to prove everyone wrong about how talented she is. Serena was completely different from the other two – she was far more vulnerable and perhaps the one most women reading this will be able to relate to, with a much more normal life and consequently I warmed to her quite quickly and easily. The men in the book were not nice people at all. Nat Wilde is Lizzy’s boss and a complete sleaze, Julian Trebarwen is Serena’s neighbour; an ex-con out to make as much money as he can, and Mathieu Randon, a character from Vintage makes a reappearance in this but is completely different to the Randon we knew from there.
I loved this book. I found myself getting into the novel extremely quickly and found the subject matter completely fascinating as well. Finding out about auction houses kept my interest, but the author has been careful not to bog you down with too much detail, just giving you enough information to understand the story and follow easily. I actually enjoyed the chapters about Serena the most, as it went into detail about painting and how things are achieved, and she has written this so well! The book is narrated in the third person, which I feel works well because of the three-part storyline, and allows the book to flit back and forth in time as well, as several characters make use of flashbacks in the novel.
If you’re looking for a fun and exciting read, then I would definitely recommend you pick up a copy of Priceless. Darling has really honed her skill since writing her debut novel, and this shows in the easy flow and readability of the book. The characters are well crafted, all believable. I actually cared about what happened to them, and for me that’s the sign of a very well written book. Darling has clearly gone to a lot of trouble to research the subject matter and that just serves to make an enjoyable book full of fun, sex (not too gratuitous!), travel around the world and a bit of fact too. Highly recommended.
Lizzy Duffy works for Ludbrook’s, a small London auctioneers and is a talented young woman working her way up through the ranks. She has a thing for her boss Nat Wilde, but is he giving Lizzy the chance to show off her real potential? Carrie Klein works for New York Auction house Ehrenpreis, and jumps at the chance to open their first London office, putting her in direct competition with Ludbrooks. But Carrie is determined to make it a success, whatever the personal cost to herself.
And finally Serena is an artist, a very good one in fact, living in Cornwall with her daughter after a messy divorce. But someone is about to get wise to Serena’s talent for copying very old and famous paintings, and not necessarily for good…
I am not a fan of art myself and I did wonder if this would impair my enjoyment of the book at all, but I am glad to say that it didn’t! You don’t need to know anything about art to enjoy this, because Darling has really done her research and explains everything you need to know about painting and the world of auction houses as she goes along. This allows you to just sit back and soak up the fantastic stories, and possibly learning a little something along the way as well…even better!
Olivia Darling has continued the format of her previous and debut novel Vintage, choosing to build a story around three different women all in the same world but without necessarily knowing each other. I found this worked well for her in that book, and it proved successful for her once again in this book, even more so perhaps. The books starts off very confidently, none of the slow start here that I found in Vintage. Darling has clearly found her flair for writing, and the story is incredibly readable, and I did struggle to put it down of an evening. One thing I really enjoyed was the references back to Vintage, such as the champagne used in this book, and a returning character as well, cleverly done by the author!
The characters were all well written, and I liked all of them for different reasons. Lizzy did annoy me at times as you can see she is more talented that she shows, but as of halfway through I enjoyed the different direction Darling took her in. Carrie was my favourite character, a ruthless businesswomen prepared to prove everyone wrong about how talented she is. Serena was completely different from the other two – she was far more vulnerable and perhaps the one most women reading this will be able to relate to, with a much more normal life and consequently I warmed to her quite quickly and easily. The men in the book were not nice people at all. Nat Wilde is Lizzy’s boss and a complete sleaze, Julian Trebarwen is Serena’s neighbour; an ex-con out to make as much money as he can, and Mathieu Randon, a character from Vintage makes a reappearance in this but is completely different to the Randon we knew from there.
I loved this book. I found myself getting into the novel extremely quickly and found the subject matter completely fascinating as well. Finding out about auction houses kept my interest, but the author has been careful not to bog you down with too much detail, just giving you enough information to understand the story and follow easily. I actually enjoyed the chapters about Serena the most, as it went into detail about painting and how things are achieved, and she has written this so well! The book is narrated in the third person, which I feel works well because of the three-part storyline, and allows the book to flit back and forth in time as well, as several characters make use of flashbacks in the novel.
If you’re looking for a fun and exciting read, then I would definitely recommend you pick up a copy of Priceless. Darling has really honed her skill since writing her debut novel, and this shows in the easy flow and readability of the book. The characters are well crafted, all believable. I actually cared about what happened to them, and for me that’s the sign of a very well written book. Darling has clearly gone to a lot of trouble to research the subject matter and that just serves to make an enjoyable book full of fun, sex (not too gratuitous!), travel around the world and a bit of fact too. Highly recommended.
February 25, 2011
From fish and chips in a country kitchen served up by a paint-spattered single mother to the glitzy corporate world of Carrie, this novel delves into the behind the scenes world of art and auctioneers. Weaving the three women’s lives as they overlap and revolve around the beauty captured on canvas, the author creates a vivid backdrop for passion, deceit, ambition and human nature at its best and worst. Well worth the time spent discovering these very different but very compelling characters.
Virginia
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance and More
Full Review: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/Book...
Virginia
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance and More
Full Review: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/Book...
September 17, 2015
I actually enjoyed this book much more than I expected at first. I thought it was going to be very little story or plot connecting hot and heavy scenes together. Fortunately, as the story developed sex became less frequent and actual plot and character development happened. If you pick this one up and are looking for a good story keep reading past the first 100 pages or so.
April 30, 2012
A story of the art world in London - by a woman - main characters - women...obviously eventually better at their jobs etc etc but nevertheless a good story. Author interweaves some sexual content. But the auctionering content - I enjoyed it.
August 10, 2014
I finally tracked down a copy of this book and I'm so glad I did. Olivia Darling is a very talented author.
Loved the world of the competing auction houses, and the return of Mathieu Randon was very well done.
Loved the world of the competing auction houses, and the return of Mathieu Randon was very well done.
November 16, 2012
A bit smutty but a good read. Didnt really bond with any of the characters as they were all a bit up themselves but the storyline kept me interested.
February 23, 2014
I think I would of liked this one more if it was a little shorter the plot just seemed to drag and there were too many characters.
November 15, 2012
I was more interested in Serena's story all through out the book. THAT'S ALL.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews