PAINTED FACES & KILLER QUEEN by L H COSWAY

Review : Painted Faces 

Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯ 

Unique.  Refreshing.  Original.  Beautiful.  Absolutely faaaaabulous!!

There are so many adjectives we could use to describe Painted Faces and they still wouldn’t do this original and heart-warming story justice. This unconventional, beautifully moving and quirky story was positively WONDERFUL! 

The prologue pulled us in immediately, the fascinating characters, exquisite writing, wonderfully comical banter and the underlying emotional feel of the story ensured we never rested on our laurels giving us an insatiable need to witness Nicholas’s story unfold. We were held captive throughout.

‘Am I attracted to the man behind the costume? Or do I want the man in the costume? It’s hard to tell.’

LH Cosway has such an expressive, witty and magnetic prose that we found ourselves feeling a part Fred and Viv’s story through the stunning visuals she created courtesy of her engaging storytelling and never once feeling like spectators in their story.

“I want to ruin you Freda, in the best way possible.”

Freda and Nicholas felt so real, to the point where we could imagine ourselves having a drink and a right old lark with them both down the pub. The situations were relatable and as unconventional as these two and their relationship was it was also so perfect, honest and real.

‘Who would have thought that a drag queen could be my ultimate male fantasy?’

Nicholas. Wow! What a fascinating and complex character he was. Beneath the feathers, thrills, magnetism and confidence lay a man with vulnerabilities, darkness and pain that made us ache for him. Whimsical and full of life one minute, plunged into sadness and loneliness the next. Nicholas’s lows could be felt in the sombre tinge LH Cosway brought to the story and it broke our hearts.

“Every woman is different. Some of them make you feel satisfied, others make you feel high, most just make you feel used or dirty, but you Fred, you make me feel cleansed.”

Our Freda, what can we say? This ‘say it like it is’, unapologetic, funny, effervescent young woman owned our hearts. This lady was as real as they come. Sadly lacking self-esteem and seeing herself a something less than, we found her to be positively beautiful inside and out. She shone through every word. Oh she could be cutting every now and then but it was all done with a cheeky deliver that had us grinning from ear to ear.

“I have to admit, for some reason I find you incredibly sexy, Fred.”

The playfulness between Nicholas and Freda, the searing sexual chemistry, feverishly hot sex, gripping emotion and the uniqueness won us over completely and had us wishing it would never end. A true love story in every sense of the word!!

‘I want him so badly it hurts. But I want all of him. Not just the sex. I want his smiles and his teasing, his smouldering looks. His sad eyes when he thinks nobody’s watching. Most of all I want his heart.’

If you’re looking for a romance to sweep you off your feet, something uniquely different, if you want to laugh, love and feel every emotion, then open your hearts, open your minds, and prepare to fall in love with a mouthy Irish beauty and a fabulously divine man and prepare to have your hearts stolen!

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Review: Killer Queen 

Rating: ✯✯✯✯  

‘What’s strange to the rest of the world is normal for me.’

Once we arrived at the Epilogue in Painted Faces, we knew we had to delve straight in to Killer Queen. We were desperate to hear Nicholas’s voice after being completely fascinated and enamoured with him throughout Painted Faces.

Nicholas is a witty, eloquent and cheeky narrator although we were a bit disappointed with how a large part of the story is a retelling of events from Painted Faces. There are however some beautiful and poignant new revelations and ‘afters’ to make this a veritable smorgasbord of Nicholas in all his troubled and outgoing fabulousness.

“Why are the beautiful ones always so troubled, huh?”

Once again he entertained us, had us grinning from ear to ear, tried to shock us (nice try buddy) and told his story with warmth, wit, pain and love.

Despite not loving Killer Queen to the same extent as Painted Faces due to the repetition we wouldn’t have missed his story for the world and we’re so happy we got to hear parts of it in his words. He truly is one of a kind. We adore this man with every fibre of our being and for us, this book acted as a closure of some sorts.

‘I’d worshipped many women, but never before had I wanted to stake a claim.’

For some, they’ll be happy to leave Freda and Nicholas’s story at Painted Faces. We understand that. However; we personally couldn’t have had one without the other. Like Nicholas and Freda themselves….they were meant to be.