Painting the Moon

As a child and teenager, Noelle Cooke spent enchanted summers in England with her grandmother; her great-aunt, Joy Valentine, a famous painter; and her best friends, Jillian and Adam. Now in her 30s, she lives in San Diego with an unfulfilling job and a series of dead-end relationships. When she receives a letter informing her that the mysteriously reclusive Joy has died, leaving Noelle the sole heir of a Cotswold cottage and a failing art gallery, she expects to spend a few days winding up Joy’s affairs before returning to California. But the discovery of a locked room full of masterpieces worth millions changes her plans, as do renewed friendships with Jillian and a nascent romantic connection with Adam, who is now a successful architect—and has a fiancée. Noelle’s discovery of her aunt’s journal and her parsing the secrets of her artwork is more intriguing than her faux-innocent and flirtatious relationship with Adam as they revisit the near-romance of their adolescence. [em] (BookLife) [/em]