Mary Cassatt loves nothing more than her artwork, and though she desires to make a career out of it and avoid the marriage her parents so strongly want her to get, her work isn't selling well. When she is introduced to Edgar Degas and he asks her to join his exhibit, everything changes. The most tortuous kind of love grows in both of them as the love of their art grows, and only time will tell if their love can weather their faults.

I ALWAYS LOVED YOU by Robin Oliveira was a wonderful and surprising read for me. While I love historical fiction, I tend to prefer it with royalty being the center. This work, however, focuses on Belle Epoque Paris in a scene of struggling artists, and I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Oliveira writes so smoothly and captures human nature perfectly. I love how art connects all the characters, and how the love of art is shown as so consuming that it can leave no room for any other sort of healthy love. Mary and Edgar are both stubborn and prideful, but their souls are clearly similar, and it binds them together in all their intense emotion.

The strength of the secondary characters is also a treat. Both Edgar and Mary have people they care about whose own lives are rather chaotic, and it's nice getting to know them. As the years pass in the story, the author does a great job of keeping up with the side characters and making sure they have closure just as the main characters do.

For fans of Downton Abbey, this should definitely be on your to-read list. I ALWAYS LOVED YOU captures the artistic historical Paris and molds it with a romance you won't forget. I can't wait to see what Robin Oliveira writes next.