Glamour in Glass

My Disclaimer:I purchased a copy of this book at the current price. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat ReviewMy Review: ✰✰✰✰✰Book Two in the series is just as good as Book One was! This one is Jane and Vincent’s story. They’ve gotten married and they go off on a honeymoon rather than to visit her parents after a dinner with Prinny, as he asked Jane to call him. It was a high society dinner Jane had no experience with and ended strangely with a long wait for Vincent while he added something the Prince had asked him to add to the glamural they had created. Jane ends up being sent home by Prinny and his mistress in a carriage and Vincent comes home in the wee hours exhausted and in a rather bad mood. Jane is in her own bad mood when she finds out he stayed to change something that they had designed together. Two grumpy people in one marriage! Yikes!People at the dinner kept asking Jane about her trip to the continent, but Jane knew nothing about it. She tried to cover up with neutral comments until she could speak with Vincent the next day. That’s when she found out they were going on a honeymoon and that Prinny was providing them transport on a ship in two day’s time. So nice of him! But why hadn’t Vincent discussed this with her?On the continent, Napolean is still on Elba, and all is well between the French and Brits. But French society has always been a bit (?) looser than British society and Jane gets her eye-full at one dinner when the ladies don’t leave when the port is served. The goings-on rather insults and embarrass her in fact. The French have a good laugh at her expense and she bears up under it well, but not happily. In England, only the Prince brings his mistress to the table with polite society!For about half of this book, Jane is unaware of what her husband is actually doing. She just knows he’s acting strangely and isn’t telling her anything. She’s terribly tempted to spy on him when the English-French maid they have returns his travel desk’s key to her one day with some laundry. But she’s a good wife and doesn’t snoop. She returns the key to him. But she soon knows what’s going on and Napolean is loose again and headed in their direction.Jane suffers an incident after working glamour and faints. The doctor is called and she is told she cannot work glamour until this is over. She is not happy about this, but she complies. Until it is their lives or glamour. It has the expected results and Jane feels terribly guilty about it. But she also feels other feelings that she hadn’t expected. She really needs Vincent’s support, and he rises to the occasion and surrounds her with love and care.There are no sex scenes as this is a JA re-tale. The violence is referred to after the fact or downplayed politely, off in the distance. It’s all in what might be considered JA style. The pace is good. Things move along and you go right along with them. If there is any problem, it’s the distraction of the glamour students, but they are only red herrings.In true Jane Austen style, every time Jane has to go somewhere, she writes to someone to tell them where she is going and with whom. Even when she runs off into the face of Napolean’s approaching army! Jane Austen would be so proud of her! I know I was! Hope you enjoy reading this second installation in the Glamourist Histories! I highly recommend it. I’ve already bought the third one.

I'm a little in love with this book. It's not so much the story line (though that is surprisingly good, and that's coming from someone who is both irrepressibly drawn, yet sick to death of all the Jane Austen spawns and wannabes that are out there) as the individual bits and pieces that make up the book, and that Mary Robinette Kowal has passed on in her Author's Afterword, online blog, and in person. She's hit all my geeky and bookish markers, which auspicates a beautiful future.So first off, a bit of personal history. I knew I'd be meeting the author at this year's JordanCon, and had not yet read any of her works. I was about to check out " Shades of Milk and Honey " at our wonderful local library, when I read that somehow, there had been a misprint in the first edition of her second book, Glamour in Glass and that first line of the novel is missing ([...]). That blog entry captivated me, and I immediately ordered the book. I won the book misprint lottery, and actually got a copy of the book that is sans intended first line, and decided to take MRK up on her suggestion to have the author, herself, write the line in my book when I met her.Even missing that first line, I was enchanted with the sheer Austen-ness of the language of the book. Several times while reading, I would pause and declare to my ever patient husband, "She's really got it", which morphed into "she's channeling again" for the perfectness of language and sensibilities. Part of reasons behind this perfectness became clear when reading the afterward where MRK revealed the following, and won my heart forever:Because I am something of a geek, I wanted to eliminate as much language as possible from the book that would have been an anachronism. To that end, I created a word list from the complete works of Jane Austen and used that as a spell-check dictionary. It flagged any word that she didn't use, which allowed me to look it up to see it it existed in 1815 or if the meaning had changed. I then either selected an alternate word, or in a few cases , opted to keep the word because it was clearer that the other options, and I am writing for a modern audience.The characters in the book were quite well drawn, the magic in the world (the bit that makes this a fantasy novel -- "Jane Austen, with Magic!") is tastefully suited to the period as well. And combine the two into an alternate history of sorts, and you get a tale well told. I must also add that something Jane experiences near the end of the book (and I'm being careful not to add spoilers) was really well handled. Having been in a similar situation several times (minus the element of glamour) myself, I can verify that such times call up a well of emotions, some not entirely what might be expected, but all equally valid. Tastefully handled.Now, if all that wasn't enough, the author showed up in Regency dress at a costume party, in a gown she made herself. Plus, I was fortunate enough to hear the author, a talented voice actor as well as a talented writer, read chapter two of this book (which is the chapter that initially won me over when reading). If you ever have a chance to meet this woman, run, don't walk, to do so. Which, curiously enough, is exactly what you should do in regards to getting your hands on a copy of her writing. Get moving! Great reading awaits.(Rating for story is 4.5 but all the backstuff cranks it up to a 5 for me.)

It's just beautiful! If you're a JA fan and you love magic, this book is for you. Gorgeously written. Intreguing and unique! I love it :D

I really enjoyed the first book in the series - the Austen pastiche with a hint of fantasy was very accurate and very clever - but this one was better. The world building seems richer and more inhabited and the story goes a long way from Austen's middle class matchmaking into high society and adventure.

Good easy read, ideal for holiday or a lazy weekend!Would have been interesting to go into more depth, but would read more from this author

So after a surprisingly good time with Book 1: Shades of Milk and Honey, I went and bought the entire series (because of course I did - at least I got them all second hand). So I was pumped to like this book.This book comes out of Austen’s (large) shadow as it is set up after Jane’s marriage. This remains true to its historical context which makes this book about women, work and Jane’s place in the marriage. The magic plays are a more central part here and stands in for a career (in the world the author has created, Glamour is “women’s work” which is interesting to see how it impacts Vincent - a nice touch), which was great.The placing and plot remains gentle and slow so know that going in. Vincent came into his own as a character as Jane learns more about his background and motivations. He is still not the focus of the books which remains centred around Jane and her part of the world.There isn’t a lot more to add as the plot remains incidental. There is a little bit of a mystery here and some dramatic rescues (which were fun) but this aspect remains my least favourite of the book. Here, at least, this drama is given more relevance in Jane’s character arc so I wasn’t annoyed with it as I was in Book 1. I was rooting for Jane to succeed, albeit in a quiet manner befitting the tone of this book.All in all I am glad I picked this up as the series and the world have come out of Austen’s shadow and I am looking forward to the exploration of Jane’s marriage. This book is quite mature in its sensibility - it's thoughtful, quiet and making a point. That is worth reading IMHO.PS. I am scared that the author will not be able to continue this for another 3 books (in the series). Quit while you’re ahead!!

It was a good follow up to Shades of Milk and Honey, it is always nice to see what happens next to characters you like, but I just felt that it lacked a certain something. Maybe humour, or drama (except for the ending), also the conflict between the couple seemed artificial and contrived. Its good to read the first time, but I don't have any desire to reread it.