The Dark Glamour by Gabriella Pierce

 

Published by Canvas

294 pages.

‘Thanks.’ Jane Boyle aimed a friendly smile at the tired-looking barrista, a sallow-skinned girl with a barbell through her septum. In spite of the fact that the macchiato in Jane’s hand was approximately the eight hundredth she’d bought from the girl in the last three weeks, the barista didn’t show the faintest glimmer of recognition.’

Goodreads Summary

Jane Boyle married her prince charming and moved into his upper east side castle - but she didn't get her fairy-tale ending

It's hard to live happily ever after when you discover your demanding and controlling mother-in-law is literally a witch, determined to steal the magical powers you didn't even know you had. Jane narrowly avoided Lynne Doran's clutches when she escaped on her wedding day, and has been hiding out in New York City. But she can't hide forever.

When Jane learns of the one thing Lynne wants most, she sets out to provide it, hoping her good turn will persuade her mother-in-law to stop hunting her. Unfortunately, Jane's daring plan will send her right back into the witches' den - the Doran clan's multistory town house on Park Avenue. But thanks to a tricky spell, blond architect Jane will be transformed into Ella, a dark beauty with a whole new look . . . and all of Jane's budding powers. Though the stakes are life or death, nobody said "Ella" couldn't have a little fun along the way, too.

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Reviewed by Sophie Duffy

‘The Dark Glamour’ is the second of the 666 Park Avenue trilogy, set in the Upper Eastside of Manhattan. It’s a kind of Sex in the City for witches. Shoes, sex and magic.

In the first novel we are introduced to Jane Boyle, a young, talented architect who discovers she’s from a long line of witches. She falls in love with a man who is also from a family of witches, a

Manhattan family with a heap of money and magic, headed by the matriarch, Lynne Doran, who becomes Jane’s nemesis.

I haven’t read the first novel, ‘666 Park Avenue’, but was able to follow the plot as there is a lot of exposition in the first few chapters. This meant I could keep up with the story but it did slow the action down. As with all trilogies I’d say this one would be best read together rather than as stand-alones and would be enjoyed by late teens or twenty-somethings.

The style is slick with some wry humour and moments of tension. Pierce creates a believable world and it’s fun to think there could be witches out there, only recognized by other witches. It would be fun to change your appearance by magic rather than a Gok Wan make-over or plastic surgery. 

So if you like chick-lit with a slice of magical fantasy, maybe this is the trilogy for you to try this cold, wet January. And if you read the first two quickly you won’t have long to wait for the third, ‘The Lost Soul’, published later this month.