Title: The Dark Glamour
Author: Gabriella Pierece
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: 8/30/11
I’m usually really careful about making sure that I’m not grabbing a second or third book in a series when I request on Netgalley, but I somehow goofed with The Dark Glamour by Gabriella Pierce. It’s actually the second book in the “666 Park Avenue” series. Fortunately, Pierce made sure that anyone who made the same mistake as I did wouldn’t be completely lost, and I didn’t even realize it was a sequel until I finished it and went looking to see if there was going to be another book.
In Dark Glamour, Jane Boyle is on the run from her evil mother-in-law, Lynn Doran, and by evil, I mean really evil. Like dark-side killer magic evil. Jane’s new husband is missing from the picture because they went their separate ways after the helped her escape at the last minute, despite the fact that up until that moment he was apparently completely controlled by his mother. Jane is completely broke and hiding in a rat-infested motel until she discovers that her husband left her more than enough money to make her escape. Rather than fleeing to the other side of the world like I would have done, Jane decides to stay in New York City and find a way to best her mother-in-law once and for all. With the help of a lot of friends, Jane (who is also a witch, but a good one) uses a spell to transform her from petite little Jane into tall, sultry Ella, which allows her to infiltrate the Doran’s house and find the leverage that she needs to sever ties with them.
This was a fun book that didn’t take itself too seriously. Jane, as Ella, has a fling with the mysterious Andre, who is also tied to the Dorans, but other than that, Pierce didn’t waste a lot of time with the romance angle. Jane made a lot of mistakes in my opinion, like practically cutting her friends out of her life to protect them yet dragging an innocent woman into the fray to protect herself, but I suppose if I was being hunted by someone who was practically the devil herself, I may do the same thing. Overall, she’s a likable character. The book moves really fast at some points, almost too fast occasionally. One minute, Jane is overseas considering her next move, and the next she’s back in New York. At those points, I thought there should have been a little transition, but for the most part I enjoyed the rapid pacing. The ending definitely leaves the series wide-open for a third book, but provides enough closure to allow it to remain a stand-alone book.
